Madeleine McCann Category
News digests and reviews of the missing child in the news. Madeleine McCann vanished on Thursday, 3 May 2007 from a rented holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal. Madeleine, on holiday with her twin siblings and parents Kate and Gerry McCann,became the biggest news story of the past decade. We’ve followed it closely ever since the story broke.
Madeleine McCann: The English In Portugal, Danie Krugel And Entertainment
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
THE SUN: “UK cops in McCann talks”
BRITISH police have met Portugal’s public prosecutor to discuss handing over evidence into the Maddie McCann probe. Local cops are set to close the case on Monday and clear parents Kate and Gerry over their daughter’s disappearance.
Yesterday a Portuguese newspaper claimed British cops tried to stop information – including the results of a DNA test on the McCanns’ hire car – from being made public.
DAILY MAIL: “British police failed to stop DNA evidence in McCann case from being made public”
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Posted: 19th, July 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (557)
Robert Murat Damages, McCanns Cleared And Bungling Cops
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
ROBERT Murat has been awarded damages for being libelled by 11 British publications in the matter of Madeleine McCanns disappearance.
When they were libelled, Kate and Gerry McCann got a front-page wholehearted apology from the Daily Star and a donation. The Express did similar.
Today the papers treat the matter as follows:
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Posted: 18th, July 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (119)
Which Newspaper Will Buy Robert Murat’s Story?
MADELEINE McCann aguido Robert Murat has accepted £600,000 in libel damages over claims that he was involved in her abduction.
Outside court Mr Murat says: “The newspapers in this case brought about the total and utter destruction of mine and my family’s life and caused immense distress.”
Round up here.
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Posted: 17th, July 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (499)
Madeleine McCann: Saville Kent, Fictional Detectives And D-Day II
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
Madeleine McCann returns to the nation’s front pages.
No mention is made of Robert Murat’s libel settlement with 11 British organs (more on that later), just the Mirror’s news: “MADDY – Law chief: It’s D-Day on Monday.”
D-Day – much like the Sun’s Maddy D-Day on 29th, November 2007, only more decisive.
DAILY STAR: “D-DAY COMING FOR THE MCCANNS”
THE GUARDIAN: “D-day close in McCann investigation”
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Posted: 17th, July 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (148)
Madeleine McCann: Robert Murat, Newspapers Escape And Libel
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
ROBERT Murat has won libel actions against Sky, The Daily Express, The Sunday Express, The Daily Star, The Daily Mail, The Evening Standard, The Metro, The Daily Mirror, The News of the World, The Sun and The Scotsman.
His case against the media was due to be heard tomorrow, but he has reached a settlement out of court.
You can read a round-up of the matter here, an search for “Robert Murat” on Anorak, which has been highlighting the media campaign againt the expat for over a year.
This settlement saves the media fighting a battle they had no chance of winning and legal fees. The cost is about £50,000-a-head, which is something of a bargain.
And how have these papers responded to the news? With an apology?
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Posted: 16th, July 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids, TV & Radio | Comments (248)
Madeleine McCann: Robert Murat Wins Damages
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
ROBERT Murat, the one-eyed, “oddball“, “weirdo“, “bouncy castle” fetishist, fingered by the Sunday Mirror’s Lori Campbell, has settled a claim for damages with a number of British newspapers over allegations of his involvement in the Madeleine McCann inquiry.
Mr Murat will be in the High Court in London on Thursday to receive apologies from the newspapers.
Did he get £1million? Did they all apologise?
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Posted: 15th, July 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (336)
Not More Madeleine McCann Jokes
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
METRO: “When is serious news seriously funny?”
Nearly always if it’s on ITV?
Topical comedy can be something of a hot potato. Take last year’s most prominent UK news story: the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Not even the most talented comedians could get away with touching it with a bargepole.
Well, no. This one was funny. But not these.
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Posted: 15th, July 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (110)
Madeleine McCann: Clarence Mitchell For Hire, Richard Desmond And The Guardian Repeats
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY TELEGRAPH: “McCann’s spokesman Clarence Mitchell ponders PR move
As Kate and Gerry McCann return from their first family holiday since their daughter Madeleine disappeared 14 months ago, their spokesman Clarence Mitchell is in talks to join a PR agency where he plans to help other parents who have lost children to deal with the media.
Such is the news of the McCann case that the internet traffic-hungry Telegraph is looking at Clarence Mitchell’s career options. An interviwer might ask him what good has come of all the PR and media handling, and point out that not every missing child is the the blonde, photgenic progency of middle-class doctors and thus not deemed to be as newsworthy.
Says Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman:
“I’m happy to help anyone in the eye of a media storm, but I need to put myself on a firm financial footing. I should stress, however, that there’s absolutely no question of me abandoning Kate and Gerry McCann.”
Working for the McCanns is a job, and it pays. But when will it end?
THE GUARDIAN: “Fakery fallout hits TV sector”
Deception rows caused several top television figures to slide down the top 100. It’s the MediaGuardian 100, an arbitrary league table of TV shows and staff.
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Posted: 14th, July 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann | Comments (620)
Madeleine McCann: The People Analyses The McCanns’ Holiday
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
THE PEOPLE: “WISH SHE WAS HERE”
EXCLUSIVE Maddie in parents’ hearts as they take the twins on first break without her. Moving pictures of holiday brave McCann family thought would be impossible to bear
The People has no little power and can look into the minds of the MCCanns and actually see what they are thinking.
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Posted: 13th, July 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (353)
Madeleine McCann: Child Alert, Daily Mail Knows And Fay Weldon
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY MIRROR: “McCanns win child alert fight MADELEINE”
Kate and Gerry McCann yesterday won their fight for an EU-wide missing child alert system, in tribute to their daughter Madeleine. A declaration supporting the couple’s plea attracted backing from at least 398 MEPs – more than half the 785 European Parliament members.
Or as the Mail said earlier in the week: DAILY MAIL: “Brussels throws out McCann’s appeal for European missing child alert system”
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Posted: 11th, July 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (891)
Madeleine McCann: Oprah
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY STAR: “MCCANNS’ OPRAH WINDFALL”
MADELEINE McCann’s parents are planning a big bucks interview with US chatshow queen Oprah Winfrey to boost their search fund.
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Posted: 10th, July 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (693)
Madeleine McCann: Child Alert, Fear And Tony Bennett’s McCann Club
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY TELEGRAPH: “Madeleine McCann: Kate and Gerry’s fury at ‘club’ devoted to prosecuting them”
Gerry and Kate McCann have expressed their anger at the establishment of a fee-paying “club” dedicated to seeing them prosecuted over the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.
A retired British solicitor, Tony Bennett, has set up a fund called The Madeleine Foundation, which aims to bring a private prosecution against the McCanns for alleged child neglect.
Tony Bennett has been on Anorak.
But Madeleine’s parents fear members of the public will inadvertently donate money to it because they may mistake it for the McCanns’ own Madeleine Fund, which pays for private investigations into her whereabouts.
Mr Bennett says his fund is a “subscription-only members’ club, charging a £10 annual fee”.
Says Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman: “It is a great shame that Mr Bennett feels the need to make money out of Madeleine McCann. He did not seek permission from Gerry or Kate to use Madeleine’s name.”
It’s a brand?
“This so-called foundation is in no way doing anything to help find Madeleine.”
Says Bennett:
“Some of the money immediately raised will be used to pay for a barrister to give his or her opinion on how best to proceed with a legal action against the McCanns. We are a group of people, which is rapidly growing in number, who want to get to the truth of what happened to Madeleine. We will also campaign for changes to the law about parents who leave children on their own.
DAILY MAIL: “Brussels throws out McCann’s appeal for European missing child alert system”
Kate and Gerry McCann’s campaign for an alert system for missing children across Europe will not be adopted by the EU, ministers said yesterday.
FENLAND TODAY: “McCanns win more backing for child abduction alert”
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Posted: 9th, July 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (701)
Madeleine McCann: Justice Hogg Says, Portugal Reacts And No Evidence
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY STAR: “COPS GIVE UP MADDIE DOSSIERS!”
POLICE yesterday agreed to show Madeleine McCann’s parents 81 witness statements. The couple’s detectives will study the confidential documents and re-interview the witnesses.
And what have we learned so far, after 14 months of inbestigating – other thn a child is missing?
Her GP mum Kate and heart consultant dad Gerry, both 40.
Says High Court Judge Mrs Justice Hogg: At the court in London, the judge said:
“There is, of course, one person who knows what has happened to Madeleine and where she may be found.
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Posted: 8th, July 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (555)
Madeleine McCann: More Evidence, Tony Parsons Knows And Claims
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY MAIL: “McCanns win right to see key evidence about Madeleine’s disappearance held by police”
The parents of Madeleine McCann today won the right to see key documents held by police relating to her disappearance.
Won?
The McCanns had planned to take Leicestershire Police to the High Court but no case was heard as the force agreed to give them access to 81 pieces of information gathered as part of the investigation.
Progress? Elsewhere, in the same online article:
The couple, who are both 40, are not expected to attend today’s hearing in London before Mrs Justice Hogg…The hearing is scheduled to take place in the High Court’s family division, although it will be held in open court.
Such is the news.
DAILY MIRROR: “Portuguese police to rule out Madeleine McCann abduction theory”
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Posted: 7th, July 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (522)
Madeleine McCann: Reporting Injunction
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
WHISPERS of an injunction:
That the UK press gets much of its insider information on the McCann case from reading “source says” in the Portuguese press is beyond doubt.
Can the UK press be barred from reporting on these reports?
Scott QC is listed leading for McCann today.
Abdullah Masry v Mona Al Khatib, High Court Family Division, Sumner J (led by Timothy Scott QC) – successful application for an injunction restraining the press generally from publishing stories about the parties and their children (contra mundum order) – application of the court’s jurisdiction in wardship;
As Anorak’s Carmen writes:
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Posted: 7th, July 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (196)
Madeleine McCann: Allison Pearson Demands And Fact Checking Kate And Gerry McCann
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
Madeleine McCann is retuned to the front pages.
DAILY MAIL (front page): “ALLISON PEARSON ON THE McCANNS… If the Portuguese police had a shred of decency they would now make a public apology to Kate and Gerry”
Page 5: “Now clear out names”
Before the Mail’s columnist can voice an opinion – and what is the case of Madeleine McCann but one of opinion upon opinion – time to go over the fact that has been established in 14 months of reporting (a child is missing) and hear the McCann plead their innocence.
Oh, there is one other fact: the “McCanns are “both 40”. Remember that.
PEARSON: “The Maddie detectives must now apologise”
Now it seems the spectacularly incompetent Inspector Cluesnos are ready to admit they have no evidence against the McCanns
Yeah, those hapless amateurs. If only the Portuguese wooden tops were more like the British tabloid hacks who root their maybes in Portuguese press reports and hunches. What of Robert Murat?
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Posted: 2nd, July 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (2,625)
Madeleine McCann: Kate And Gerry McCann Cleared By Portuguese Press
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY MAIL: “Kate and Gerry McCann to be cleared as Portuguese police close Madeleine investigation”
Portuguese police have concluded their probe into the mystery and found no evidence against the couple, it was claimed today. Fellow suspect Robert Murat will also be cleared of any crime, respected Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias reported.
Papers gets news from other papers.
Robert Murat’s lawyer Francisco Pagarete said he knew nothing of the latest developments in the Madeleine McCann case. He added: ‘We haven’t been contacted by anyone in the police for more than three months. Robert is calm.’
SKY NEWS: “Portuguese detectives have dropped the Madeleine McCann case due to lack of evidence, according to media reports in Portugal.”
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Posted: 1st, July 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (540)
How The Madeleine McCann Story Was Hijacked By Web Trolls
FROM the Anorak Forums – by AGW:
One of the most bizarre and troubling aspects of of the Madeleine McCann story has been the way the coverage of the story has itself become the story.
Anorak is not a site which has ever been (or ever will be) dedicated to the alleged crimes of abduction and subsequent claim and counter-claim of deeper, darker deeds involving in turn a resident Englishman in the Portuguese holiday complex where the McCann family had been staying and then the parents and their friends themselves.
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Posted: 30th, June 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (626)
Madeleine McCann: Selling Books
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
Madeleine McCann has become the benchmark for all mention of paedos and missing children in fact and fiction. After Ben Affleck’s film, the press now has books by Irvine Welsh and Catherine O’Flynn to conjure with…
DALLAS MORNING NEWS: “’What Was Lost’ by Catherine O’Flynn: Masterful mystery draws shivers with tale of missing girl”
It is no great surprise that in 2007, when Britain was obsessed with the Madeleine McCann case, a novel about a missing child should resonate with readers there. What Was Lost won Catherine O’Flynn the prestigious Costa First Novel Award and made her the British book trade’s “Newcomer of the Year.”
IRISH HERALD: “Maddie link put Welsh’s new book on hold”
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Posted: 29th, June 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (222)
Madeleine McCann: Tabloid Bingo With Ginny Dougary And Irvine Welsh
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
Madeleine McCann has become the benchmark for all mention of paedos and missing children in fact and fiction. After Ben Affleck’s film, the press now has a book by Irvine Welsh to conjure with.
THE TIMES: “The gentrification of Irvine Welsh”, by Ginny Dougary
This whole subject (including the blame-the-mother syndrome) is discomfitingly topical – from Portugal, with the vanishing of Madeleine McCann, to Goa (the murder of 15-year-old Scarlett Keeling) and the ongoing morbid fascination with the Austrian captivity cases of Natascha Kampusch and Elisabeth Fritzl.
It’s Tabloid Bingo! in the tabloid Times…
Posted: 28th, June 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (262)
Madeleine McCann: A Solicitor Writes To The Express
LITTLE news in the Express of the paper’s once ubiquitous missing cover girl Madeleine McCann.
One reason could be that Express Newspapers have received a solicitor’s letter from the so-called Tapas 7 threatening to sue the paper in relation to “a number of articles”.
All ‘Our Maddie’ related content has been purged from the newspapers’ websites.
Can we expect another generous donation to the McCann fighting fund soon, and Madeleine to reappear on the papers’ front pages, albeit for one day only?
Posted: 27th, June 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (166)
Madeleine McCann: Beyond A Joke
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
LARGS & MILLPORT Weekly News (Scotland): Charity worker in Maddie sick joke row
A charity boss from West Kilbride has been suspended over a sick joke about Madeleine McCann.
Senior manager Lynn McBain was suspended earlier this month after referring in a staff newsletter to the 4-year-old girl who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal over a year ago.
Some readers were left shocked after she joked that “McCann oven chips” had disappeared from her oven after she left them there for 20 minutes.
When is it safe to make a joke from a tragedy?
Posted: 26th, June 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (632)
Madeleine McCann: Death Threats And A Bedroom Intruder
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
LEICESTER MERCURY: “DEATH THREATS MADE TO GERRY AND KATE”
Gerry and Kate McCann have installed panic alarms and CCTV cameras at their Rothley home after receiving “menacing letters and e-mails”.The report, in a Sunday newspaper [The People], said the parents have received two death threats – and one sender suggested an intruder would target the missing five-year-old’s bedroom.
And do what? Take pictures for a tabloid?
The People quotes a Leicestershire Constabulary spokesman who tells the world:
“Unfortunately, there are some lunatics out there. They will not let these people break them down.”
Does that sound like an objective police officer?
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Posted: 24th, June 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (940)
Madeleine McCann: Irvine Welsh, French T-Shirts And A Halo
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
SUNDAY HERALD: “I don’t believe we get rewarded or punished, but I believe we have a responsibility to try to get the best out of life and make it comfortable for other people”
IRVINE WELSH arrives at the Irish Film Institute in Dublin carrying a holdall in two-tone, light beige leather; it gives the impression that he has just walked in from a picnic. Natural atrium light swamps his head and in a flash he’s almost on top of me, swapping his bag from one set of fingers to another and shaking my hand. His face contorts: he is an hour and a bit late and he’s sorry.
A halo?
Welsh’s jacket is reversible yellow. His T-shirt, in French, says “What would you do if this was the end of the world?” Well? “I don’t know,” he says, apparently uninspired by the question he is advertising.
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Posted: 23rd, June 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (318)
Madeleine McCann: Daily Mirror Brings Yesterday’s New Tomorrow
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY MIRROR: Kate and Gerry McCann ask police to release vital files
The Mirror brings a follow up to the earlier story that the McCanns are to see the police files on them.
McCanns not seen poilice files today but might do tomorrow. Read all about it. Such is the news:
Kate and Gerry McCann will ask a High Court judge to order police to release files which they believe will help the search for their missing daughter Madeleine.
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Posted: 22nd, June 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (262)
