The BBC has said it breached its editorial guidelines by failing to disclose that the child narrator of a Gaza documentary was the son of a Hamas official.
A report into the controversial programme said three members of the independent production company knew about the role of the boy’s father – but no one within the BBC was aware.
The independent report – commissioned by the corporation – criticised the BBC team involved in the documentary for not being “sufficiently proactive” with initial editorial checks, and for a “lack of critical oversight of unanswered or partially answered questions” ahead of broadcast.
While the report said there was no evidence “to support the suggestion that the narrator’s father or family influenced the content of the programme in any way,” it concluded the use of a child narrator for the programme was “not appropriate”.
Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone aired on the BBC in February but was pulled from iPlayer after it emerged that the child narrator was the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.
How To Survive A Warzone was made by independent production company Hoyo Films, and features 13-year-old Abdullah al Yazouri, who speaks about life in Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas.
The review was led by Peter Johnston, the BBC‘s director of editorial complaints and reviews, who reports directly to director general Tim Davie.
Speaking to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee earlier this year, Mr Davie described the fallout over the documentary as “damaging,” and said the corporation “were not told” about questions asked around Abdullah’s father.
Media watchdog Ofcom previously warned that recent controversies could “start to erode public trust and confidence”.
Israel does not allow international news organisations into Gaza to report independently.
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