Madeleine McCann: The News Of The World’s Sorry Apology For Tabloid Reporting
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann
HAVING read “the heartbreaking TRUTH that destroys the lies of Portuguese police”, the oh-so-caring News of The World tells its readers:
“We today offer Kate our immediate and sincere apologies.”
No need, surely..?
The News of the World only published extracts from Kate McCann’s private diary because it cares. It wants to help. It has investigated the case of her daughter’s vanishing and found that the Portuguese police are bungling and to blame.
Yeah, those sicko coppers like Goncalo Amaral who seek to profit from the McCanns agony by publishing books. Not sure how much Amaral’s book costs, but the NOTW is under a pound.
Says the paper:
“We published the extracts in the belief held in good faith that we had Kate’s permission to do so.”
Did the caring NOTW ask Kate McCann to publish extracts from her diary, or just think she would agree to it?
The extracts also appeared in The Sun, the NOTW’s sister paper. How did the paper come by them? A police leak? How the papers hate those:
THE SUN: “McCann cops deny ‘smears’”
The Sun: “Leaks, smears … now plane lies”
How the caring tabloids hate those leaks from the Portuguese police:
Madeleine McCann: Liz Hunt Wonders, The Leaked File And The End
As the NOTW explains:
“It is now clear that our belief was misplaced, and that, in fact, Kate neither approved of nor knew the extracts were to be published.”
“Belief”. Yeah, not fact, just an educated hunch…
That apology in full:
Last week we published extracts from Kate McCann’s diaries and explained in the article that we were doing so to “nail the lies” about Kate created by selective leaking from the diaries by Portuguese police.
No, not to make easy headlines, to keep the story alive and sell more newspapers (surely to keep Our Maddie in the public eye? – Ed).
We published the extracts in the belief held in good faith that we had Kate’s permission to do so. It is now clear that our belief was misplaced, and that in fact Kate neither approved of nor knew that the extracts were to be published.
Misplaced. Not wrong…
Upon learning of our error we immediately removed the extracts from our website and we today offer Kate our immediate and sincere apologies. We have agreed to make a donation to be used in the search for Madeleine. The News of the World remains wholly supportive of the McCanns and their continuing campaign to find their daughter.
Make a donation, or be sued, perhaps…
Posted: 22nd, September 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (353) | TrackBack | Permalink
