CNN deleted a report from its website and apologized Sunday for "any distress" it caused after irking officials with the network’s "insensitive" coverage of a daycare massacre in northeast Thailand.
Thursday's horrific shooting and knife attack in the province of Nongbua Lamphu – around 300 miles northeast of the capital of Bangkok – left 36 people dead, 23 of them children. The Thai Journalist’s Association’s Committee on Press Freedom and Media Reform blasted CNN, calling the network’s coverage of the attack "unethical, insensitive and at the risk of encouraging ‘copycat’ behaviors" from other outlets after CNN crews entered the crime scene without permission.
The TJA said CNN’s action "amounts to an intrusion of a major crime scene," and calling it a "seriously flawed decision that no professional media should have taken." It also accused CNN of airing graphic images "without a clear appeal to the public interest that may cause distress to the audience," and setting a "dangerous precedent" for other media personnel to breach ethics and privacy concerns to secure exclusive scoops.
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CNN deleted a report from its website and apologized Sunday for "any distress" it caused after irking officials with the network’s "insensitive" coverage of the mass deadly shooting at a Thailand daycare center. (Reuters)
The Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Thailand also scolded CNN, saying the conduct was "unprofessional and a serious breach of journalistic ethics in crime reporting."
CNN apologized but insisted its crews wouldn’t have entered the crime scene if they knew it was off limits.
"CNN’s team reporting from the scene of the tragic event in Nong Bua Lamphu sought permission from Thailand Health Department officials present there to enter the daycare center. The team now understands that these officials were not authorized to grant this permission. If the team had understood that the building and its room were off limits, they would not have entered. It was never their intention to contravene any rules," CNN International executive vice president Mike McCarthy said in a statement.
"The team entered the compound through an open gate to the yard, where other journalists were already present. There was no police tape on the scene at the time. After working carefully and respectfully inside the building for around 15 minutes the team went to leave, however the gate to the grounds was now closed and police tape had been erected, which meant they needed to climb over the gate to exit," the CNN exec continued. "The team entered the building in good faith, to gain a fuller impression of what transpired inside and to humanize the scale of the tragedy for their audience."
McCarthy then noted CNN "has removed the video" from its website.
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"We deeply regret any distress or offense our report may have caused, and for any inconvenience to the Thai police at such a distressing time for the country," McCarthy said.
CNN International executive vice president Mike McCarthy apologized for "any distress or offense our report may have caused." (Twitter)
CNN’s journalists also filmed their own apologies.
"I would like to offer my deepest apologies to the people of Thailand, especially the families of the victims of this tragedy. We are so sorry if we’ve caused you more pain and suffering. That was never our intention," CNN reporter Anna Coren said in a video shared by Thairath News.
"We would also like to apologize to the Thai police and to the deputy police chief for the inconvenience that we have caused. We know that your country is going through such a painful time, and we never came here to cause more grief," the reporter continued before her colleague took over.
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Parents and relatives grieve after identifying their children who were murdered in Thailand. ( (REUTERS))
"I’d like to apologize to the people of Thailand for any extra grief we’ve caused in this incredibly traumatic time," Daniel Hodge said.
Both journalists were fined and agreed to leave the country, deputy national police chief Surachate Hakparn said.
The bodies of the victims were brought to various temples where they were identified by their parents. Most of the children, aged between two and five, were slashed to death, while adults were shot, police said in the aftermath of the worst child death toll in a massacre by a single killer in recent history.
Police identified the attacker as Panya Khamrap, 34, a former police sergeant who was discharged over drug accusations and who was facing trial on a drugs charge.
Thailand’s chief of police Damrongsak Kittipraphat told reporters on Friday that the gunman had an argument with his wife before going to court in the morning. He came home from court and didn't find them there so he went to the day care and then started the killing spree.
Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed and the Associated Press to this report.