How Many Suspects /Persons of interest has this case had?

[Carana]

Well that figures, but people here DONT read Portuguese in the main hence my question of what's the purpose

Well Anna said she will have a read, so maybe she can do a précis for the majority here? (If deemed important enough)

 

I couldn't do a proper translation from Portuguese, but I can understand it better than automatic translations.

Here's an abstract for you:

The disappearance of Madeleine McCann: Public drama and trial by media in the Portuguese press

    Helena Machado1 and
    Filipe Santos2

Abstract

The extraordinary media coverage regarding the disappearance of the British 3-year-old Madeleine McCann emerges as an illustrative example of a ‘public drama’ and ‘trial by media’. This article presents a comparative analysis of the perspectives and narrative devices employed by two Portuguese newspapers in establishing a dialogue with their respective audiences. High-profile mediatized criminal cases have the potential to linger in the public memory and become cultural references which may affect long-term public representations of crime and justice. Our analysis is limited to a sample of representative Portuguese newspapers. We found a basic distinction between ‘quality’ and ‘popular’ press which may be related to inherent differences of their market and implicit audiences. A distanced, neutral and reflexive style of the quality press contrasts with the construction of a sensationalistic narrative by the popular press. The latter provided the audience with a daily dose of vicarious participation in a criminal drama which developed into a trial by media, sustained by a rhetoric that encourages the audience to ‘take sides’. Sensationalist media narratives can potentially undermine the principles of fair trial and the presumption of innocence. But they can also elicit relevant collective energies directed at starting processes of change.
http://cmc.sagepub.com/content/5/2/146.abstract

[Carana]

The abstract gives the basic gist, but there are interesting bits about the PJ - media relationship in a country in which judicial secrecy is / was sacrosanct and trial by media took place before a case even got to trial...

They are both well-known academics.

I have never seen them on pink couch tabloid media matinée shows. If they have been, I'd be interested in their views.

[mercury]

The tabloid media have behaved disgracefully on both sides.

I agree, though I disagree (probably) who were the worst culprits (especially vis a vis plastering people in the papers as "suspects")

Thank you Anna, (and Carana), very interesting intro, although blurs a few issues together and none of which answer my basic concern. see you later, my internet connection is starting and stopping, screwdriver time. "Rolls eyes"

[ShiningInLuz]

The abstract gives the basic gist, but there are interesting bits about the PJ - media relationship in a country in which judicial secrecy is / was sacrosanct and trial by media took place before a case even got to trial...

They are both well-known academics.

I have never seen them on pink couch tabloid media matinée shows. If they have been, I'd be interested in their views.

If you look up that abstract, you'll find another that comes to the same conclusion about the UK press, and refers to the Machado/Santos study.

[Carana]

If you look up that abstract, you'll find another that comes to the same conclusion about the UK press, and refers to the Machado/Santos study.

Thanks.

Media justice: Madeleine McCann, intermediatization and ‘trial by media’ in the British press

    Chris Greer
        City University London, UK
    Eugene McLaughlin
        University of Southampton, UK

http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/1988/1/2012%20-%20TC%20-%20Madeleine%20McCann.pdf

[mercury]

Thanks! SIL and Carana.
That was such a good read.

Perhaps the PJ were right all along by sayng "no media" as it could jeopardise both the child's life and any chance of finding.  Result was unprecedented  worldwide coverage - unprecedented number of "sightings" - unprecedented monies -  unprecedented number of "witnesses" coming forward months and years later and unprecedented number of "suspects", all with zero result.