The National Press Council issued a statement urging the employers of reporters to investigate allegations involving several media outlets being named in offers to sell news on a per-article or monthly basis, and to report back within 30 days.
The National Press Council released a statement regarding the impersonation of media organizations to solicit benefits. It noted that messages circulated in a political party's Line group involved individuals falsely using the names of several media outlets—whose members are part of the National Press Council—to offer news coverage for lump-sum payments per article or monthly, reportedly without issuing receipts.
The National Press Council conducted a preliminary fact check and found that the person posting the message is a reporter affiliated with a member organization of the Council. Accordingly, a letter was sent to the reporter's employer instructing them to use their organization's internal complaint review committee (Ombudsman) to investigate and report the findings to the Council within 30 days, in accordance with the 2021 regulations on internal professional ethics complaint reviews. The Council also advised the member organization to take appropriate actions to remedy damages caused to other member organizations.
Meanwhile, some member organizations of the National Press Council have issued statements clarifying the matter, firmly denying any involvement, direct or indirect, in the impersonation to solicit benefits in exchange for news coverage. The Council believes that other member organizations whose names were misused had no connection or knowledge of these actions.
As the body overseeing ethics for its member organizations, the National Press Council calls on all members to strictly enforce adherence to the media ethics regulations and other guidelines of the Council. This is to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the media institutions.