Broadcasters have urged Ofcom to exclude news and current affairs programming from proposed new “duty of care” requirements being drawn up after the deaths of two former reality TV show contestants.

In submissions to the regulator, ITN has said the proposals could lead to news programmes avoiding sensitive subjects and narrowing the diversity of their contributors, leading to a “sanitised view of the world”.

It also argued it could be impractical to expect news teams to carry out the required checks at the scene of a terrorist attack or natural disaster.