CNN has apologized for reporting without permission from inside a Thai daycare facility where 24 children were killed by a gunman last week and removed a video reporting on the massacre.
The news outlet said its journalists had received permission from Thailand Health Department officials, but it now realizes those officials were not authorized to give the necessary permission. CNN also said there was no police tape or barrier blocking the facility when they went inside but that police had put up tape once they were inside.
GUNMAN KILLS 36 PEOPLE AROUND CHILDCARE CENTER IN THAILAND
CNN said it has stopped airing materials filmed inside the daycare center but insisted its crews had entered in “good faith.”
“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. CNN has ceased broadcasting the report and has removed the video from its website. 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,” said Mike McCarthy, general manager and executive vice president for CNN International, in a statement.
The two journalists were cleared of any wrongdoing but were fined 5,000 Thai baht, or roughly $133, for working within the country under a tourist visa and agreed to leave the country, per the Associated Press.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The gunman killed at least 36 people, 24 of them children, in the Oct. 6 gun and knife attack in Nong Bua Lamphu, Thailand.
Mass shootings are considered a rarity in the country, with this incident being the deadliest perpetrated by a lone gunman in the country’s history.
