Thompson: TV industry must earn trust

The BBC's director general Mark Thompson has said the television industry must work to regain trust after revelations of phone-in scandals.

Last week BBC children's show Blue Peter became an unlikely addition to the list of programmes accused of misleading viewers. It faked a phone-in and picked a studio guest as a winner.

Thompson, speaking to BBC News, said he thought there had been no intentional wrongdoing but that the whole industry now had to earn back trust from viewers.

"I think this has been a wake-up call for the industry," he commented. "I don't believe there is a pattern of misleading the public."

Thompson said he would review the corporation's guidelines in light of the recent events. "The centrepiece for us is about re-establishing trust," he added. "Trust is the foundation on which everything else is built."