Madeleine McCann And Shannon Matthews: And Jamie Bulger

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann and Shannon Matthews

THE INDEPENDENT: “Missing: The contrasting searches for Shannon and Madeleine. Has class influenced the rewards offered and publicity given to two campaigns to find missing children? Cole Moreton goes to Dewsbury to investigate”

Shannon’s parents are not doctors. The child is not blonde, neither is the mother.

Shannon’s uncle, Neil Hyett, lives next door to her, and has had his house and garden searched. The media frenzy of last week bewildered him, but like many others in Dewsbury Moor he says he now wishes he could find a way to make it continue. “It’s all gone quiet, hasn’t it?” he said at the sparse community centre from which the leaflet and poster campaign continues to be run. “Last week, you couldn’t park for television vans. Now they’ve all been sent away on other stories.” Even The Sun’s support yesterday caused disappointment. “I’m devastated, to be honest,” said a coach driver, as others around him agreed. “That poster should have been on the front page.” It was on page 17.

Madeleine McCann

Age: Four. Parents: Kate, 40, a GP. Gerry, 39, a cardiologist. Siblings: Twins, now aged two.
Home: Detached house, Leicestershire.
UK press stories after nine days: 465.
Rewards offered: £2.6m: the ‘News of the World’, Stephen Winyard, Philip Green, Simon Cowell, Coleen McLoughlin, ‘The Sun’, Sir Richard Branson, J K Rowling.
Public donations: £1.1m:
J K Rowling, Bryan Adams, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, John Terry, Phil Neville, David Moyes, the England cricket team.
Wikipedia profile: 2,182 words after nine days.

Shannon Matthews

Age: Nine. Parents: Karen, 32, and Leon Rose, 29. Stepfather, Craig, 22. Siblings: Six boys and girls, from her mother’s partnerships with five different men.
Home: Three-bed council house, Dewsbury Moor.
UK press stories after nine days: 242.
Rewards offered: £25,500. Made up of £20,000 by ‘The Sun’, £5,000 from Huddersfield firm Joseph International, £500 from Wakefield pensioner Winston Bedford.
Public donations: Thousands at most, including Leona Lewis.
Wikipedia profile: 151 words after nine days.

SUNDAY PEOPLE: “Lost little Shannon ‘snatched’”

Devastated friends and family of missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews last night insisted the nine-year-old was snatched.

Says cousin Vicky Saunders: “Shannon’s quite a timid girl and wouldn’t like to go off on her own.

Family friend Petra Jamieson adds: “She’s the ideal daughter who behaves well. We want everyone to remember Shannon, like they do Madeleine McCann.”

Anorak

Posted: 2nd, March 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (443)

Madeleine McCann: What Shannon Matthews Is Worth, Asda And PR

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann and Shannon Matthews

THE SUN: “£20k reward in Shannon hunt”

THE Sun yesterday offered a £20,000 reward to find missing “little princess” Shannon Matthews.

Good on the paper. But does a reward help? Has it helped Madeleine Mccann? And why £20,000 when Madeleine McCann garnered so much more? Is a reward index linked to the missing child’s age? Or is it because Shannon’s parents are not middle-class – not doctors – and smaller amounts mean more to them?

We also printed posters urging our vast army of readers to help in the hunt for the nine-year-old schoolgirl. And last night her anguished mum Karen, 32, said: “I’m so grateful for all you are doing. It’s a fantastic gesture and means so much to us. We just hope it brings her back.”

Then, hugging Shannon’s stepdad Craig Meehan, 22, she added: “Our message to people is never give up . . . because we won’t until we find her.”

THE TIMES: “Poor little Shannon Matthews. Too poor for us to care that she is lost?”

“Her family may seem feckless. Neighbours can’t afford to run a PR campaign. How the public spotlight faded on missing girl.”

Shannon..?

Sarah Payne, smiling in her school uniform; Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, in their Manchester United shirts; Madeleine McCann, staring inquisitively with her distinctive bleeding iris . . .The names and faces of these girls who have disappeared are etched into the public’s collective memory.

Camera crews camped out in their home towns for weeks or months. Donations totalled thousands — even millions — of pounds. Members of the public, many of them strangers, came in their hundreds to offer help and prayers for their safe return.

Yet the trauma and mystery surrounding the disappearance of one nine-year-old girl almost two weeks ago appeared to drift from public consciousness within days…

She’s not Madeleine McCann. No doctors. No logo. No Maddy Catty. No watching the parents. The media treatment is no fault of the McCanns. But are we bored of missing children stories. Have the press caught Maddy fatigue?

Read the rest of this entry »

Anorak

Posted: 1st, March 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (798)

Madeleine McCann, Shannon Matthews, Sniffer Dogs And Leona Lewis

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.

THE SUN: “McCann pals to face cop quiz”

Portuguese “cops are to jet to Britain to interview Kate and Gerry McCann and their pals in a last-ditch bid to solve Maddie’s disappearance. They want to quiz David Payne, Jane Tanner and partner Russell O’Brien, it was claimed.”

The Sun’s source is newspaper 24 horas. It reports: “We are finalising the last few details. Within ten days’ a team of investigators will travel to the UK.”

DAILY TELEGRAPH: “Last night on television: The Girls Who Were Found Alive (C4) – Empty (BBC2)”

It was impossible not to think of other “disappearance” cases while watching The Girls Who Were Found Alive (C4). This fine Cutting Edge documentary told the story of two youngsters whose abduction, a decade ago, by a predatory paedophile ended against the odds in rescue. It could serve as a beacon of hope for any parent facing their worst nightmare. But in the context of the search for nine-year-old Shannon Matthews, who went missing last week in Dewsbury, and the ongoing tragedy of Madeleine McCann, it had extra poignancy.

SHANNON MATTHEWS: “LEONA IN PLEA TO ‘NUMBER 1 FAN’ SHANNON”

Read the rest of this entry »

Anorak

Posted: 29th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (1,054)

Madeleine McCann In A Taxi ‘With Murat’, Denied And Shannon Matthews

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.

THE SUN: “Maddie & Murat ‘in a cab’”

Portuguese taxi driver claims Madeleine McCann was in his cab the night she vanished — with Robert Murat. “Antonio Cardoso, 67, insisted he took the little girl and four adults on a short journey to a hotel where they all switched to a Jeep with foreign plates.”

Says he:

“I later recognised him on television. I am sure it was him…She was awake but silent. She was just staring ahead with big owlish eyes. I noticed her eye because my son was born with a defect much the same. I saw her kind of twist her chin a few times in my rear-view mirror. I remember she was in pink pyjamas and wondered why they hadn’t dressed her.”

Says McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell: “We are dismissing this primarily because the timings are entirely wrong.”

IRISH EXAMINER: “Taxi driver claims he picked up Madeleine”

Antonio Castela, 67, said he dropped off the missing girl and her English-speaking mystery companions at an Algarve hotel and watched them drive off in a blue jeep. He insisted he was “100% sure” his passengers included Madeleine.

The McCanns and Robert Murat — the third official suspect in the Madeleine McCann case — all deny wrongdoing”

Kate Mccann is a “GP” Kate and husband Gerry a “heart specialist”

Anorak

Posted: 28th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (1,311)

Madeleine McCann, Shannon Matthews And Missing Child Protocol

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.

Shannon Matthews is missing. Is the media treating her case the same way as it views Madeleine McCann? And, in light of missing Madeleine,  is there now a protocol for what occurs when a child goes missing?

DAILY MIRROR: “LOST TO US ALL”

Sue Carroll: Most of us won’t have an instant recollection who Shannon Matthews is. After thinking twice, of course we all know she is the nine-year-old missing from her home in Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire.

But what a terrible indictment of the media that, when a child has disappeared in Britain for over a week, her name doesn’t spring to our lips, we don’t know her school, favourite toy or what she was wearing when last seen.

Shannon is as precious to her family as Madeleine McCann, missing for 300 days, is to hers. But where are the front-page pictures, campaigns, the furore? Would this be different if she was the daughter of two middle-class, mediasavvy parents? Not a working-class child from up North.

THE SUN: “Marchers wants Shannon home”

THE family of Shannon Matthews led a poignant candlelit vigil for the missing nine-year-old last night – as police admitted hopes of finding her alive looked “bleak”.

Anguished mum Karen and stepdad Craig joined 300 neighbours on a march through streets near their home.

Children carried a banner showing the youngster’s face and a hotline to ring with information.

A hotline. Like Madeleine. A vigil. There is picture of Shannon on her birthday.

Balloons bearing pleas for Shannon’s safe return were released during last night’s vigil.

THIS IS LONDON: “Police search house of missing Shannon’s uncle as detectives treat case ‘as seriously as a murder'”

Read the rest of this entry »

Anorak

Posted: 27th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (1,154)

Shannon Matthews, Madeleine McCann And Haut De La Garenne

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

EVENING STANDARD: “MAN HELPING IN SEARCH SHANNON MATTHEWS ‘CRUCIFIED’ JUST YARDS FROM MISSING GIRL’S HOME”

A man helping in the search for missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews is believed to have been crucified outside his house just yards from the nine-year-old’s family home.

Police are investigating the alleged assault of a 43-year-old man who neighbours claim was nailed to a wooden cross through his hands on Sunday night, and some locals claim the attack is related to the hunt for the missing girl.

Anorak

Posted: 26th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (1,253)

Shannon Matthews, Haut De La Garenne Paedophiles And Madeleine McCann

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

DAILY RECORD: “Six New Sites To Be Probed In Jersey Children’s Home Body Hunt”

“A sniffer dog that discovered a child’s remains at a former children’s home has found six other areas at the site to investigate. Police continued to search Haut de la Garenne, in St Martin, Jersey, where the body was found on Saturday.

“They were investigating child abuse allegations at the home on the east coast of the island. The bones of the unidentified child – believed to date from the 1980s – were found using ground penetrating radar and Eddie, a springer spaniel sniffer dog previously used in the hunt for Madeleine McCann”

DAILY MIRROR: “Police search 200 homes in a bid to find missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews”

Shannon Matthews is aged 9

Worried neighbours and family members, some wearing T-shirts showing pictures of the schoolgirl, yesterday filled the residents’ association hall near her home. Leaflets and posters appealing for information have been distributed. Day and night searches by friends and relatives are still going on. Gerry McCann, father of missing Madeleine, said Shannon’s disappearance was “deeply concerning”.

“Hunt for more kid remains” – A “sniffer dog has pinpointed SIX more places where bodies may be buried at the ex-children’s home where a youngster’s bones were unearthed. The child’s remains were found by a spaniel, used in the hunt for Madeleine McCann, under inches of concrete on Saturday”

THE SUN:” “McCanns: We pray for Shan”

But this is about Shannon Matthews. What has it to do with the McCanns?

Read the rest of this entry »

Anorak

Posted: 25th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids | Comments (1,144)

Madeleine McCann: Dorset, Antonia Jiminez And Cocaine

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

SUNDAY EXPRESS: “I’VE SEEN MADDY IN BRITAIN”

A man claims he saw her with a Portuguese couple in Dorset

SUNDAY PEOPLE: “Cocaine rap for ‘tec with Maddie firm”

“A private detective linked to the agency hunting Maddie McCann was last night behind bars accused of helping steal £25million worth of cocaine. Antonia Jimenez, 53, is a business partner of the founder of Metodo 3 which is charging £50,000-a-month to search for the missing British toddler”

Gerry and Kate McCann’s spokesman said: “Jimenez has worked with Metodo 3 but has not been involved in the Madeleine investigation”

The paper reminds readers how Metodo 3 were going to find Madeleine by Christmas – last Christmas. Not a white Christmas

DAILY MAIL: “Madeleine: Detective linked to McCanns’ private investigators in £25m cocaine probe”

“Retired police officer Antonio Jimenez, 53, was remanded in custody on Thursday by a judge investigating the loss of half a ton of cocaine from a container docked in Barcelona in 2005. Jimenez was a business partner of Maria Fernandez Lado, 57, founder of Metodo 3, the agency charging £50,000 a month to search for Madeleine”

The caper: “The cocaine was smuggled into Spain in 974 packets on the ship Hispanota, which was transporting frozen prawns from Venezuela. It docked in Barcelona in November 2004 and the drugs were taken on January 24, 2005”

DAILY TELEGRAPH: “Madeleine McCann: detective agency link held”

Anorak

Posted: 24th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (645)

Madaleine McCann: Amaral Accused

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

THE SUN: “McCanns slur cop to face trial”

Goncalo Amaral is to go in the dock.

No, not because he “smeared” Kate and Gerry McCann. Not for “claiming British cops were trying to shield the McCanns, both 39, of Rothley, Leics.”

Mr Amaral “faces six years for allegedly concealing that four colleagues beat Leonor Cipriano, 36, until she confessed to killing her daughter Joana, nine”

Anorak

Posted: 23rd, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (463)

Is Madeleine McCann Disappearing From The UK Press?

THE Anorak has been watching the media’s treatment of the Madeleine McCann story for some months.

The tragedy of a missing child was turned into a media feeding frenzy, a grim story with any gaps in the narrative plugged with speculation and voyeurism.

We were invited to become sleuths, armchair detectives working out who had done what and how. Nothing meaningful has been achieved by this. Madeleine McCann is missing.

Who cannot feel for those involved? Who would want to be them?  

Now Anorak learns from a reader that the Madeleine McCann story may be disappearing from the British press, and newspapers’ websites.

Anorak’s team of moderators seeks to weed out libellous comments and anyone making accusations against individuals they cannot back up. We seek not to mirror the press but show you how the story is presented by media outlets to their audiences. Now read this:

. xklamation |

Madeleine McCann is vanishing from the British Press

Every single story in the Daily Express and in the Daily Star regarding Madeleine McCann has disappeared.

This was the answer given by the Daily Express’ online editor, Geoff Marsh:

“Hi xxx, Many thanks for your email. For operational reasons, some articles previously available on express.co.UK have been temporarily removed. I’m afraid I can’t go into any more detail. Best wishes, Geoff”

And from the web team of Daily Express:

“Hi xxx

Many thanks for your email – and indeed your continued support as a regular reader.

I assure you, we do value you – and your input.

Daily Express
Due to operational reasons, a number of stories which previously appeared on express.co.uk have been made temporarily unavailable.

Apologies if this causes any inconvenience or disrupts your use of our website.

I’m afraid I can’t go into any more detail.

However I would like to emphasise once again that we value your readership – and are grateful for your ongoing support of express.co.uk.

Best wishes

The Web Team”

Why is thia happening?  

Anorak

Posted: 22nd, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (410)

Madeleine McCann: Melissa Fiering Knows, CCTV And The ‘Mark Of Madeleine’

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

DAILY STAR: “French child was not Maddie”

Melissa Fiering was mistaken

DAILY MIRROR: “This is the first image of the man a student claims she saw with Madeleine McCann in a cafe.”

An image. a drawing of a man who looks like a cross between Johnny Depp and KD Lang.

Melissa Fiering, 18, described the dark-skinned male to sketch artist Emre Altin, 28, exclusively for the Mirror.

Speaking at her home in Nijmegen, Holland, yesterday, the travel and tourism student said of the police-style e-fit: “This is definitely an accurate likeness of the man I saw. I’d recognise him straight away if the police found him”

Anorak

Posted: 22nd, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (171)

Madeleine McCann: Melissa Fiering Sees, An Algerian And Waldo

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

THE SUN (front page): “MADDIE SEEN IN FRANCE”

“Eye-defect girl in cafe” – Why do they stare, daddy?

DAILY MIRROR: “I SPOTTED MADDY AT CAFE IN FRANCE”

A picture of Melissa.

“’This is so significant because the girl noticed the blemish in the eye and it’s on CCTV for first time’ – McCANN FAMILY SPOKESMAN CLARENCE MITCHELL LAST NIGHT”

This is the Mirror’s “EXCLUSIVE THE HUNT FOR MADELEINE”

To France:

“The little girl was spotted in a motorway service station cafe by student Melissa Fiering, 18, who insists she clearly saw the distinctive flaw in her right iris”

Says Melissa: “My friend and I had music playing loudly out of our mobile phones and this little girl was dancing to it. It was only when I looked closely at her I realised it was Madeleine. She had a very thin face and her blonde hair had been cut much shorter, down to her jaw. But it was her”

Why so certain?

“I looked in her eye because I’d seen on TV that Madeleine’s got a defect in her right iris and I saw this girl had it. I could hardly believe my eyes but I knew for sure it was Madeleine. I called out her name and she looked up at me – she obviously recognised it”

Obviously. Dancing with a small child and then you shout out a name and she looks at you…

“But when I called out ‘Madeleine’ the man she was with got worried and started dragging her away from the queue”

The man with Madeleine is described as a “dark-skinned man, who was possibly Algerian”. Blonde girl with dark-skinned man. Like her?

What did Melissa do when he was spotted, this swarthy man?

“As he dragged the girl away he threw a white coat over her and pulled a woollen hat from his pocket and jammed it on her head. Melissa adds: ‘He didn’t say a word but as they got to the door he prodded the girl in the back. I tried to take pictures on my phone but I only got one and it was all blurred. I ran outside after them but they’d vanished”

Vanished?

“WE HAVE THE GUN THAT KILLED RHYS”

Rhys Jones was killed in Liverpool, shot by a youth on a bike

“Rhys’s mum Melanie, 42, and dad Stephen, 45, who have received a message of sympathy from Madeleine McCann’s family, issued a statement for tomorrow’s six-month anniversary of the shooting”

Why do we know this?

The message says: “We are still struggling to come to terms with the loss of our beautiful son Rhys. The pain we have had to face every day has been magnified by the poignancy of occasions like Christmas and Rhys’s 12th birthday. The last six months have been a living nightmare. All we want is justice for our son”

Rhys Jones is murdered in Liverpool. Rhys Jones was 11 years old. His parents are not suspects

DAILY EXPRESS: “MADELEINE IN NEW ‘SIGHTING’ AT RESTAURANT”

Anorak

Posted: 21st, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (1,234)

Madeleine McCann: Legal Action Fury

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

DAILY MIRROR: “Fury over McCanns’ poster girl”

Anorak

Posted: 19th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (2,071)

Madeleine McCann: Scare Stories, Kate McCann’s Job And No Mari Luz

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

DAILY EXPRESS: “FIVE ATTEMPTED KIDNAPS LINK TO MADELEINE CASE”

“Detectives searching for Madeleine McCann are now investigating a spate of attempted child abductions across Portugal.

“At least five kidnap attempts have been reported in the past month, leading officers from the Madeleine team to examine the details for possible connections.”

What of the headline “link” to Madeleine McCann – well, the alleged attempted kidnappings all occurred in Portugal

But “Last week Justice Minister Alberto Costa revealed that the head detective, Paulo Rebelo, was coming to the end of his case”, says the WORLD’S GREATEST NEWSPAPER

Says Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman: “It’s alarming to hear that this sort of thing can happen, particularly in a country that is so aware of the potential for abduction”

DAILY MIRROR: “Maddy: 5 scares in Portugal”

Police searching for Madeleine McCann are also investigating five attempted child abductions in northern Portugal. They began when a nine-year-old girl was bundled into a car as she got off her school bus. Two more children were attacked last month and last Thursday two men tried to lure a girl of nine into a car. Last Saturday, another child escaped abduction. One police source said: “It is causing a lot of alarm.”

Anorak

Posted: 18th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (1,122)

Madeleine McCann: Lying To Children, Ian McEwan And Questions

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

DAILY MIRROR: “McCann pals face new quiz”

“It is understood Jane Tanner, Russell O’Brien and David Payne, three of the Tapas Seven, may be questioned over alleged inconsistencies in their statements”

“Understood” and “may.” Such are the facts. Such is the reporting

Say the McCanns’ family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “There is no suggestion Kate and Gerry will be re-interviewed”

And “suggestion”

DAILY RECORD: “One Last Try To Get Maddie Answers”

“Staff at the resort where Madeleine McCann vanished have again been quizzed by detectives. It comes as they prepare to re-interview pals of Kate and Gerry McCann in a last-ditch bid to crack the case”

Anyone we know questioned?

Anorak

Posted: 16th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (1,673)

Madeleine McCann: Mini Match, No Giving Up, No End In Sight

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

DAILY STAR: “Police to quiz Tapas Seven”

Tapas Nine, surely. Sangria 7…

The Home Office has received a list of questions the Portuguese police want to put to the Tapas 7/9. The questions would be uttered by British police, with the Portuguese sitting in and maybe even making notes

DAILY MIRROR: “McCanns refuse to lose hope”

“Madeleine McCann’s parents will never give up searching for her despite the police investigation coming to an end”

On it goes

Anorak

Posted: 15th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (1,364)

Madeline McCann: The Conclusion And St Valentine’s Day Posters

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

DAILY RECORD: “Maddie Poster Blitz”

“Nearly 18,000 are being sent out across Spain. They will show Madeleine with either Mari Luz Cortes, five, or Yeremi Vargas, seven. They carry the headline No Nos Olvideis, Spanish for ‘Don’t forget us’

“Mari went missing in Huelva, 120 miles from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, on January 13. Madeleine vanished from Praia da Luz on last May 3 .Yeremi disappeared on Gran Canaria in March 2007”

None of the other missing children’s parents have been named as suspects in their disappearance

Says Clarence Mitchell: “”We know the Portuguese police looking for Madeleine have examined both cases and our investigators have also looked at them and continue to keep an open mind”

DAILY MIRROR: “McCann case ‘is near end’”

Madeleine McCann has been found?

Portugal’s justice minister Alberto Costa says: “We are at a stage now where we are approaching the conclusion of the process”

Anorak

Posted: 14th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (1,171)

Madeleine McCann: Alberto Costa ‘Grilled’ And Clarence Mitchell’s Words

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

THE SUN: “Minister grilled on Maddie”

Alberto Costa, is the Portuguese justice minister. And today he will “face a stormy parliamentary quiz on the handling of the Maddie McCann probe”

Says Mr Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman: “We are sitting tight to hear what Mr Costa says”

That is the full Madeleine McCann news in the papers.

Did Mr Mitchell’s words at a debate on The McCanns and the Media at the London School of Economics have an affect?

Since then, not one Daily Express front-page headline has appeared (although the Sunday Express continues to feature Madeleine on its cover), and a relative dearth of news…

Who sets the news agenda?

Anorak

Posted: 13th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (737)

Madeleine McCann: Goncarlo Amaral, Leonor Cipriani And Torture

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

DAILY MIRROR: “MADDY HUNT COP IN COURT”

Chief Inspector Goncarlo Amaral is in a courthouse in Faro

The man removed from the Madeleine McCann investigation is accused of lying to protect his officers. Leonor Cirpriano says police beat her into a confession

Cipriano is convicted of murdering her nine-year-old daughter Joana

Says a friend of the McCanns: “They met him once and thought he was just another officer”. He is

THE SUN: “McCann slur cop in ‘torture cover up’”

Amaral is “tubby”. Amaral weighs “18 stone”

The Sun says Amaral is involved in what “many say is Portugal’s worst miscarriage of justice”

Anorak

Posted: 12th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (925)

Madeleine McCann: A Commemorative Stamp, Metodo 3 Expenses And Another Maddie

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

DAILY MAIL: “McCann’s private detectives charging Find Madeleine fund £50,000 per month in EXPENSES. Kate and Gerry McCann’s private detectives are charging the Find Madeleine fund £50,000 a month in expenses, it was revealed yesterday”

So not £50,000 a month flat fee, as reported as fact earlier?

“The costs charged by Spanish agency Metodo 3, appointed in September to find the missing girl, are on top of its £8,000 monthly fee – which is paid by one of the couple’s wealthy supporters” – including double glazing tycoon Brian Kennedy

Says the couple’s spokesman Clarence Mitchell: ‘”The £50,000 is for legitimate operational costs, having people scattered around different countries. The fund contributes £50,000 a month of publicly donated money because it’s money to help find her. We feel that’s proper use of that money”

DAILY MIRROR: “BIZARRE NEW E-FITS OF MADDY SUSPECT”

“These creepy pictures of a suspect sought over missing Madeleine McCann were released yesterday. Criminal psychologists believe previous images of a long-haired bearded man spotted on the night of the disappearance did not properly reflect descriptions given by witnesses”

A new image based on guessology?

Anorak

Posted: 11th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (989)

Online PR: Madeleine McCann Used To Sell Holiday Flats

MADELEINE McCann. A marketing tool.

A press release: “Northern Portuguese Villas Make Algarve Properties Look Like a Houses of Cards”

Oh:

Minho Villas offers an investment alternative in the north of Portugal to the possibly burnt out and overpriced Algarve. Various key and coincidental factors including the Maddie McCann episode and Portuguese property market as a whole potentially equate to negative balance sheet potential for new buyers on the south coast. While other areas of Portugal, especially the northern border with booming Galicia (Spain), could see a 360% return in just 10 years according to British Channel 4.

The clincher:

“Of course buying a property which does not appreciate much in value can still be a good investment if the holiday letting yields are good, but with an already noticeable backlash by the holidaying European public over what they see as the wholly unacceptable treatment of Madeleine McCann’s parents and the fact the Algarve is no longer consequentially considered a safe family destination, this is not such a bankable commodity as it once was on Portugal’s south coast. With vagrants targeting an area rich with high value homes, the Algarve seems to becoming a victim of it own success; try finding a vagrant targeting foreigners in other areas of Portugal though and you will be hard pushed”

Using fear and the case of a missing child to sell holiday flats…

Discuss.

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

Anorak

Posted: 10th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Online-PR | Comments (16)

Madeleine McCann: ‘Screaming Contradictions’, Scotland Yard And Francisco Marco Interviewed

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

SUNDAY EXPRESS (front page): “MADELEINE – News call for Scotland Yard probe”
Are Scotland Yard for hire? Benazir Bhutto. And McCann? Have the discovered who killed Rhys Jones yet?

“Retired Chief Superintendent Dai Davies, former head of the Yard’s Royal Protection unit, says that if the Yard can send detectives to probe the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, then they should also fly to Portugal to try and solve the Madeleine mystery”

He says:

“The Portuguese investigation has quite simply not solved the crime and it is now looking increasingly likely that it will be shelved. I would suggest that this is the time to call on the Yard to take the lead and to get them to form a team of detectives to work on the case”

Retired copper suggests his old boys are the best – Read all about it!

GLASGOW SUNDAY MAIL: “Police Ready To Clear McCanns Over Maddie”

“Police in Portugal are set to clear Kate and Gerry McCann as suspects, it was claimed last night”

A fact claimed by “insiders” who say “officers did not have a shred of evidence against the 39-year-old couple”

The McCanns’ spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, says: “This report is extremely encouraging”

SUNDAY PEOPLE: “Kate and Gerry ‘in the clear’”

Anorak

Posted: 10th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (926)

Madeleine McCann With Britney Spears And David Beckham

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

THE SUN: “Maddie resort ‘perv’ snaps Brit”

“A suspected pervert who fled the resort where Maddie McCann vanished is taking photos of Britney Spears in LA, The Sun can reveal.

“Christian Ridout, 32, is wanted for questioning in Praia da Luz, Portugal, for allegedly trying to groom a 12-year-old girl”

DJ Shifty..?

“But for several months Ridout has used the name Dexter Troy to work as a paparazzo in Hollywood, where he has trailed the likes of Britney, David Beckham and Kiefer Sutherland”

Says Ridout: “These allegations are ridiculous. At the time of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance I was in London. I have not been to Portugal for three years”

But Britney Spears. Madeleine McCann. Both in the same story. Remarkable stuff at the Sun. has Ridout every taken a picture of Princess Diana? We demand to be told…

Anorak

Posted: 9th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (1,164)

Madeleine McCann: Carlos Anjos Says, Clarence Mitchell Replies And The Daily Express Is Quiet

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

THE SUN: “Maddie cops snub”

Carlos Anjos, head of the Portuguese Police Federation, says: “There are bigger problems in the police”, than the case of Madeleine McCann

Says Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman: “Mr Anjos is entitled to his opinion but it is entirely unhelpful”

This the same Carlos Anjos who once noted:

“There is no criminal investigation which can feed a news frenzy for six months, so what we have seen are both English and Portuguese journalists behaving in a scandalous and unprofessional way. Writing terrible stories in the papers, some of which have clearly affected the McCanns… now we have to say that the McCanns are partly to blame for this. Because it was something they created”

And then one of the oddest lines yet seen in a newspaper:

“Meanwhile cops have ruled out a theory the four-year-old could have been snatched by Swiss pervert Urs Hans Von Aesch. He blew his chance in august after killing a girl of five”

Anyone care to explain that comment?

Anorak

Posted: 8th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (978)

Madeleine McCann: Case Closed, Reported Claims And Olegario Sousa Explains

MADDYWATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

DAILY MIRROR: “McCann case ‘to be axed’”

Not axed by the Mirror, which maintains a hack in Praia da Luz to read the local press, rather by the police

“The McCanns could be cleared over daughter Madeleine’s disappearance in months as police plan to shelve the case, it was claimed yesterday. Top detectives believe the case will never be solved and are thought to be preparing public opinion for the fact no one will be charged”

“Claimed.” “Believe.” “Thought.” Can the Mirror be any more certain?

The McCanns spokesman Clarence Mitchell says: “Gerry and Kate want to be cleared but they will never give up the search. We still believe Madeleine could be alive”

DAILY STAR: “MADDIE CASE CLOSED – Police finally admit they will never find body”

“Police are to close their investigation into the disappearance of little Madeleine McCann.”

The Star is certain

Anorak

Posted: 7th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (1,026)