THE UK television industry is over the worst of the trust scandal that has dogged it for the past year and must now make a strong case for why it is the essential mass medium of the future.

That is the message from Peter Fincham, ITV's director of television and the author of this year's McTaggart lecture, widely held to be the most influential speech in the television year.

Fincham, who resigned as BBC1 controller after misleading journalists with a clip of the Queen apparently storming out of an interview, said the industry needed to move on from the self-flagellation of the previous year and should concentrate on "shouting about our creativity" and take pride in its "entertaining role".

He told a packed McEwan Hall in Edinburgh: "TV is what it is and we should not slip into the trap of thinking it is what others tell us it should be."

Fincham launched a stinging attack on broadcasting regulator Ofcom. Echoing the sentiment of ITV chairman Michael Grade's comments earlier this month, he said Ofcom's "medicine was as likely to kill television as cure it".

Grade had attacked Ofcom when announcing poor interim results for the UK's largest commercial broadcaster.

Fincham said: "TV needs a regulator just as roads need a traffic warden, but you wouldn't ask one for advice on what kind of car to drive."

He said Ofcom's current rules would lead to television that was "niche, marginal and worthy". He added: "When I was at the BBC I used to remind myself and colleagues that showbusiness was the trade I had chosen. In the lovely offices of Ofcom I wonder if the word showbusiness ever crosses their lips."

David Liddiment, BBC Trust member, hailed it as a "barnstorming McTaggart after the shriving of last year".

Earlier, TV chef and food campaigner Jamie Oliver tried to strike a similarly positive tone, talking about how he has used television to try and change the way Britain eats and to help unemployed young people become chefs.

However, Oliver looked uncomfortable when interviewer Peter Bazalgette questioned him about contradictions between the commercial and campaigning elements of his career.

Asked about criticising Sainsbury's - the supermarket chain he is a poster boy for - he said: "My first employer, and my employer for most of my career, is the public. My relationship with them is based on trust and if you lie to them then that is it. At the end of the day I have got a big mouth. Most of the public think of me as a chef, but most of the time I feel like a professional shit-stirrer."

Oliver went on to reveal that he is to appear in a new Nintendo game and in a cartoon being made by Wallace and Gromit creators Aardman.

However, despite the organisers being desperate to maintain a positive vibe, former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne refused to comply during a panel session on celebrity television.

Osbourne said fellow panel member, publicist Max Clifford, was "the exception to the rule that you can't polish a turd," after the PR guru reminded her she had media mogul Simon Cowell to thank for much of her career.

The following heated debate revealed industry tit-bits galore. Clifford claimed he was paying for the cancer care of reality TV star Jade Goody, who left the Indian version of Big Brother last week after being diagnosed with the illness.

Clifford said: "I don't make any money from these shows. I'd advise my clients to say no. They are for the desperate."

He also revealed he will represent treble Olympic gold-winning cyclist Chris Hoy. Rounding on celebrity TV stars, including celebs he represents such as Kerry Katona, he said: "It's nice to see people becoming famous because they actually have talent."

When asked if such programmes had gone too far, after viewers saw Katona give birth live on television, ITV controller and reality TV producer Natalka Znak revealed she had been given a pitch for a show called Execution Live.

Former Heat magazine editor Mark Frith, who recently left the publication, said the "dark side of celebrity" had been one reason why he had quit one of Britain's most succesful glossy weeklies.

He said: "When I started I wanted to make the magazine like a modern version of Smash Hits. Something shiny and happy. There's only so many pictures of Amy Winehouse with cuts in her upper arms you can edit into what is supposed to be a happy magazine. I miss the days of Darius."

Osbourne brought the session to the end with a television exclusive. She said she had turned down an offer to appear in Strictly Come Dancing this year, but expected to appear on next year's show.