Madeleine McCann Press coverage - Was it a Saviour or a Damnation?

[stephen25000]

Please cite any evidence you may have and/or occasions when the people you have mentioned have lied about people and libelled them ... thanking you in anticipation of your first provision of a requested cite.



There are retrospective reports from many journalist who were on the ground in Praia da Luz and who bitterly regretted the copy which they sent back to their editors.

The retiring editor of the Daily Express noted that a regret of his career was printing what the journalists were gathering from their sources regarding Madeleine McCann's disappearance. Although accepting that it was his job and theirs to sell newspapers, which Madeleine McCann's name did in abundance.

Hindsight is indeed an exact science and newspaper professionals have accepted that they perpetrated dreadful calumnies against the parents of a missing child.

The clincher I think may have been when they had sight of the FSS files and not the misunderstood interpretation of them. Nobody likes being taken for mugs ... and they were collectively taken to the cleaners!

Wonder why there are those even today who have not quite grasped the reality of that situation.


**snip
But he is contrite about the sad episode that ended with Express Newspapers being landed with one of the most expensive legal bills in newspaper history – the coverage of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Hill's paper and its three other titles, the Daily Star, Sunday Express and Daily Star Sunday. He says: "I did too much on the story. I accept that."

Too much wasn't the only problem though. There were also the stories that suggested Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, might have been complicit in her disappearance, which in its apology Express Newspapers admitted were "seriously defamatory".

Asked whether he regretted libelling the McCanns, he replies: "Of course I do. And I insisted on apologising on the front of the newspaper when it became clear that it was a complete fabrication. We gave them £500,000. It doesn't redound to my credit but it did help them to continue the search."

Leaking stories
So why did it happen? "It was a huge story, and every adult in the country had an opinion on it. I admit it helped to sell the paper. There were many factors involved, such as the way Maddy's parents sought publicity in an unprecedented way.
"All the way through, our principal focus was on 'what's happened to Maddy?' The Portuguese police and British legal sources were leaking stories that implied the McCanns were guilty in some way. We were not to know that the Portuguese police were ineffectual and, in some cases, corrupt."

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/feb/21/peter-hill-daily-express-madeleine-mccann

Did I use the word lie in my post ?

NO.

You implied I did.

Now I know what that makes you.

and are you really saying  the mccanns, friends or followers have not attacked or slandered others ?

Give me a break

Two easy examples..............

Pat Brown and Amaral.

and also don't lie and say I don't give cites.

I do and /or give my opinion.


http://patbrownprofiling.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/we-are-in-secret-madeleine-mccann-troll.html

[Mr Gray]

Perhaps you should read again.

sky and brunt, took the law into their own hands.

If they suspected Brenda of criminal activity, they should have taken the evidence to the police.

They didn't.

She's dead.

They acted as vigilantes.

The consequences of that are well known.

This is what you posted...
As to trial by media, it has happened since the invention of the 'media' and you're naive if you believe , it will go away.


Do you actually understand what you are posting.....Brenda...Brunt....trial by media

[stephen25000]

This is what you posted...
As to trial by media, it has happened since the invention of the 'media' and you're naive if you believe , it will go away.


Do you actually understand what you are posting.....Brenda...Brunt....trial by media

Why are you so angry dave ?

Did I say it was the right thing to do ?

Clearly you approve of it.

Shouldn't  the correct course of action be for the press to go to the police first ?

In case you haven't noticed, Brenda is dead.

[Mr Gray]

Why are you so angry dave ?

Did I say it was the right thing to do ?

Clearly you approve of it.

Shouldn't  the correct course of action be for the press to go to the police first ?

In case you haven't noticed, Brenda is dead.

Brenda was tried by the media....that's the way it is..trial by media is not going to go away...is what you wrote...and that is correct

[Mr Gray]

Trial by media is a  necessary evil...tempered by  libel law...this will help stop things being covered up

[stephen25000]

Brenda was tried by the media....that's the way it is..trial by media is not going to go away...is what you wrote...and that is correct

A woman guilty of NO CRIME is dead.

Are you happy with that ?

Would you like to see the mccanns treated the same way as Brenda was, with no one to help her ?

When for the first year when the mccanns were attacked by some members of the press, they had help.

[stephen25000]

Trial by media is a  necessary evil...tempered by  libel law...this will help stop things being covered up

Does that include the paedophile politicians, judges, police, etc., whose activities were covered up ?

[Brietta]

Did I use the word lie in my post ?

NO.

You implied I did.

Now I know what that makes you.

and are you really saying  the mccanns, friends or followers have not attacked or slandered others ?

Give me a break

Two easy examples..............

Pat Brown and Amaral.

and also don't lie and say I don't give cites.

I do and /or give my opinion.


http://patbrownprofiling.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/we-are-in-secret-madeleine-mccann-troll.html

True to form Stephen, you have made another pejorative accusation directed at the Drs McCann and their associates when you claim, "Does that include the mcanns, their friends or associates, attacking others using the media, via 'sources close to the McCann's'. ?" without being able to corroborate it.
As well as reiterating your opinion in your response ... still minus any cite to back it up.

I would say that reflects perfectly the type of misinformation and innuendo Madeleine's parents suffered due to leaks from 'a source close to the investigation' in the immediate aftermath of her disappearance.

I didn't expect you to provide a cite ... in fact I would have been astounded if you had ... rather devalues anything you have to say old chap or chapess as the case may be. Not worth the green ink with which it would have been written pre- internet days.

[Brietta]

I don't think it is possible to place enough emphasis and abhorrence on the unjustifiably shabby treatment Madeleine McCann's parents have received at the hands of the press. 

Thankfully the broadcast media in Britain had a more restrained approach; unlike in Portugal where Sargento, Amaral and Cristóvão made a ubiquitous presence and an easy living from perpetuating the myths and assumptions which they had been instrumental in fashioning. ( botched and inconclusive investigation, books and documentaries etc)

The McCanns are not an abstract ~ they are living breathing people ~ doing their best to bring up their children as best they can ~ while doing the best they can to find their missing daughter.

It is my opinion that their human rights have been systematically abjured by inhumane internet comment which says so much more about those making the comments than those on the receiving end.

They have been charged with nothing …  the calumnies levelled at them have been proved to be without foundation … yet there are those who remain unable to comprehend the simple message contained in the press climbdown.


**snip
Media commentator Roy Greenslade said that for two national newspapers to carry front-page apologies at the same time was an "unprecedented climbdown".

The fact that the papers capitulated without a fight suggested that their legal advisers told them they had no chance of winning if the case went to trial, he said.

"This was no journalistic accident, but a sustained campaign of vitriol against a grief-stricken family.

The stories were not merely speculative, but laced with innuendo which continually made accusations against the McCanns on the basis of anonymous sources and without any hard evidence." he said.

"Wild claims, often made by unattributed sources to Portuguese newspapers, were then spun even more negatively by the Express and Star titles."

http://www.heraldscotland.com/mccanns-win-pound-550k-payout-and-apologies-for-libels-1.876873

[faithlilly]

I don't think it is possible to place enough emphasis and abhorrence on the unjustifiably shabby treatment Madeleine McCann's parents have received at the hands of the press. 

Thankfully the broadcast media in Britain had a more restrained approach; unlike in Portugal where Sargento, Amaral and Cristóvão made a ubiquitous presence and an easy living from perpetuating the myths and assumptions which they had been instrumental in fashioning. ( botched and inconclusive investigation, books and documentaries etc)

The McCanns are not an abstract ~ they are living breathing people ~ doing their best to bring up their children as best they can ~ while doing the best they can to find their missing daughter.

It is my opinion that their human rights have been systematically abjured by inhumane internet comment which says so much more about those making the comments than those on the receiving end.

They have been charged with nothing …  the calumnies levelled at them have been proved to be without foundation … yet there are those who remain unable to comprehend the simple message contained in the press climbdown.


**snip
Media commentator Roy Greenslade said that for two national newspapers to carry front-page apologies at the same time was an "unprecedented climbdown".

The fact that the papers capitulated without a fight suggested that their legal advisers told them they had no chance of winning if the case went to trial, he said.

"This was no journalistic accident, but a sustained campaign of vitriol against a grief-stricken family.

The stories were not merely speculative, but laced with innuendo which continually made accusations against the McCanns on the basis of anonymous sources and without any hard evidence." he said.

"Wild claims, often made by unattributed sources to Portuguese newspapers, were then spun even more negatively by the Express and Star titles."

http://www.heraldscotland.com/mccanns-win-pound-550k-payout-and-apologies-for-libels-1.876873

Not sure why you have been labouring the point quite so vociferously over the last day or so. I think everyone agrees that the McCanns received some terrible press in the early days, and especially after they were made arguidos. However I think you will find that the number of those scurrilous stories pale into insignificance when viewed against the amount of good press that the McCanns have received since. BTW Brietta if you are so disgusted by the treatment of the McCanns by certain newspapers why do you use links to them  to illustrate many of your points ?

[Lyall]

I don't think it is possible to place enough emphasis and abhorrence on the unjustifiably shabby treatment Madeleine McCann's parents have received at the hands of the press. 

Thankfully the broadcast media in Britain had a more restrained approach; unlike in Portugal where Sargento, Amaral and Cristóvão made a ubiquitous presence and an easy living from perpetuating the myths and assumptions which they had been instrumental in fashioning. ( botched and inconclusive investigation, books and documentaries etc)

The McCanns are not an abstract ~ they are living breathing people ~ doing their best to bring up their children as best they can ~ while doing the best they can to find their missing daughter.

It is my opinion that their human rights have been systematically abjured by inhumane internet comment which says so much more about those making the comments than those on the receiving end.

They have been charged with nothing …  the calumnies levelled at them have been proved to be without foundation … yet there are those who remain unable to comprehend the simple message contained in the press climbdown.


**snip
Media commentator Roy Greenslade said that for two national newspapers to carry front-page apologies at the same time was an "unprecedented climbdown".

The fact that the papers capitulated without a fight suggested that their legal advisers told them they had no chance of winning if the case went to trial, he said.

"This was no journalistic accident, but a sustained campaign of vitriol against a grief-stricken family.

The stories were not merely speculative, but laced with innuendo which continually made accusations against the McCanns on the basis of anonymous sources and without any hard evidence." he said.

"Wild claims, often made by unattributed sources to Portuguese newspapers, were then spun even more negatively by the Express and Star titles."

http://www.heraldscotland.com/mccanns-win-pound-550k-payout-and-apologies-for-libels-1.876873

You are of course only telling half of the story.

The press did indeed do what they do best: reproduce material found elsewhere with minimum consideration and effort.

But at the same time they always printed every word the McCanns wanted them to. Every paper did so, including Express and Star.

[Brietta]

You are of course only telling half of the story.

The press did indeed do what they do best: reproduce material found elsewhere with minimum consideration and effort.

But at the same time they always printed every word the McCanns wanted them to. Every paper did so, including Express and Star.

Oh ... I see ... the Drs McCann were perfectly happy with newspaper stories in which they were accused of selling their daughter to pay off their debts ~ were involved in wife swapping ~ all with the underlying beat that they were responsible for their daughter's death.
How they and their family must have appreciated all that!!

Get real ... Lyall.

Nothing justifies fabricated tales like that ... and if it was so easy for the Drs McCann to have the press eating out of the palm of their hands as you have metaphorically stated ... why was it necessary for them to go to court to get the newspapers who were defaming and libelling them on a daily basis to desist?

[Lyall]

Oh ... I see ... the Drs McCann were perfectly happy with newspaper stories in which they were accused of selling their daughter to pay off their debts ~ were involved in wife swapping ~ all with the underlying beat that they were responsible for their daughter's death.
How they and their family must have appreciated all that!!

Get real ... Lyall.

Nothing justifies fabricated tales like that ... and if it was so easy for the Drs McCann to have the press eating out of the palm of their hands as you have metaphorically stated ... why was it necessary for them to go to court to get the newspapers who were defaming and libelling them on a daily basis to desist?

I'm not saying the papers simultaneously gave them great support for philanthropic reasons, of course the reasons were also financial. That's why they didn't just stop when asked.

But why didn't the McCanns use the PCC from August? Why was it 2008 before they used the courts?

The press were perhaps getting mixed messages for that reason. The position wasn't as black and white as you're claiming.

[mercury]

Every cloud has a silver lining. The "Drs Mccann" received at least £1.3 million compensation from the newspapers for articles written therefore enabling them to fund the search. They further recieved another £0.5 million from the Sun which serialised their book.

[Brietta]

Every cloud has a silver lining. The "Drs Mccann" received at least £1.3 million compensation from the newspapers for articles written therefore enabling them to fund the search. They further recieved another £0.5 million from the Sun which serialised their book.

The 'silver lining' hardly compensates for the ruination of of one's character, the effects of which can be measured today by those who have never heard about the FSS report, but have heard all about body fluids slopping around the non existent wheel well of the Renault.