(CBS) Letter from London is Larry Miller's weekly look at news from across the pond.

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When kids watching the long-running, and trusted, BBC children's show Blue Peter voted to name a kitten "Cookie," the producers secretly changed the winning name to "Socks."

Another time, 14,000 children called in, but due to a technical problem a girl visiting the studio was asked to pose as the winning contestant.

These are just two examples of what can only be described as institutional arrogance and dishonesty now being discovered within the once-respected corridors of British broadcasting.

It's not just the state-financed BBC that finds itself in the court of public opinion, but the commercial networks as well. The list of rigged programs and contests is long, growing and embarrassing.

Channel 5 viewers were charged $1.50 to call in and solve a word puzzle. When no one picked the right answer, names of fictional winners were listed on the screen.

GMTV was slated for selecting a short-list of call in winners, then keeping the high-priced phone lines open to rake in even more money.

A TV cooking program had viewers call in to be on a future show, when there was no chance of appearing.

Such scams are not confined to quizzes. The BBC recently ran a promo for a documentary purporting to show the Queen storming out of a photo shoot with American photographer Annie Leibovitz. No such thing happened. The clip had been edited out of sequence, and the Monarch was actually entering the room for the shoot, not leaving.

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This summer, ITV showed a documentary about an Alzheimer's sufferer who was dying, advertising it as the first time the moment of death was to be seen on British television. It later emerged that the death actually occurred a few days later, when there were no cameras present.

There are far more examples of this sort of blatant dishonesty and editing slight-of-hand.

The dishonest quiz shows have been fined, some have been cancelled, and the BBC is putting its entire broadcast production staff through honesty training; too little, too late.

A similar low-point in U.S. broadcasting came in the 1950's with the rigged quiz shows, 'The $64,000 Question' and 'Twenty One.' There was also Payolla, in which disc jockeys were bribed to plug records.

It took a long time for public confidence to return. It will be a long time here too.

The real damage comes when viewers are left so disenchanted and cynical that they dismiss legitimate news and documentaries with the rationale, "they lied then, maybe they are lying now."

A chastened BBC has decided to put a second kitten on its children's show, and this time it will be named "Cookie." As if that will take away the sour taste from the conned kids who no longer believe you can trust what you see.

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