What Went Wrong With The BBC Gaza Documentary?

12 snips

Jul 14, 2025

Guest

Katie Razzall, BBC News Culture and Media editor, and Noor Nanji, Culture reporter, dissect a BBC documentary that faced backlash for its narrator's ties to Hamas, revealing failures in editorial oversight. They discuss the BBC's accountability and proposed changes to enhance transparency. Caitriona Perry, Chief Presenter for BBC News, sheds light on President Trump's warning of tariffs on Russia related to the Ukraine conflict. The conversation underscores the challenges of responsible journalism amid political tensions and public scrutiny.

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INSIGHT

BBC Gaza Documentary Editorial Breach

The BBC documentary in Gaza breached editorial guidelines by not disclosing the narrator's family ties to Hamas.
Both the BBC and production company Hoyo Films share responsibility, with a lack of follow-up on critical information being the key failure.

ADVICE

New BBC First Gate Process

The BBC is introducing a 'first gate' process to scrutinize all high-risk programs before commissioning.
This ensures rigorous social media and background checks prevent similar mistakes.

INSIGHT

Safeguards Failed Despite Impartiality

The BBC's internal safeguards failed as the high-risk Gaza documentary was broadcast without key facts being known.
Despite rigorous checks, the program's impartiality was maintained but crucial transparency was lacking.

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Today, we discuss the findings of a BBC report which found that the documentary Gaza: How To Survive a Warzone had breached editorial guidelines.

The BBC previously pulled the documentary from iPlayer after it was uncovered that the 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official. The report says the production company Hoyo Films bears most of the responsibility for the failures. Hoyo Films said it took the reviews findings "extremely seriously" and said it "apologises for the mistake that resulted in a breach of the editorial guidelines".

Another report looking into BBC show MasterChef has found that 45 allegations against presenter Gregg Wallace have been upheld. Wallace said in response that some of his humour and language "missed the mark", but added: "I never set out to harm or humiliate. I always tried to bring warmth and support to MasterChef, on screen and off." Adam is joined by BBC News Culture and Media editor Katie Razzall and Culture reporter Noor Nanji.

And, President Trump has threatened “very severe” tariffs against Russia if there is no Ukraine deal within 50 days. Adam speaks to Caitriona Perry, Chief Presenter for BBC News.

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New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bit.ly/3ENLcS1 Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Shiler Mahmoudi and Anna Harris. The social producers were Jada Meosa John . The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.