The committee found problems in the gathering, not the broadcasting, of the documentary by the BBC, deciding that "there was a strong public interest in the programme".
In its verdict on Panorama's undercover documentary in North Korea, the BBC Trust found there was a "real public interest" in the programme but that the BBC had "failed to consider a number of important issues and risks, and failed to deal with them appropriately".
At the same hearing, the attorney general asked the BBC to consider whether it was in the public interest to screen the programme.
Alison Hastings, Chair of the Editorial Standards Committee, said: "There was a real public interest in making this programme in North Korea but, in the Trust's view, the BBC failed to ensure that all the young adults Panorama travelled with were sufficiently aware of any potential risks to enable them to give informed consent".
There was a real public interest in making this programme in North Korea but, in the trust's view, the BBC failed to ensure that all the young adults Panorama travelled with were sufficiently aware of any potential risks to enable them to give informed consent.
In his letter of apology, Harding says: "While we are pleased that the trust recognised that there was a strong public interest justification for broadcasting the programme and that we did make strenuous efforts to inform those involved, we recognise that we fell short".
Omand claimed there was only a thin public interest argument for publishing details of programmes such as Tempora and Prism, which has given the NSA the ability to trawl through the servers of mobile phone companies.
"LSE would like to confirm its strong support for the production of programmes in the public interest and for journalists working to highlight important issues in dangerous parts of the world".
A statement from BBC News said it was, "pleased that the trust found that there was a clear and strong public interest in commissioning and broadcasting the programme and that the correct referral procedures and processes were followed by the programme team and senior management.
The second poll, on 17 June, asked whether Snowden's leaks of classified information about the NSA's phone and email surveillance programmes was in the public interest.
For Chrétien's government, reducing the deficit was the issue, with cross-party support and located in a robust public discussion about what programmes best serve the public interest.
