Madeleine McCann: The Video, The Song And The Prayer
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann
Another day and another anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. No proof of what happened to her has come to light; no proof of any crime behind her vanishing. The parents keep their daughter’s name in the news. And the media…
GLASGOW SUNDAY MAIL: “Xmas Plea For Maddie”
MISSING Madeleine McCann’s voice has been heard in public for the first time in a Christmas home video…Maddie, then three, is heard telling her siblings, twins Sean and Amelie: “Clap your hands together and one, two, three.”
The words:
Madeleine McCann with
Twins Sean and Amelie
Clap your hands together
And one two three
Sing along…
LIVERPOOL DAILY POST: “McCanns make Christmas video plea”
Madeleine then holds up her new pair of shoes and says: “These are my shoes.” Behind the camera Mr McCann asks her what colour they are, and she answers: “Pink.”
Counting. Colours. Normality.
The short film, which has Snow Patrol’s hit song Chasing Cars as its soundtrack, also features a montage of clips of Madeleine.
Snow Patrol provide the theme tune for missing children. A Christmas Number one?
DAILY MAIL: “Heard for the first time, the excited voice of Madeleine enjoying her last family Christmas”
The first time?
Says Clarence Mitchell:
“This message is entirely focused on Madeleine, as it should be at this time of year. They are still very much continuing a lot of hard work behind the scenes in the search for their daughter.”
Says Mitchell talking of, er, Kate and McCann. And once again we are also watching the parents.
NEWS OF THE WORLD: “In such a bleak midwinter, let’s hold on to hope”
Bleak? Oh, hang on, the NOTW is playing its mawkish card. The paper of bonks and tits has a prayer. The NOTW has found god:
BETWEEN the frantic ringing of the tills and last-minute festive preparations we urge you to read the searing words of Melanie Jones.
Eyes down, and we pray…
The mother of murdered schoolboy Rhys has a stark message for every family in the land.
An alternative Christmas message from a mother who has lost her son.
There is, however, a chink of light in our darkness. As Archbishop of York John Sentamu points out on this page today, a majority of schoolchildren believe parents are the true heroes in our society.
Those survey results are in…
Now, more than ever, let us send prayers and thanks to our Forces fighting terror in faraway lands.
From the soles of our shoes…
Let those of us with money to spend remember those without jobs.
Kyle of Jeremy is ready for you now…
Let us keep in our thoughts the plight of missing Madeleine McCann and the ordeal of her family.
Speculatus, speculatum, specualtant.
SUNDAY EXPRESS (front page): “MADDY SPEAKS”… exclusively to the Express?
DAILY STAR: “MADDIE: VOICE OF AN ANGEL”
One paper had to say “Voice of an angel”. And the Star supplies the obligatory headline… But she’s not dead. The Star knows:
The little girl leaps up from the stairs and dances around, waving the shoes and looking up at light streaming through a window. She was aged three at the time. She was nearly four when she disappeared and will now be five.
The light. Do you see the light? Such are the facts.
We see “doctor dad Gerry” and “Maddie is seen being held by her mum Kate – also a 41-year-old doctor”.
Such are the facts.
BBC: “Christmas video appeal for Madeleine McCann”
“She is seen in the video with her younger brother and sister, twins Sean and Amelie, and speaking about her new pink shoes.”
Is the BBC now a YouTube for missing children and unsolved cases? Send in a video and the Beeb will feature it. Not a bad idea to end each news show with a look at a missing child or an unsolved crime. But for now the case of Madeleine McCann is the only one featured…
AFP (newswires): “McCann family releases video plea for Madeleine information”
Says Clarence Mitchell:
“Kate and Gerry do not wish to say anything further. They feel the video will speak for itself.”
Which is why Clarence Mitchell is still speaking for them?
“Kate and Gerry are still very much continuing a lot of hard work behind the scenes in the search for their daughter. This, they feel, is a timely and appropriate reminder that she is still out there and that somebody somewhere may still have that vital piece of information that may lead to her being found.”
A child is missing – stilling missing. The parents do all they can. But the media sheds no light, only stares. And we are, as ever, watching the parents…
Posted: 21st, December 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews Comments (44) | TrackBack | Permalink
