BBC bosses to be questioned by MPs amid Gaza documentary controversy
The session on Tuesday morning was already scheduled as part of the committee’s ongoing scrutiny into the work of the corporation.
The BBC director general and chairman are to appear before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee amid the corporation facing a backlash over a documentary on Gaza which featured the son of a Hamas official.
The session with Tim Davie and Samir Shah on Tuesday morning was already scheduled as part of the committee’s ongoing scrutiny into the work of the corporation.
It is expected that the BBC bosses will be asked about a range of issues including editorial processes and impartiality, according to the session outline.
Mr Davie and Dr Shah will also likely be questioned on workplace culture, the future of TV distribution and the role and regulation of public service broadcasters.
Funding and the financial challenges faced by the BBC ahead of the review of its charter, which is due to expire at the end of 2027, will also likely be discussed.
It comes amid the broadcaster apologising last week for “serious flaws” in the making of the programme Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone.
The corporation removed the documentary from BBC iPlayer after it emerged that the child narrator is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.
After conducting an initial review of the programme, the broadcaster said independent production company Hoyo Films, who made the documentary, told them the boy’s mother had been paid “a limited sum of money for the narration”.
The BBC added that it has no plans to broadcast the documentary again or return it to iPlayer.
In a letter to the BBC on Monday, Ofcom chairman Lord Grade said the regulator could step in if an internal inquiry into the making of the documentary is not satisfactory.
Lord Grade said Ofcom has “ongoing concerns about the nature and gravity of these failings and the negative impact they have on the trust audiences place in the BBC’s journalism”.
He added: “We will continue to keep the situation under close review and will expect regular updates from the BBC regarding both timeframes and progress and reserve the right to use our powers to step in should we feel it necessary to do so, given that the BBC Board has decided these to be internal investigations.”
Over the weekend, the Metropolitan Police said it had received a “number of reports raising concerns” and that officers from its Counter Terrorism Command are “assessing whether any police action is required in relation to this matter”.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy also met the BBC chairman on Friday after saying she wanted assurances “that no stone will be left unturned” during a review into the documentary.
After conducting the initial review, a BBC spokesperson said last week that “serious flaws in the making of this programme” had been identified.
They added: “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.”
Last week, protesters gathered outside Broadcasting House in London claiming the BBC had aired Hamas propaganda.
The BBC also faced criticism for pulling the documentary, with Gary Lineker, Anita Rani, Riz Ahmed and Miriam Margolyes among more than 500 media figures who had condemned the action.
In an open letter addressed to Mr Davie, chairman Dr Shah and outgoing chief content officer Charlotte Moore, hundreds of TV and film professionals and journalists called the decision to remove the documentary “politically motivated censorship”.
