Latest news with #accuracy
The Independent
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Ofcom to investigate after Gaza documentary breached BBC editorial guidelines
Ofcom has announced it will investigate the BBC's Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone documentary after a review found it had breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy. The regulator said it had examined the BBC report and would be investigating under its broadcasting code, which states that factual programmes 'must not materially mislead the audience'. 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.' The programme was removed from BBC iPlayer in February after it emerged that the child narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture. The review, conducted by Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews, which is independent of BBC News, said the programme was in breach of accuracy for 'failing to disclose information about the child narrator's father's position within the Hamas-run government'. But the review found no other breaches of editorial guidelines, including breaches of impartiality, and also found no evidence that outside interests 'inappropriately impacted on the programme'. The report said that 'careful consideration of the requirements of due impartiality was undertaken in this project given the highly contested nature of the subject matter'. Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, which also aired on BBC Two, was made for the BBC by independent production company Hoyo Films. The detail of the background information regarding the narrator's father is deemed as 'critical information', which the report said was not shared with the BBC before broadcast. The report found that Hoyo Films did not 'intentionally' mislead the BBC about the position of the narrator's father, but said the independent production company 'bears most responsibility for this failure'. However, it further added that the BBC also 'bears some responsibility'. The report detailed that at the time the programme first aired the information regarding the position of the narrator's father was known only by three members of the production company, 'but not anyone within the BBC'. It said: 'In light of this inequality of information and the opportunities that the production company had to bring this information to the BBC's attention, which it did not take, the production company is the party with most responsibility for this failure. 'However, I do not consider that the production company intentionally misled the BBC about the narrator's father's position. 'The production company has been consistently transparent that, notwithstanding their belief that the father's position was a civilian or technocratic one, as opposed to a political or military position in Hamas, they made a mistake and should have informed the BBC about it.' The narrator's scripted contribution to the programme also did not breach BBC standards on due impartiality, the report said, adding: 'I have also not seen or heard any evidence to support a suggestion that the narrator's father or family influenced the content of the programme in any way.' But the use of a child narrator for this programme was 'wrong', the report added. It explained that in this instance, the narrator 'was put in a position where his narration had to be highly scripted (meaning there was a limited portrayal of his background, story and life) and where he had to carry the rights-of-reply of others, in particular the IDF. 'In light of what the production company knew about the narrator's family and background, putting him forward as the voice of the programme as it was scripted was wrong in my view.' The BBC's director-general Tim Davie said: 'Peter Johnston's report identifies a significant failing in relation to accuracy in this documentary. I thank him for his thorough work and I am sorry for this failing. 'We will now take action on two fronts – fair, clear and appropriate actions to ensure proper accountability and the immediate implementation of steps to prevent such errors being repeated.' The BBC Board said: 'We thank Peter Johnston for his work. His report is a comprehensive examination of a complex programme, the production of which spanned many months from concept through to broadcast – and is critical in laying bare the facts of what happened. '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.' Hoyo Films said in a statement that they take the report findings 'extremely seriously' and 'apologise for the mistake that resulted in a breach of the (BBC) editorial guidelines'. They added: 'We are pleased that the report found that there was no evidence of inappropriate influence on the content of the documentary from any third party. 'We appreciate the rigorous nature of this investigation, and its findings that Hoyo Films did not intentionally mislead the BBC, that there were no other breaches of the editorial guidelines in the programme, and that there was no evidence to suggest that the programme funds were spent other than for reasonable, production-related purposes. 'Hoyo Films welcomes the report's recommendations and hope they will improve processes and prevent similar problems in the future. 'We are working closely with the BBC to see if we can find an appropriate way to bring back to iPlayer the stories of those featured in the programme. 'Our team in Gaza risked their lives to document the devastating impact of war on children. 'Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone remains a vital account, and our contributors – who have no say in the conflict – deserve to have their voices heard.' It comes as it was announced that Mr Davie and BBC chairman Samir Shah will face questions from MPs over the documentary, the investigation into allegations of misconduct made against Gregg Wallace, and its Glastonbury Festival coverage of Bob Vylan and Kneecap. The pair will appear before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on September 9.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
BBC Gaza documentary narrated by Hamas official's son breached accuracy guideline, review finds
Update: Date: 12:07 BST Title: We will take action to stop this happening again, says director general Content: We now have a response from BBC director general Tim Davie. "Peter Johnston's report identifies a significant failing in relation to accuracy in this documentary," he says. "I thank him for his thorough work and I am sorry for this failing. "We will now take action on two fronts - fair, clear and appropriate actions to ensure proper accountability and the immediate implementation of steps to prevent such errors being repeated." The BBC Board adds: "We thank Peter Johnston for his work. His report is a comprehensive examination of a complex programme, the production of which spanned many months from concept through to broadcast - and is critical in laying bare the facts of what happened. "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." Update: Date: 12:00 BST Title: Use of the child narrator not appropriate, report says Content: Steven McIntoshCulture reporter The review said it had seen no evidence "to support the suggestion that the narrator's father or family influenced the content of the programme in any way". It added the narrator's scripted contribution to the programme did not constitute a breach of due impartiality. The report concluded that the use of the child narrator for this programme, while not a breach of editorial guidelines, was "not appropriate". A financial examination found that a fee of £795 was 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". Hoyo Films said it would explore the possibility of using some material for re-edited and re-versioned shorter films for archive on iPlayer. Update: Date: 12:00 BST Title: Documentary breached editorial guideline on accuracy, report finds Content: Steven McIntoshCulture reporter A BBC documentary about Gaza breached editorial guidelines on accuracy by failing to disclose the narrator was the son of a Hamas official, the corporation's review has found. The review found that the independent production company, Hoyo Films, bears most of the responsibility for the failure. However, it said the BBC also bears some responsibility. The BBC said it was taking appropriate action to review accountability, but did not name any individuals facing disciplinary action. The review found three members of the independent production company knew of the father's position, but no-one within the BBC knew this at the time. However, the report criticised the BBC team for not being "sufficiently proactive" with initial editorial checks, and for a "lack of critical oversight of unanswered or partially answered questions. Update: Date: 11:50 BST Title: Why the BBC pulled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone Content: Tim Davie, pictured in December 2024, speaks before a Culture, Media and Sport Committee In March of this year, the BBC's director general was called before the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee to discuss the documentary about children's lives in Gaza. He told MPs that he made the 'very difficult decision' to remove it from iPlayer after he 'lost trust' in the film, after concerns were raised about the 13-year-old narrator's family connections to Hamas - a proscribed terrorist group in the UK. Davie said at the time that the BBC had received about 500 complaints that the film was biased against Israel and another 1,800 over its removal from iPlayer. But he told MPs: "If you're asked a number of times [about the boy's family] and that question was not answered [by Hoyo Films]... that is basics. "And at the end of the day, as editor in chief, I have to be secure, not only editorially where the film was at, but the making of that film.' "There was absolutely legitimate journalism to be done,' he said, before remarking that 'that's what makes it frankly frustrating where we are". Update: Date: 11:49 BST Title: BBC to publish report on pulled Gaza documentary Content: The BBC is due to release a report over its decision to air and then pull a documentary about children's lives in Gaza. The film was removed from iPlayer after it emerged its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official. In February, the corporation apologised after an interim report identified "serious flaws" in the making of Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, made by the independent production company Hoyo Films for the BBC. The review is being headed by Peter Johnston, the BBC's director of editorial complaints and reviews, which is independent of BBC News and reports directly to director general Tim Davie. It is expected to determine whether any editorial guidelines were broken and if any disciplinary action is needed. We're expecting the review to land shortly - we'll break the key lines as we get them. Stay with us.
The Independent
3 days ago
- The Independent
BBC breached editorial guidelines on controversial Gaza documentary, corporation says
The BBC breached its editorial guidelines on accuracy by failing to disclose that the narrator of a Gaza documentary was the son of a Hamas official, the corporation said.
Argaam
6 days ago
- General
- Argaam
OPEC+ may pause output hikes after next monthly increase: Report
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The Sun
07-07-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
‘Utter garbage' – Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper slammed by BBC pundit over Wimbledon complaints
TIM HENMAN has told Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu that questioning the accuracy of Hawk-Eye is 'utter garbage'. Britain's two leading tennis stars have both raised concerns about the ball-tracking tech that has replaced line judges on all 18 courts. 4 4 4 Draper, 23, was unhappy with calls in his second-round defeat to Croatian Marin Cilic, saying: 'I don't think it's 100% accurate.' Speaking after her third-round exit to Aryna Sabalenka last Friday, Raducanu, 22, also queried the system's correctness. She said: 'It's kind of disappointing, the tournament here, that the calls can be so wrong, but for the most part they've been okay. 'I've had a few in my other matches, too, that have been very wrong.' Yet All England Club board member Henman, 50 has watched back the disputed calls in their matches on slow-motion replays. And the four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist, who works on BBC TV, said: 'The narrative around players questioning the accuracy of the calling – that, to me, is just utter garbage. 'I was commentating on some of those matches and when you see it in real time, you sort of think: 'Did that look out?' 'Then, when you go back, as I've done, and look at them in slow motion, they are on the outside edge of the line, they hit the line. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 4 Wimbledon 2025 LIVE - follow all the latest scores and updates from a thrilling fortnight at SW19 'You can sometimes see even that little puff of white chalk, whatever it is. 'This is technology that's been around for a long, long time. It's a Hawk-Eye version when we had line judges. Britain's last hope in Wimbledon women's draw Sonay Kartal OUT after huge controversy as rival accuses umpire of bias 'So, this is an enhanced version. Is the technology accurate? Absolutely, 100%. 'The system, when it is activated, is working 100%. 'I get it from a player's point of view because you're out there, it's happening quickly. 'You don't get the opportunity to see the replay, and you're hoping the ball is going to be out to win the point. 'It's garbage that the players say it's garbage, then that the story evolves.' The narrative around players questioning the accuracy of the calling – that, to me, is just utter garbage Tim Henman Sonay Kartal's Last 16 defeat to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Sunday was overshadowed by a dodgy Hawk-Eye call in set one where the tech failed due to 'human error'. Wimbledon apologised for the mistake which saw the referee forced to replay the point – even though Kartal's backhand, on Pavlyuchenkova's advantage point, was clearly OUT. The Club say that following a review, they have removed the ability for Hawk-Eye operators to 'manually deactivate the ball tracking'. Though the source of the issue was human error, the mistake cannot now be repeated due to system changes made overnight.
