AP

CNN crew fined, leaving Thailand in day care attack coverage

Oct 8, 2022, 12:21 PM | Updated: Oct 9, 2022, 10:55 am

Chief executive of Uthai Sawan Sub-district Administrative Organization Danaichok Boonsom, talks to...

Chief executive of Uthai Sawan Sub-district Administrative Organization Danaichok Boonsom, talks to reporters at a police station in Uthai Sawan, north eastern Thailand, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022. Thai police are investigating a report that a CNN crew inappropriately entered the daycare center where more than 20 preschoolers were slain as they were reporting on the attack, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)


              Buddhist pray with relatives of the victims of a mass killing attack gather for a Buddhist ceremony front on the Young Children's Development Center in the rural town of Uthai Sawan, north eastern Thailand, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022. Thai police are investigating a report that a CNN crew inappropriately entered the daycare center where more than 20 preschoolers were slain as they were reporting on the attack, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
            
              Chief executive of Uthai Sawan Sub-district Administrative Organization Danaichok Boonsom, talks to reporters at a police station in Uthai Sawan, north eastern Thailand, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022. Thai police are investigating a report that a CNN crew inappropriately entered the daycare center where more than 20 preschoolers were slain as they were reporting on the attack, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

UTHAI SAWAN, Thailand (AP) — Thai authorities on Sunday fined two CNN journalists for working in the country on tourist visas but cleared them of wrongdoing for entering the day care center where more than 20 children were massacred, saying they had filmed inside believing they had obtained permission.

Deputy national police chief Surachate Hakparn said the journalists had been waved into the building by a volunteer or a health officer, but did not know the person was not authorized to allow them inside.

They each agreed to pay fines of 5,000 baht ($133) and leave the country after admitting to working despite entering Thailand on tourist visas, he said.

Authorities began looking into the incident after a Thai reporter posted an image on social media of two members of the crew leaving the scene in northeastern Thailand where a fired policeman on Thursday massacred 36 people, 24 of them children. One CNN crew member was seen climbing over the low wall and fence around the compound, over police tape, and the other already outside.

CNN tweeted that the crew had entered the premises when the police cordon had been removed from the center, and were told by three public health officials exiting the building that they could film inside.

“The team gathered footage inside the center for around 15 minutes, then left,” CNN said in its tweet. “During this time, the cordon had been set back in place, so the team needed to climb over the fence at the center to leave.”

The tweet came in response to criticism from the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, which said it was “dismayed” by CNN’s coverage and the decision to film the crime scene inside.

“This was unprofessional and a serious breach of journalistic ethics in crime reporting,” the FCCT said.

The Thai Journalists’ Association criticized CNN’s actions as “unethical” and “insensitive,” and called for an internal company investigation of the incident in addition to the official Thai probe.

In a later statement, CNN International’s executive vice president and general manager Mike McCarthy reiterated that his reporters sought permission to enter the building but the team “now understands that these officials were not authorized to grant this permission,” adding that it was “never their intention to contravene any rules.”

He said CNN had ceased broadcasting the report and had removed the video from its website.

“We deeply regret any distress or offense our report may have caused, and for any inconvenience to the police at such a distressing time for the country,” he said in the statement tweeted by CNN.

As Thailand’s worst such massacre, the attack drew widespread international media attention to the small town of Uthai Sawan in the country’s rural northeast. By Sunday, few remained but a large number of Thai media continued to report from the scene.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Image: A cargo ship is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after ...

Associated Press

Authorities identify 2 bodies recovered at site of Baltimore bridge collapse

A major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below.

1 day ago

Photo: Mountaineer Jim Whittaker has died at 95....

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press

Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95

Lou Whittaker, a legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, has died at age 95.

1 day ago

File photo: Former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks in Washington on Jan. 18, 2024....

Associated Press

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP pick in 2000, dead at 82

Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in 2000, has died.

1 day ago

islamic state attack...

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

What we know after the Islamic State group claims responsibility for Moscow massacre

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people.

5 days ago

Moscow shooting...

The Associated Press

Russia: 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility

Assailants burst into a concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100.

7 days ago

Photo: Britain's Kate, Duchess of Cambridge visits 282 (East Ham) Squadron, RAF Air Cadets, Cornwel...

Associated Press

Kate Middleton announces she has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, says she is undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. She has been out of view since Christmas.

7 days ago

CNN crew fined, leaving Thailand in day care attack coverage