CNN criticised for 'unethical' reporting of Thailand childcare mass shooting

CNN has been criticised by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) for its recent report on the country's recent childcare centre mass shooting in the northeastern province, Nong Bua Lumphu. According to FCCT, CNN journalists entered a clearly marked crime scene without permission, regardless of the organisation's claim. "This was unprofessional and a serious breach of journalistic ethics in crime reporting," the club said.

It added in a statement that this was not a scoop or an example of penetrating reporting because no other news organisation, foreign or local, "was prepared to behave in this unethical manner, and any one of them could have done so".

According to FCCT, the country has been traumatised by this tragedy and there has been a widespread concern all along that inappropriate images should not be made public in traditional and social media.

"Simple respect for the deceased and their families is but one of the reasons. It should be noted that Thailand has a difficult history with inappropriate images of violence and abuse in its media, and great strides have been made in recent years to address this problem," the club said in its statement.

It added that foreign and local media that did not stoop to such unethical conduct under the weight of immense international interest and editorial pressures should be commended. FCCT also asked if one of CNN's crews would have behaved in the same way at a serious crime scene in the US.

In a statement to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Mike McCarthy, CNN International's executive vice president and general manager, said CNN has ceased broadcasting the report and has removed the video from its website. "We deeply regret any distress or offence our report may have caused, and for any inconvenience to the Thai police at such a distressing time for Thailand," he added.

He explained that CNN initially asked permission from the Thai Health Department official to enter the scene. However, the officials were unauthorised to permit anyone to enter. 

Offering more context to the situation, McCarthy said that 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. He added that the team entered the building in good faith, to gain a fuller impression of what transpired inside and to humanise the scale of the tragedy for their audience.

"If the team initially understood that the premise was off limits, they would not have entered. It wasn't the team's intention to contravene any rules," McCarthy added.

At the same time, Thailand's Office of The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications said following the crime coverage of the recent mass shooting, those who attempt to illegally interview the parents and victims or disclose their details from the scene are subjected to Thailand's Criminal Procedure Code under section five. The code protects the victims' rights from indirectly and directly expressing their opinions and answering questions about the incident to the media. In this case, the news coverage, content, and interviews may cause distress to the victims, affected persons and communities involved.  

According to the Office of The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications, such offences and illegal acts are subjected to the Child Protection Act B.E. 2546, the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 and the Computer-Related Offences Act B.E. 2560. The affected persons have full rights to press charges against the preparator under section 37 of the Act 2008.

The Office of National Broadcasting and Telecommunications also urged everyone to abide by and cooperate with ethical coverage and professional reporting – with careful auditing and removing inappropriate content.

The CNN journalists involved, Ann Coren and Daniel Hodge, have since apologised for the coverage last week. According to the BBC, they both were fined US$133 and they agreed to leave the country.

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