Former BBC war correspondent Martin Bell called for a "back to basics" approach to journalism as he addressed reporters of the future.

Martin, who worked as a BBC journalist for 35 years before turning to politics to fight the 1997 General Election, was speaking to journalism undergraduates at Edge Hill College of Higher Education in Lancashire.

He criticised the "dumbing down" of television news and journalists' "substantial egos". He also called for journalists to reject cynicism and to "make a difference" wherever possible.

He also said he was troubled by some aspects of television news today.

He said: "One is the kind of people who are attracted to it. I was a soldier once and I prefer the military ethos. If there is a difference between soldiers and journalists it is that they are different kinds of people.

"Soldiers are taught that they will succeed together and fail together, and they tend to succeed together because you can do things as a group you would not be able to on your own.

"Journalists, unfortunately, tend to think they are going to succeed at each other's expense. It attracts people with substantial egos.

"One of the things you may have noticed as you watch television news these days, and it is part of the whole dumbing down scenario, is what I call 'rooftop journalism'. Instead of journalists being down there where things are happening, finding out what is happening, and telling you about it, they are parked on the roof of a television station or hotel and talking to the anchorman or anchorwoman in London.

"Unfortunately the BBC has been instructed by a television spin doctor in how to appear live and they wave their arms a lot and semaphore their reports. It has got nothing to do with journalism. I think we need to get back to basics and get back out into the field."

Martin Bell took time to praise the high-tech facilities available to media students at Edge Hill but issued the warning: "Sometimes you have to lift your eyes from the screen.

"The computer screen can be a screen in the old-fashioned sense in that it separates you from the reality. We still need old-fashioned reporters who go out and find things out."

He added: "If you are going to be a journalist you have to care about what you do. The worst thing a journalist can do is not care. The enemy of journalism is not censorship or manipulation by government, it is the cynicism that can lie in the heart of the journalist.

"Whatever you do, you will face various challenges. You will have a choice at some point of making a difference or filling a space and I urge you to make a difference."

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