(FreedomBeacon.com)- CNN deleting footage after it was accused of breaching journalistic ethics when two reporters took footage of the massacre at a Thailand daycare center, in which more than 30 people were killed, with 20 of them being children, according to Mediaite. The outlet pulled the story and issued an apology when authorities of the country said that the network did not have permission to film.
CNN International’s executive vice president and general manager Mike McCarthy issued a statement expressing the network’s apologies, saying that they did receive permission but not from the right authorities, adding that the network “now understands that these officials were not authorized to grant this permission.”
“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,” McCarthy said in the statement.
The two journalists, Anna Coren and Daniel Hodge, received fines and agreed to leave the country according to Deputy National Polcie Chief Surachate Hakparn.
CNN alleged that the film crew had been present with other media and received permission to enter the crime scene from “public health officials.” The network said that the film crew was there for only about 15 minutes before they had to climb a fence when a police cordon was put back in place.
CNN’s coverage was called a “unprofessional,” according to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand in a statement.
“A CNN team entered a clearly marked crime scene without permission—no matter what they may claim. This was unprofessional and a serious breach of journalistic ethics in crime reporting,” the group said.
“It was not a scoop or an example of penetrating reporting because no other news organization, foreign or local, was prepared to behave in this unethical manner, and any one of them could have done so,” they continued.
