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Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has questioned why nobody has been fired at the BBC over its decision to air a Gaza documentary that featured the son of a Hamas official.<\/p>\n
It comes ahead of a review expected to be published next week into Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, which was pulled from iPlayer in February.<\/p>\n
In an interview with The Times,<\/a> Nandy said “people must be accountable for the decisions that were taken” and she was “exasperated” by the time taken to carry out the review.<\/p>\n A BBC spokesperson said on Saturday that findings of the review would be published “as soon as possible” but must be “thorough and follow a proper process”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In February the BBC apologised over “serious flaws”<\/a> in the making of the programme about children’s lives in Gaza, after it was revealed its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas minister.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n It is expected to determine whether any editorial guidelines were broken and if any disciplinary action is needed.<\/p>\n The BBC will also undertake a full audit of expenditure on the programme.<\/p>\n Nandy said she needed an “adequate explanation” about what had happened, which she had not yet had from Davie or BBC chairman Samir Shah.<\/p>\n If nobody was fired over the incident, Nandy said she wanted “an explanation as to why not”.<\/p>\n A BBC spokesperson said: “The findings of the review will be published as soon as possible.<\/p>\n “As we have said previously, it is vital that this work is done as quickly as possible, but it must also be thorough and follow a proper process.”<\/p>\n Last month, the BBC decided not to broadcast a separate documentary from another independent production company<\/a> about doctors working in Gaza due to impartiality concerns it had surrounding the production. It was later aired on Channel 4 instead.<\/p>\n Nandy added that BBC leadership had to “get a grip on it” following the live Glastonbury broadcast of punk-duo band Bob Vylan.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n