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UTAISHAWAN, Thailand (AP) — Thai authorities fined two CNN reporters on tourist visas to work in the country on Sunday, but clarified their misconduct by entering a daycare center, where more than 20 people are working. Children were slaughtered, saying they believed they had permission when they were filmed inside.
Deputy National Police Commissioner Surachate Hakparn said reporters were beckoned into the building by a volunteer or a health officer, not knowing that person was not authorized to let them in.
Despite entering Thailand on tourist visas, they each agreed to pay a 5,000 baht ($133) fine and leave the country after admitting to working, he said.
Authorities began investigating the incident after a Thai journalist posted on social media photos of two crew members leaving the scene in northeastern Thailand. On Thursday, a fired police officer killed 36 people, 24 of them children. One CNN worker was seen climbing over low walls and fences around the compound, over police tape, and another was already outside.
CNN tweeted that when the police cordon was withdrawn from the center, staff had entered the premises, and three public health officials who had left the building told them they could film inside.
“The team collected about 15 minutes of footage inside the center and then left,” CNN said in its tweet. “The cordon had been put back in place during this time, so the team needed to climb over the fence in the centre to get out.”
This tweet is in response to Criticism from the Foreign Press Club of Thailandwhich said it was “disappointed” by CNN’s coverage and decision to film the inside crime scene.
“This is unprofessional and a serious violation of journalistic ethics in crime reporting,” the FCCT said.
The Thai Journalists Association has criticized CNN’s conduct as “immoral” and “insensitive” and called for an internal company investigation of the incident on the basis of an official Thai investigation.
In a later statement, CNN International’s executive vice president and general manager Mike McCarthy reiterated that his reporter sought permission to enter the building, but the team “now understands that these officials have no authority to grant this permission,” adding that “it was never their with the intent to violate any rule.”
CNN has stopped airing the report and has removed the video from its website, he said.
“We deeply regret any distress or offense our report may have caused and any inconvenience caused to police at such a painful time in this country,” he said in a statement released by CNN.
As Thailand’s worst massacre of its kind, The attack drew international media attention to the rural town of Utaishawang in the northeastern part of the country. By Sunday, few were left, but a slew of Thai media continued to report from the scene.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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