The BBC's Director-General, Greg Dyke, has defended the BBC's journalism during the conflict in Iraq and lashed out at the approaches taken by some of the corporation's rivals.

Speaking at Goldsmiths College, University of London, Dyke countered recent criticism that the BBC had shown pro-Iraqi bias in its reporting by saying: "We are here for everyone in the UK, a trusted guide in a complex world. We perform this role best by exercising the freedom to air a wide range of opinion and to report the facts as best we can. In doing so, far from betraying the national interest, we're serving it."

Dyke blasted the approach taken by American news channel, Fox News: "...we must never allow political influences to colour our reporting or cloud our judgement.

"Commercial pressures may tempt others to follow the Fox News formula of gung-ho patriotism but for the BBC this would be a terrible mistake.

"If, over time, we lost the trust of our audiences, there is no point to the BBC."

Dyke then widened this comment to include American TV networks in general, using an example where the BBC interviewed US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld: "The aim certainly wasn't to win some intellectual battle of wills or to trip Mr Rumsfeld up. It was all about testing his arguments and not letting him gloss over difficult issues.

"On American television today politicians don't face that sort of interrogation. For the health of our democracy, it's vital we don't follow the path of many American networks and lose the will to do this."