Channel Five is to become the first UK broadcaster to ban staged shots used in editing from news reports, in a bid to win back trust from viewers following the spate of recent "TV fakery" scandals.
Other broadcasters, including Sky News and the BBC, are said to be looking to follow Five's lead, which will see it axe what its news editor, David Kermode, calls "rather hackneyed tricks".
Kermode, who joined Five News from BBC Breakfast in June, has told his team that from this week they will no longer be allowed to edit their reports using "noddy" shots - where reporters are shown supposedly reacting to interviewees, but which are actually filmed afterwards.
"Contrived" walking shots in which people are filmed strolling towards the camera are also out. "These are ghastly," Kermode said. "They are artificial, so we should ban them."
"Cut-away" shots and staged scenes in which reporters are filmed repeating their questions after they have finished their interviews have also been axed. "These rarely look genuine - it's hard for a reporter to sit and ask an empty chair a question - so they should also stop," he said.
Kermode said the new rules had been "enthusiastically embraced" by his 70-strong team and would help restore viewers' trust. "I genuinely believe that if we lead the way by stopping some of the tired old 'showbiz' shortcuts, we can help restore trust in our medium and make our programmes more creative too."
