The camera always lies. So why deny it?

Anyone who has ever taken part in a TV documentary knows just how contrived is the whole exercise
Published: 31 July 2007

My friend the documentary programme maker is perplexed. In common with all independent production companies contracted by the BBC, his firm has received an email from the corporation's director of television, Jana Bennett, asking it to review its entire output, both past and pending, to establish whether it has any "faked footage". "This is madness," says my friend: "It's absolutely traditional that documentary makers manipulate footage to try to make the story better." continue...