BROADCASTING watchdog Ofcom said it has launched investigations into ITV1’s This Morning and BBC’s Newsnight after complaints the shows breached “generally accepted standards”.
The pair are also under scrutiny for “the application of standards to prevent unfair treatment to an individual, and unwarranted infringements of privacy”.
The programmes involved are the November 2 Newsnight which wrongly implicated Lord McAlpine in a paedophile ring that targeted children at a care home in Wrexham in north Wales, and the November 8 This Morning where presenter Phillip Schofield confronted David Cameron with a list of alleged paedophiles.
The BBC is thought to be close to reaching a financial settlement with Lord McAlpine after apologising to the peer.
ITV said earlier today that it has taken “appropriate disciplinary action” over the incident which saw Schofield roundly criticised for handing the Prime Minister a list of names - understood to be Conservative Party figures - during the live show which he said he had put together from internet rumours.
An ITV spokesman said: “Last Thursday we began an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the mistake on that day’s This Morning programme, for which both Phillip Schofield and ITV apologised.
“This investigation has now concluded and the appropriate disciplinary action has been taken.
“We sincerely apologise because the way in which the issue was raised was clearly wrong and should have been handled differently. We have taken steps to make sure our editorial processes are always properly followed, which was not the case in this instance, and to ensure such an error will not be made again.”
The presenter was later forced to apologise after the list was briefly exposed on screen raising fears individuals could be identified.