A BBC documentary focusing on Gaza violated editorial accuracy guidelines by omitting the narrator’s familial connection to a Hamas official, an internal review has determined.
The review, commissioned by BBC Director-General Tim Davie, addressed concerns surrounding “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.” The program was removed from iPlayer in February following the emergence of the narrator’s family ties.
The inquiry placed primary responsibility for the omission on the independent production company, Hoyo Films. However, the review also stated that the BBC bore some responsibility due to insufficient oversight.
The BBC acknowledged that the program should not have been approved and stated that appropriate accountability measures are being implemented.
The review revealed that while three members of Hoyo Films were aware of the narrator’s father’s position as deputy minister of agriculture in the Hamas-controlled Gaza government, this information was not known within the BBC prior to broadcast.
The report criticized the BBC team for a lack of proactive editorial checks and inadequate oversight of unanswered or partially answered questions leading up to the broadcast.
The review stated that it found no evidence “to support the suggestion that the narrator’s father or family influenced the content of the programme in any way”.
It further stated that the narrator’s contribution to the program did not breach impartiality standards.
However, the review concluded that the use of a child narrator was “not appropriate” given the specific circumstances of the program.
Media regulator Ofcom has announced it will conduct its own investigation into the matter.
In a statement, an Ofcom spokesperson said: “Having examined the BBC’s findings, we are launching an investigation under our rule which states that factual programmes must not materially mislead the audience.”
Following the publication of the BBC’s report, BBC News CEO Deborah Turness told Radio 4’s The World at One: “We are owning where we have made mistakes, finding out what went wrong, acting on the findings, and we’ve said we’re sorry.”
She said the BBC figures overseeing the documentary should have known about the boy’s position before transmission, “because their questions should have been answered by the independent production company”.
The BBC outlined several steps it is taking to prevent similar breaches in the future:
The review determined that Hoyo Films did not intentionally mislead the BBC, adding, “They made a mistake and should have informed the BBC about it. The BBC does also bear some responsibility for this failure.”
Hoyo Films released a statement saying it takes the review’s findings “extremely seriously” and “apologizes for the mistake that resulted in a breach of the editorial guidelines.”
The company expressed satisfaction that the report found “no evidence of inappropriate influence on the content of the documentary from any third party.”
Hoyo Films welcomed the report’s recommendations and “hope they will improve processes and prevent similar problems in the future.”
The company indicated its willingness to collaborate with the BBC to explore the possibility of using some material for re-edited and re-versioned shorter films for archive on iPlayer.
BBC Director-General Tim Davie issued an apology, stating that the report “identifies a significant failing in relation to accuracy.”
“We will now take action on two fronts,” he continued. “Fair, clear and appropriate actions to ensure proper accountability and the immediate implementation of steps to prevent such errors being repeated.”
The corporation did not publicly identify any individuals facing disciplinary action.
A financial examination as part of the review found that a fee of £795 was paid for the narrator, paid to his adult sister, an amount which was not “outside the range of what might be reasonable in the context”.
The boy also received a second-hand mobile phone and gift card for a computer game. Together with the fee, that amounted to a total value of £1,817.
The review also found there was “significant resource strain within both the production company and the BBC” ahead of the programme’s broadcast.
Following the review’s publication, when asked if she still had confidence in Davie, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “It’s not for the government to say who should and shouldn’t work at the BBC.
“My job is to make sure that we uphold the highest standards and that the public and parliament can have confidence in the BBC.
“I think, given the recent events, that has been called into question, but the BBC in recent weeks has made big strides to try to reset that relationship with the public, and show that they have grip on the very very serious issues.”
Nandy said she had met Davie and BBC chair Samir Shah last week. She added: “It is important that the BBC has acknowledged that there have been a series of catastrophic failures over recent weeks.”
The review was conducted by Peter Johnston, the BBC’s director of editorial complaints and reviews.
The team who worked on the review identified and considered 5,000 documents from a 10-month production period, as well as 150 hours of material filmed during production, to inform Mr Johnson’s conclusions, the BBC said.
The BBC Board said: “Nothing is more important than trust and transparency in our journalism. We welcome the actions the Executive are taking to avoid this failing being repeated in the future.”
But the campaign Against Antisemitism launched a scathing attack on the BBC after the report was published, saying its recommendations were “frankly insulting”.
“The report says nothing we didn’t already know: paying licence fee money to a Hamas family was bad,” the CAA said. “The report yields no new insight, and almost reads like it’s trying to exonerate the BBC.”
More than 40 Jewish television executives, including former BBC content chief Danny Cohen and JK Rowling’s agent Neil Blair, previously wrote to the BBC with questions about editorial failings surrounding the film.
Separately, 500 media figures including Gary Lineker, Anita Rani, Riz Ahmed and Miriam Margolyes signed an open letter in February in support of the film.
Dame Melanie Dawes, CEO of broadcast regulator Ofcom, said the BBC had been slow to get a grip on recent scandals such as the Gaza documentary as well as the broadcast of Bob Vylan’s controversial set at Glastonbury.
Speaking to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, she said there was a “real risk” recent events could lead to “loss of confidence” in the broadcaster, adding: “It’s very frustrating that the BBC has had some own goals in this area.”
In June, the BBC pulled another documentary titled Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, due to impartiality concerns it had surrounding the production. That film was then broadcast by Channel 4.
A university praises the award-winning star for her services to acting and the deaf community.
A report into BBC show MasterChef found 45 allegations against him were upheld.
Finalists Amaya and Bryan, Chris and Huda, Nic and Olandria, and Pepe and Iris vied for a $100K prize.
Dame Melanie Dawes said the BBC needed to complete reports and investigations sooner.
Romantic drama Mixtape is also out on BBC Two, and new game Donkey Kong Bananza is released.