The BBC has apologised for "serious flaws" in the making of a controversial documentary on Gaza, which was narrated by the son of a Hamas minister.
The corporation admitted that money was given to the family of the narrator by the production company, which also hid the boy's Hamas connections from the BBC.
'Gaza: How To Survive a Warzone' was pulled from BBC iPlayer on February 21 after being broadcast live on BBC2 on February 17.
The corporation made the film unavailable for viewers to watch after it emerged its 14-year-old narrator Abdullah Al-Yazouri was the son of Hamas's deputy agricultural minister Ayman Al-Yazouri.
Yesterday, Gary Lineker was one of 500 TV industry figures calling on the film to be recalled on the grounds that it is an "essential piece of journalism".
A BBC spokesperson said: “BBC News has conducted an initial review on the programme Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone. Today the BBC Board was updated on that work. It has identified serious flaws in the making of this programme.
“Some of these were made by the production company and some by the BBC; all of them are unacceptable. BBC News takes full responsibility for these and the impact that these have had on the corporation’s reputation. We apologise for this.
“Nothing is more important than the trust that our audiences have in our journalism.
“This incident has damaged that trust. While the intent of the documentary was aligned with our purpose – to tell the story of what is happening around the world, even in the most difficult and dangerous places – the processes and execution of this programme fell short of our expectations.
“Although the programme was made by an independent production company, who were commissioned to deliver a fully compliant documentary, the BBC has ultimate editorial responsibility for this programme as broadcast.”
The spokesperson continued: “One of the core questions is around the family connections of the young boy who is the narrator of the film.
“During the production process, the independent production company was asked in writing a number of times by the BBC about any potential connections he and his family might have with Hamas.
"Since transmission, they have acknowledged that they knew that the boy’s father was a deputy agriculture minister in the Hamas government; they have also acknowledged that they never told the BBC this fact.
“It was then the BBC’s own failing that we did not uncover that fact and the documentary was aired.
“Hoyo Films have told us that they paid the boy’s mother, via his sister’s bank account, a limited sum of money for the narration.
“While Hoyo Films have assured us that no payments were made to members of Hamas or its affiliates, either directly, in kind, or as a gift, the BBC is seeking additional assurance around the budget of the programme and will undertake a full audit of expenditure.
“We are requesting the relevant financial accounts of the production company in order to do that.”
The BBC director-general has asked for an independent review into the making of the documentary to be expedited.
“Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews, is independent of BBC News and reports directly to the director-general,” the spokesperson said.
“He will consider all of the complaints and issues that have been raised.
“He will determine whether any editorial guidelines have been broken; rapidly address the complaints that have been made; and enable the BBC to determine whether any disciplinary action is warranted in relation to shortcomings in the making of this programme. This will include issues around the use of language, translation and continuity that have also been raised with the BBC.
“We have no plans to broadcast the programme again in its current form or return it to iPlayer, and will make a further assessment once the work of Peter Johnston is complete.”
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