General discussion about the latest news (not search related)

[John]

Madeleine McCann’s parents ‘buoyed’ after newborn baby snatched from hospital found 18 years later.


Kate and Gerry said to be excited by the news as they hope a new year 'miracle' with reunite them with their missing daughter ten years after she disappeared.




BY JENNIFER HALE AND TRACEY KANDOHLA 
14th January 2017

THE parents of missing Madeleine McCann are full of fresh hope after a newborn baby taken from a hospital 18 years ago was found alive.

Kate and Gerry McCann are “buoyed” by the news of Kamiyah Mobley, who was discovered alive after being kidnapped from a Florida hospital in 1998.



Kamiyah was born in University Medical Centre, Jacksonville, Florida to mum Shanara but just eight hours later was snatched by a woman posing to be a nurse.

Kamiyah had no idea of her real identity and assumed the woman she was living with was her birth mother – until cold case cops traced her to her home in Walterboro, South Carolina.

A DNA test confirmed she is Shanara's daughter and 'mum' Gloria Williams, 51, has now been arrested on charges of kidnapping and interference with custody.

Kamiyah's dad has said he "can't wait" to meet her but local authorities say it it up to Kamiyah to decide whether she will return to her biological family or not.

The case is believed to have triggered fresh hope in Maddie's parents, who are hoping a new year "miracle" with reunite them with their missing daughter ten years after she vanished.

A family friend said: "It shows that dreams can come true and this teenager being found so many years after the event is another example that will give Kate and Gerry hope.”

The McCann's have never given up hope that Maddie, who disappeared on a family holiday aged three, could still be alive.

A Facebook campaign promoting the hunt for their daughter, which they endorse, said recently: “We still have great hope and believe in miracles. Thank you for continuing to be by our side. Let’s get her home.”

At Christmas former GP Kate and heart doctor Gerry, both 48, appealed to Maddie's abductor and people close to their tormentor to  finally "do the right thing" and come forward.

They wrote in a global message: "Somebody knows. We just hope they find the courage and compassion to let us know too.”

Madeleine was born on 12 May 2003 and disappeared just before her fourth birthday on 3 May 2007.

This means she would be 13 years old today.

Her parents have always insisted that they would never give up searching for her.

Potential sightings of the British three-year old were followed up by British cops total 8,685 across 101 countries and territories, a Freedom of Information request by The Sun showed in October.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2612227/madeleine-mccanns-parents-buoyed-after-newborn-baby-snatched-from-hospital-found-18-years-later/

[John]

Madeleine McCann's parents 'considering legal action after controversial Portuguese documentary appears on YouTube'.

The who show was made to accompany ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral's book claiming Kate and Gerry were responsible for covering up Madeleine’s “death” in May 2007

According to the Daily Star, the McCanns have enlisted the help of specialist libel firm Carter Ruck.

The couple's spokesman told the Star: "Any potentially defamatory material found online will be reviewed and assessed by Kate and Gerry’s lawyers."

Amaral is currently believed to be in Switzerland putting the finishing touches to a sequel to his first book about the case.

But earlier this month, the McCanns warned they will sue if the book is sold in the UK.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccanns-parents-considering-legal-9828585

[Brietta]

Internet trolls cannot be cured
by NICK FARRELL on 16 FEBRUARY 2017

Researchers find not feeding them does not kill them

A team of brave boffins have been investigating internet trolls and reached the conclusion that there is no cure.

The team looked at a specific bunch of trolls who like to swap notes about the abduction of three-year-old Madeleine McCann from her family’s holiday villa in Portugal.

Most of the trolls are focused on insulting McCann’s parents, celebrating their daughter’s disappearance and gloating over their misery.

The team of shrinks bashed out a paper called Online Trolling, (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563217300614) where they tried to engage with this troll community, to study their attitudes and behaviour, and to work out what makes them tick.

Once the goal of their study was exposed by others in the anti-McCann community, “you need better English to do a PHD luv!” was among the politer messages sent in response to questions from “the psychology student studying trolls”.

The comments became even more toxic when the scientists tried to introduce some science into the debate. One of the psychologists posted a reference to an academic paper showing that tracking dogs might have made mistakes in finding a body because of the hot weather.

The trolls became more insulting and started attacking on the researcher’s motive, labelling them a “shill” and blocking them when they tried to steer conversations back to the findings.

The researchers discovered that the trolls has identified key phrases that act as calling cards and draw activity. In this study, the word ‘shill’ implying that the researcher was paid by the McCann family to protect its reputation was a red rag, and led to more and more trolls circling the discussion and piling in.

The paper shows trolls have some powerful psychology at play. One theme of the anti-McCann messages is motherhood and how the trolls argue that they would have behaved differently, both before and after the abduction.

This is “disassociation” and arises from an irrational belief that parents who explicitly distance themselves from the plight of the McCann family somehow keep their own children safer.

Although most of the trolls argued that they were fighting for justice, the researchers conclude that this was thin cover for being able to hurl insults anonymously.

Most of the abusive and offensive messages sent and received were against the rules of the social-media provider, yet no action was taken. Saying ‘do not feed the trolls’ does not work as they are cultural scavengers who feast on alternative facts and false news already in the system, the report said.

Last modified on 16 FEBRUARY 2017
http://www.fudzilla.com/news/42890-internet-trolls-cannot-be-cured

[G-Unit]

A balancing study on 'the other side' would be interesting. They'd get a lot worse than having their grasp of the English language criticised.

[Brietta]

A balancing study on 'the other side' would be interesting. They'd get a lot worse than having their grasp of the English language criticised.

Is there a 'balancing' study?  Or have researchers just gone for the extraordinarily easy option of utilising such an embarrassment of data which is is so readily available?


Online trolling: The case of Madeleine McCann

John Synnott, , Andria Coulias , Maria Ioannou
International Research Centre for Investigative Psychology, School of Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH, UK
Received 7 November 2016, Revised 12 January 2017, Accepted 26 January 2017, Available online 27 January 2017

Highlights

•  Case study analysis of Ant1-McCann internet Trolling Group.
•  The role of language, group identity and in group cohesion is examined.
•  Language is central to Ant1-McCann group in the construction of identity.
•  Several strategies were employed by Ant1-McCanns to provoke outsiders.
•  Support for previous research linking trolling to western media culture and Ant1 Social Personality Disorder.

Abstract
Despite the sustained media attention surrounding internet trolling, academic studies investigating its occurrence are rare.

This study aimed to provide a case study analysis of the behaviours and strategies of a group of alleged Twitter trolls referred to as the ant1-McCanns due to their continual abuse of Kate and Gerry McCann as well as those who support them and thus identify as pr0-McCann.

The way in which language was used to construct the ant1-McCanns group identity, enhance in-group cohesion and facilitate out-group disassociation from the pr0-Mccann group was additionally explored, given that previous research has implicated group processes in the propagation of aggressive online conduct.

A multi-method approach involving a combination of ethnographic observations and the collection of online commentary was employed.

The data was then analysed using quantitative content analysis and discourse analysis, which indicated that language was utilised in a variety of ways by the ant1-McCanns to construct a salient group identity and negatively stereotype and disassociate from the pr0-McCann group.

Findings additionally revealed that several strategies were employed by the ant1-McCann trolls to provoke and derogate members of the pr0-McCann group, supporting previous findings which have linked trolling to both western media culture and the characteristics of ant1-social personality disorder.

The implications of these findings both theoretical and practical are discussed, alongside recommendations for future research.

Keywords
Online trolling; Online abuse; Missing persons; Social media; Cyber psychology
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563217300614

[ferryman]

Internet trolls cannot be cured
by NICK FARRELL on 16 FEBRUARY 2017

Researchers find not feeding them does not kill them

A team of brave boffins have been investigating internet trolls and reached the conclusion that there is no cure.

The team looked at a specific bunch of trolls who like to swap notes about the abduction of three-year-old Madeleine McCann from her family’s holiday villa in Portugal.

Most of the trolls are focused on insulting McCann’s parents, celebrating their daughter’s disappearance and gloating over their misery.

The team of shrinks bashed out a paper called Online Trolling, (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563217300614) where they tried to engage with this troll community, to study their attitudes and behaviour, and to work out what makes them tick.

Once the goal of their study was exposed by others in the anti-McCann community, “you need better English to do a PHD luv!” was among the politer messages sent in response to questions from “the psychology student studying trolls”.

The comments became even more toxic when the scientists tried to introduce some science into the debate. One of the psychologists posted a reference to an academic paper showing that tracking dogs might have made mistakes in finding a body because of the hot weather.

The trolls became more insulting and started attacking on the researcher’s motive, labelling them a “shill” and blocking them when they tried to steer conversations back to the findings.

The researchers discovered that the trolls has identified key phrases that act as calling cards and draw activity. In this study, the word ‘shill’ implying that the researcher was paid by the McCann family to protect its reputation was a red rag, and led to more and more trolls circling the discussion and piling in.

The paper shows trolls have some powerful psychology at play. One theme of the anti-McCann messages is motherhood and how the trolls argue that they would have behaved differently, both before and after the abduction.

This is “disassociation” and arises from an irrational belief that parents who explicitly distance themselves from the plight of the McCann family somehow keep their own children safer.

Although most of the trolls argued that they were fighting for justice, the researchers conclude that this was thin cover for being able to hurl insults anonymously.

Most of the abusive and offensive messages sent and received were against the rules of the social-media provider, yet no action was taken. Saying ‘do not feed the trolls’ does not work as they are cultural scavengers who feast on alternative facts and false news already in the system, the report said.

Last modified on 16 FEBRUARY 2017
http://www.fudzilla.com/news/42890-internet-trolls-cannot-be-cured

Most of the abusive and offensive messages sent and received were against the rules of the social-media provider, yet no action was taken. Saying ‘do not feed the trolls’ does not work as they are cultural scavengers who feast on alternative facts and false news already in the system, the report said.

Interesting.

[Alfie]

A balancing study on 'the other side' would be interesting. They'd get a lot worse than having their grasp of the English language criticised.

Are you seriously suggesting that a) having their grasp of the English language criticised was the worst insult dished out to these authors (they even claim it was not in the article) and b) that McCann supporters are far more insulting? 

[slartibartfast]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3457221/KATIE-HOPKINS-ll-never-know-really-happened-Maddy-parents-accept-share-blame-let-go.html

[Alfie]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3457221/KATIE-HOPKINS-ll-never-know-really-happened-Maddy-parents-accept-share-blame-let-go.html

first published 21st Feb 2016.

[Robittybob1]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3457221/KATIE-HOPKINS-ll-never-know-really-happened-Maddy-parents-accept-share-blame-let-go.html

These are her own personal feelings and not based on any real facts other than the amount spent on finding Madeleine, which is rather incredible but that is people's salaries etc so it not really wasted as such.

[jassi]

These are her own personal feelings and not based on any real facts other than the amount spent on finding Madeleine, which is rather incredible but that is people's salaries etc so it not really wasted as such.

Except that the people might have been employed more productively in solving crimes in London.

[John]

Jodie Marsh CONDEMNS the McCanns in scathing Twitter attack: 'I'd dig with my bare hands'

JODIE MARSH condemned Kate and Gerry McCann as she launched a scathing attack on the parents of missing Madeleine McCann on Twitter this week.




By Kayleigh Giles
PUBLISHED 25 February 2017



The former glamour model claimed it's "all going to come crashing down" for the family as she questioned their innocence in a series of fiery tweets.

After watching investigative journalist Mark Williams-Thomas reveal his theory on the youngster's disappearance on This Morning, the 38-year-old blasted the police's efforts and insinuated that the couple hadn't searched hard enough for their daughter.

"In my opinion it's all going to come crashing down for the Mccanns…" she began.



"In my experience and opinion, my 4 year old niece would do a better job than the U.K. Police.

"I must admit, if it were my child I'd be on my hands & knees digging up the earth with my bare hands! Nothing else would matter…"

Jodie then bizarrely compared Maddie's vanishing to the moment her pet pooch recently disappeared.

She ranted: "My dog went missing for 10 mins the other night & I was running up the street screaming her name like a lunatic. I was beside myself…

"And if I was so hysterical over my dog, the hysteria would be ten fold if it were my child. I wouldn't be suing people. I'd be SEARCHING.

"If someone told me that a void in the earth had been found I would NOT dismiss it. I would dig the earth myself!!!!

"Watching #ThisMorning - why are the Mccanns so concerned with all this legal action? Surely they should concentrate on finding Maddie????

"If my child was missing, I wouldn't care who said what about me. I would just want to FIND HER!!!!"

http://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/772073/Jodie-Marsh-the-McCanns-Madeleine-bizarre-Twitter-rant

[John]

Jodie Marsh claims a magazine pulled her article on the McCanns after their lawyers raised concerns.



BY HOLLY CHRISTODOULOU
24th February 2017

She added: "Already been silenced. Today I was commissioned to write an article about the Mccanns for a national magazine. They have just pulled it....

"They said their lawyers had 'raised some concerns' - it was an article simply stating the FACTS & MY opinion. Why did they NEED to stop it??

"If I had been commissioned to write an article about ANY other person in the public eye, it would never have been pulled."



https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2946796/jodie-marsh-madeline-mccann-twitter-parents-kate-gerry-theories/

[Alfie]

Can anyone explain to me why Jodie Marsh's opinion of the McCanns is worthy of banner headlines in the tabs?  On second thoughts no need to answer that...

[slartibartfast]

Can anyone explain to me why Jodie Marsh's opinion of the McCanns is worthy of banner headlines in the tabs?  On second thoughts no need to answer that...

Sells papers, same with all McCann stories.