Paxman calls for 'moral drive' from failing TV bosses

Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman will warn of a "catastrophic loss of nerve" in the industry in tonight's flagship MacTaggart lecture.

Paxman is expected to demand a statement of "greater purpose, or moral drive" from television executives.

A source close to Paxman said: "Jeremy feels there has been a fairly catastrophic loss of nerve in trying to define any sense of purpose or ambition in TV."

A series of fiascos has hit all four public service broadcasters, hurting their relationship with viewers when many are already switching to competitors and advertising revenues are being hit.

In the wake of these events, Paxman will base his lecture at an international television festival in Edinburgh this weekend on a plea for the "soul of television". He is also set to back Tony Blair's recent speech in which he branded the media "feral beasts".

However, BBC director-general Mark Thompson rejected claims that the organisation had overreacted to the problem of rigged competitions.

He said of the corporation's critics: "When they hear we're planning to insist that every single programme maker in the BBC takes part in seminars and training to explore the issue of trust, they shake their heads [asking] isn't this a complete overreaction? I don't believe it is. Anyone who does not believe that this episode has damaged public trust in us is deluding themselves."

The BBC's former political editor Andrew Marr has also warned that a loss of trust by viewers is an even more serious threat to the corporation than the fall-out from the Hutton affair. He referred to the Treasury asking for an apology from Newsnight after it showed edited footage - and an altered sequence - of attempts by documentary maker Jamie Campbell to get an interview with Gordon Brown before June's leadership contest.

Marr said: "When I read the order of events had been changed I was shocked, because so much depended on the order in which things happened."

Marr added: "Hutton ... was a confrontation between the BBC and the government which ... the government won, resulting in enormous institutional and personal damage in the BBC. This argument is more important in the sense that it is between the BBC and its owners and users."

Meanwhile, a survey has revealed that nearly half of the population do not trust television to "very much tell the truth". The YouGov poll published today found that 60 per cent also feel reality television was misleadingly edited.

In a debate at the MediaGuardian TV festival, entitled Trust Me, I'm In Telly, ITV's director of television Simon Shaps and chief executive of Channel 4 Andy Duncan will today debate the issue head on with others.