Nine Network sacks journos over lie

THREE journalists have been sacked by the Nine Network after they were caught pretending to be broadcasting live from a helicopter above the Daniel Morcombe crime scene in Beerwah, when they were actually near Nine's Brisbane studio.

On Saturday and Sunday nights, two different reporters broadcast live crosses claiming to be "near Beerwah" when, in one instance, they were sitting on the helipad and in the other, hovering near the network's Mount Coot-tha base.

The reporters who have been dismissed are Cameron Price and Melissa Mallet; news producer Aaron Wakely has also been sacked.

Brisbane news director Lee Anderson, a 25-year veteran of Nine, resigned over the scandal last night, after an internal investigation found the Brisbane bulletin had twice misrepresented the reporters' locations and misled viewers.

"This morning, I tender my resignation as director of news, accepting full responsibility for the events of the last few days," Anderson said. "I have served this network to the best of my ability for almost 25 years.