TJA refuses to make sex probe public
The Thai Journalists Association’s (TJA) insisted yesterday it would not disclose the full results of a probe into alleged sexual harassment involving a news agency executive and a female subordinate.
TJA chairman Pramed Lekpetch said the association stood by its decision not to share the details with the public as that would violate the privacy of those involved as well as the rights of others who had given statements. “The [full] findings can’t be made public because there would be a negative impact,” he said.
Mr Pramed also said one of the best measures to tackle sexual harassment is for victims to speak out and have faith there is a system in place to support and protect them. The TJA’s remarks came after a group of 19 journalists yesterday repeated their call for the association to publish the probe results.
Led by Hathairat Paholthap and Nanthanawut Muangsuk, the group said the TJA should share the findings, both in summary and in full, so the public can determine if the people involved in the scandal were treated fairly.
Ms Hathairat expressed concern that withholding the probe results would affect the media industry as a whole, while Mr Nanthanawut said the TJA’s decision raised suspicions of a cover-up. “If the TJA ignores our request, its credibility is at stake. This case shows the need to move beyond individuals and raise ethical standards across the whole profession,” he said.
The scandal came to light in September last year after details of the alleged misconduct were shared online anonymously. The TJA set up a probe panel after a group of journalists submitted an open letter calling for an investigation into the allegations. The committee, which consisted of six outsiders, sent the results of the probe to the TJA in December. The association summarised the findings in a brief statement the following month.
The accused and his former subordinate conceded they were close and some dubious behaviour had taken place which may have been “misinterpreted or misunderstood” by one of the parties, the panel said in its inquiry report.
The news executive later sued a foreign columnist for naming him in the scandal, shortly before the news agency’s editorial team issued a statement supporting him.