Charlotte Moore, a former senior executive at the BBC, was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on Tuesday in London, prompting criticism over a Gaza documentary that was debunked and removed.
Moore served as the corporation’s chief content officer when “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone” aired, according to the New Year Honours announcement.
The uproar surrounding the film began when the narrator, a 13-year-old boy, was revealed to be the son of a minister in the Hamas government. After the disclosure, the BBC Board concluded that “significant and harmful” mistakes had been made and removed the documentary from its iPlayer streaming service, calling the errors “unacceptable” and damaging to the broadcaster’s reputation.
Moore was identified as one of three senior managers who bore primary responsibility for the failure. A group of 45 prominent Jewish journalists and media professionals wrote to Moore and other executives demanding to know why background checks on the narrator did not flag the connection before broadcast.
Moore left the BBC earlier this year for a role at Sony, a move the corporation said was unrelated to the documentary crisis. Meanwhile, director-general Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness resigned last month after press revelations about bias in BBC coverage. During Moore’s tenure, a “Panorama” documentary also prompted former US president Donald Trump to file a $ 10 billion lawsuit against the BBC.
The decision to award Moore an OBE was described by critics as part of a list that risks accusations of “rewarding failure.” Moore said she was “thrilled and deeply honored” to receive the title and accepted it on behalf of colleagues who worked with her, while scrutiny remained focused on the broadcaster’s handling of Gaza coverage.
Backlash surrounding the BBC's publication of the documentary
Soon after the documentary was broadcast, questions surfaced about the identity of its young narrator. Within days, it emerged he was related to a Hamas official, and the BBC faced immediate pressure from campaigners and media figures to explain how its checks failed. The corporation pulled the film and acknowledged serious editorial breaches, saying the mistakes fell below expected standards.
As the controversy widened, demonstrations were held outside BBC premises, and letters from journalists pressed managers to account for the oversight. Subsequent reporting indicated the production company had made a payment to the narrator’s mother, adding to concerns about compliance and transparency. Additional scrutiny of related programming highlighted translation choices that critics said downplayed or omitted key terms, fueling accusations of bias in coverage of Gaza.
In the months that followed, the fallout affected other scheduled content as projects were reviewed, delayed, or rehomed by rival broadcasters.
By autumn, the media regulator concluded the withdrawn film had misled audiences and breached broadcast rules, a formal finding that cemented the case against the documentary’s editorial handling. The ruling kept the story in the headlines and set the context for today’s honours announcement, which reignited debate over accountability at the top of the BBC.