CNN reporter Anna Coren criticised for entering the crime scene of a Thailand massacre

Australian journalist Anna Coren was part of a CNN news crew that has been labelled “unprofessional” after they allegedly entered a murder scene without permission.

Australian journalist Anna Coren who is an international correspondent with CNN is seen outside the children's nursery in Nong Bua Lamphu province, Thailand. Picture: Twitter / @FCCThai

A CNN news crew, including Australian journalist Anna Coren, has been accused of a “serious ethical breach” – and potentially contaminating a crime scene – after entering the Thailand daycare centre where dozens of people, mostly toddlers, were murdered last week.

The serious security violation is being investigated by Thai authorities, with one local news publication reporting the news crew “would be charged with entering state offices without authorisation and possibly trying to tamper with the evidence” – a crime that carries a jail term of up to five years.

Using footage taken inside the blood-spattered childcare facility, CNN aired a three-minute report that included graphic images of where the stabbings and shootings took place, including a piece-to-camera by Coren during which she points out the bloodstains on the floor and on children’s backpacks, which have yet to be cleaned.

“They said that they found the bodies of children and teachers spread across these three rooms and we can still see the blood stains splattered across the floor,” she reported.

Hong Kong-based Coren, who is one of CNN’s international correspondents, and her film crew are understood to have spent about 15 minutes inside the centre in Nong Bua Lamphu in northern Thailand, where at least 24 children and 12 adults were killed last week. The report, which was removed from CNN”s website on Sunday night, was promoted thus: “Anna Coren spoke to some of the families of the mostly young victims and was allowed inside the scene of the crime.”

This was met with widespread outrage over the weekend from members of the local media industry and the Southeast Asian press club, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, which has been in operation since the 1950s. The group issued a public statement on the weekend, claiming the CNN team “entered a clearly marked crime scene without permission – no matter what they claim”.

FCCT published a photo on Twitter showing Coren holding a camera while walking away from the clearly cordoned-off daycare centre, while another man, believed to be a member of the CNN news crew, climbs over the centre’s fence. On its Twitter post, FCCT wrote: “Image of CNN news crew climbing out of the childcare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu, taken by a Thai journalist.”

FCCT said the CNN crew behaved in an “unethical manner” and their entry into the crime seem was “unprofessional and a serious breach of journalistic ethics in crime reporting”.

“Thailand has been traumatised by this tragedy and there has been wide concern that inappropriate images should not be made public in traditional and social media,” FCCT said in a statement.

“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.”

In a statement posted to Twitter on Sunday, CNN stood by the decision of their news crew to access the crime scene.

“CNN’s crew was filming at Nong Bua Lamphu daycare centre with other media in a period when the centre’s police cordon had been removed,” CNN said in a tweet.

“While filming, three public health officials exiting the building spoke to the team and told them they could film inside.

“The team gathered footage inside the centre for around 15 minutes, then left.

“During this time, the cordon had been set back in place, so the team need to climb over the fence at the centre to leave.”

On Sunday, The Australian attempted to contact CNN and Coren, without reply.