‘I lost trust’ in Gaza film, says BBC director general Tim Davie
The BBC Director General told MPs he decided to remove the documentary from iPlayer about children living in Gaza because he “lost trust” in it.
The BBC has apologized for the “serious flaw” created by Gaza: How to survive in the war zone, as it emerges that the 13-year-old narrator is the son of Hamas officials.
Tim Davie said he deleted the film while investigating concerns about the boy’s connection to Hamas, a terrorist group in Britain and others.
The independent company behind the film asked if the boy had any connection to Hamas, which was not disclosed. The BBC said this also failed to reveal the truth.
David said on Tuesday that the BBC had received about 500 complaints that the film was biased against Israel and another 1,800 were deviating from iPlayer.
Hoyo Films, an independent company that produced the BBC documentary, said it is “fully working” with the BBC to “help understand where the mistake is made.”
The BBC initial internal review found that Hoyo also paid a member of the boy’s family “the narrative’s limited money.”
When aired last month, concerns were raised because it centered on a boy named Abdullah, the son of Hamas Deputy Minister of Agriculture.
“There are specific questions about the boy’s father – specific questions. When we dug out, we found that we were not told.” David told the Culture, Media and Sports Commission on Tuesday.
“There was a lot of frustration and disappointment. We were very sorry for the audience,” he said.
“If you are asked multiple times (about the boy’s family) and this question is not answered (Hoyo Films)…that’s the basics.
“At the end of the day, as the editor in chief, I had to stay safe and by then, I quickly lost trust in that movie, so I decided to take it out of the iPlayer while we were doing the deeper research.”
He said the decision was “not related to one party or the other” in the Israeli-Gaza conflict, adding that the company did not “lobby”.
David said Hoyo Movie had written to the BBC saying that the money was not given to Hamas, but would conduct a “forensic analysis” of what happened.
“As far as I understand, the BBC only pays the planned producers to make this movie,” he said.
When asked whether the documentary could return to iPlayer after the investigation was over, the Director General said he did not “rule anything out.”
He explained that it was a “very difficult decision” and it was a “very difficult situation” for the BBC to find itself.
“There is absolutely legal journalism, and the voices of those kids in Gaza are definitely what we need to hear – which frankly frustrates us where we are.”
He said broadcasters have a “rich and important history of current affairs” in the Middle East and documentary makers have “a huge reputation”.
“In general, I’m proud of the way we’ve covered these polarized, tough and difficult events, and as you know, many of our journalists are under tremendous pressure, fierce lobbying, and it’s very difficult,” he said.
Hundreds of media figures signed a letter last week Criticized its removal from the BBC’s streaming platform.
OFCOM Chairman Lord Grade said in a letter to the BBC that if the internal investigation documentary is not satisfied, regulators can step in.
BBC President Samir Shah told the committee that it is right to allow broadcasters to “do our job”.
“We will reach the bottom and take appropriate action,” he said.
Shah also called for separate independent comments on broadcasters’ coverage of the Middle East.
