Madeleine McCann: Britney Spears, Lolita And Birthday Cards
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY MAIL: “Woolworths forced to withdraw LOLITA bedroom furniture range for girls”
The Lolita Midsleeper Combi, a wooden bed with pull-out desk and cupboard designed for girls aged around six, retails on the Woolworths website for £349.99
The name has “sexual connotations”. A “mother” sees it and writes: “Am I being particularly sensitive, or does anyone else out there think it’s bad taste for Woolies to have a kiddy bed range named ‘Lolita’?”
Well, you don’t have to buy it…
A spokesman for the company says: “What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either. We had to look it up on Wikipedia. But we certainly know who she is now”
Trusting Wikipedia for information has its own dangers. (And look out for an article on the state of British education.) But no danger is bigger than a bed named, perhaps, in honour of a charcter in a novel by Vladimir Nabokov
Or Lolita Fatjo, pre-production coordinator for Star Trek
Or many other women called Lolita
“On-line parent power has been growing in recent years. In 2006 Tesco stopped selling a pole-dancing kit on its website over accusations it was destroying children’s innocence. And last summer an on-line campaign by Mumsnet resulted in a cinema advert about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann stopped from being screened before the children’s film Shrek the Third”
THE TIMES: “Staff at Woolworths baffled by fuss over the little girl’s bed called Lolita”
“Woolworths has withdrawn bedroom furniture for young girls bearing the sexually charged name Lolita after a campaign waged by a mothers’ online chat room”
An internal company e-mail seen by The Times goes: “As discussed, we’ve got the product below on our website. Can it be hidden as soon as is possible? Then I really need to find out how it came about being on our site and who bought it. Lolita is a word that means sexually active young teenagers, so a young girls’ range of bedroom products is in very poor taste. We’ve had an approach from a website who are clearly a little disturbed by this”
THE SUN: “Gift from Maddie for twins”
No, not furniture
“Twins Sean and Amelie McCann will get a special present from their missing sister Maddie today on their third birthday. Parents Kate and Gerry got the gift for the pair who, at three, are the same age as Maddie when she vanished last May”
Sad. But is it relevant to the case? Is it news?
Grandmother Eileen McCann tells us: “Of course Madeleine being there would be our dream but we’ll do our best to make sure the twins have a lovely day”
DAILY TELEGRAPH: “Card from Madeleine at McCann twins party”
The twins are getting a gift in the Sun…
“Gerry and Kate McCann will throw a birthday party for their twins tomorrow - complete with a card from their missing four-year-old daughter, Madeleine”
DAILY STAR: “MISSING MADDIE’S SPECIAL PREZZIE”
“Little Sean and Amelie McCann will open a special present from their big sister as they celebrate their third birthday today”
With a card?
Says Eileen McCann: “There will be presents galore, lots of fun and games, lots of food and a big cake. Of course, Madeleine being home would make it complete and we continue to pray for that blessing”
SUR (Spain): “Marbella suffer their first loss of the year against Linares”
A football match: “Wearing T-shirts to raise awareness of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and Mari Luz Cortés, the children playing in the tournament accompanied the players onto the pitch as mascots at the beginning of the game”
RADAR: “Theater of Cruelty, Carnival of Souls”
“British rags hardly pretend to be providing straightforward news. What they are doing is what used to be the job of popular fiction; namely, processing myth out of characters sucked in from real life. Right now the cast list includes such durable regulars as Kate Moss—with or without Pete Doherty—Princes Harry and Wills, Posh and Becks, and Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine’s kidnapping/disappearance in Portugal made them last year’s headliners”
ALISTAIR CAMPBELL (TIMES): Britney Spears: person or news commodity? She’s a great singer but obviously ill: we in the media have to decide to leave her alone”
Britney Spears and Madeleine McCann..?
“In some sections of the media, Madeleine McCann and her family are there. As I said in the Cudlipp Lecture on Tuesday, her disappearance was an interesting and important story, the stuff of every parent’s nightmare. But it quickly became a commodity in which most of the media got close to hysteria, and some have remained there. Let us not pretend the coverage was driven by concern for the child - there are many missing children - or compassion for the parents - certainly not once the mood shifted - or regard for the truth. It has been the worst example of recent times, on a par with Diana, of some newspapers thinking that the word “Madeleine” sells, and finding literally any old nonsense to keep her name in that selling position on the front”
THE GUARDIAN: “Mechanics of the McCann campaign - Professional media management may have generated coverage of Maddy’s disappearance, but it hasn’t helped with public sympathy for the family”
“Try as they might neither Clarence Mitchell nor Justine McGuinness could quite shake off the sense that the way they’ve managed this case might have contributed to some negative public sentiment towards the family. In place initially as what Mitchell described as “a buffer” between the shocked and distraught parents and the world’s media, hungry for news about Madeleine, it’s clear that what developed was a professional media management operation. With city PR firm Bell Pottinger on hand - primarily, we can assume, to defend the interests of their clients Mark Warner Holidays - as well as Justine and, latterly, Clarence with all their experience of Westminster spin, the McCanns could not have wanted for more professional advice. But as time went on media management itself - and once you’ve started feeding stories to the press to get control of the agenda, you really can’t stop - began generating negative reaction from other parties”
Madeleine McCann: Making news and sensation from grief
Posted: 1st, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,022) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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February 1st, 2008 at 11:50 am
241 Stevo
I think you might as well go back to bed really. Don’t think anything’s going to happen.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:50 am
sorry - will get coffee and perk up in a bit
February 1st, 2008 at 11:50 am
Have you heard anything yet Sledgehammer?
February 1st, 2008 at 11:49 am
Stevo……ooh eck..you been up since five thirty am, I wouldnt’ ve put that much trust in him!
February 1st, 2008 at 11:49 am
so it seems.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:48 am
back shortly….brekkers…
February 1st, 2008 at 11:48 am
233
Saturn Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 11:44 am
204
Stevo Says:
To get a story posted at 12:01am it MUST have been prepared/vetted etc. well before then. My guess is the story was sent probably six or seven hours before then. I think the ruse went pear shaped and this is a clue to it.
******************
Goodness, that would mean the story was sent much too early. How could it have been sent prior to 10 PM without causing suspicion? (all parties in transmission and receiving were trusted parties?) Of course, even if sent immediately after 10PM, that is indeed indicative of planning.
Another way to view it is to assume that they needed (for some reason)to get the story out early May 4. Maybe they even originally intended to stage the abduction in the afternoon, for example. But changes and delays occurred at that end, resulting in the short time from abduction to story sent.
——————————————–
However this story was sent (email, text or whatever) it must surely have left a trail. Or not?
February 1st, 2008 at 11:48 am
no - just quiet today -
February 1st, 2008 at 11:48 am
And if Woolfall downloaded the images - he perhaps knows people to “tweak” the images. He probably advised which ones to not publish…
He may be connected quite deeply with this whole affair IMO.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:46 am
232
delboy
And it’s why I set my alarm for 5:30am here!
February 1st, 2008 at 11:46 am
come on sledgie ten minutes late…..its nearly dinner time,
February 1st, 2008 at 11:45 am
Rockhopper
I think your point about obtaining consular services out of hours is valid.
But I don’t think the McCanns would have sought that so soon. This is an error in their abduction ruse IMO. One of the biggest errors.
That Telegraph story is nothing to do with Kate calling Sky or anything like that. I think this is a big boo-boo. Either the Foreign Office sent it too soon or the Telegraph inadvertently published it too soon. Seems like someone hit “send” on the email button without thinking it through properly and a chain of events occurred which is now set in stone.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:45 am
Nosey - have you gone?
February 1st, 2008 at 11:44 am
204
Stevo Says:
To get a story posted at 12:01am it MUST have been prepared/vetted etc. well before then. My guess is the story was sent probably six or seven hours before then. I think the ruse went pear shaped and this is a clue to it.
******************
Goodness, that would mean the story was sent much too early. How could it have been sent prior to 10 PM without causing suspicion? (all parties in transmission and receiving were trusted parties?) Of course, even if sent immediately after 10PM, that is indeed indicative of planning.
Another way to view it is to assume that they needed (for some reason)to get the story out early May 4. Maybe they even originally intended to stage the abduction in the afternoon, for example. But changes and delays occurred at that end, resulting in the short time from abduction to story sent.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:43 am
stevo yes, Im convinced, im sat waiting for the BIG news he promised us, the boss(my wife) is on my case for sitting here,waiting………..
February 1st, 2008 at 11:42 am
220
dcb
So Woolfall is perhaps the best candidate for the Tapas 10 then.
And he probably had a part in the ruse on May 3.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:41 am
223
Châtelaine Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 11:35 am
115
Rockhopper Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 10:24 am
Hi, did you see my post 188 yesterday illustrating how easy it is to make contact with the consular out of hours?
***
Yes, I saw that, Rockhopper. But still doesn’t explain how the news got on the Telegraph’s that early …
——————————————————-
Two hours is a long time in these times of (almost) instantaneous worldwide communications, not saying everything is above board here but we’re all sitting in front of keyboards in various parts of the world communicating with each other.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:41 am
227
delboy
He has ADHD and possibly ODD
February 1st, 2008 at 11:40 am
Rockhopper:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12-hour_clock#Confusion_at_noon_and_midnight
This explains the confusion with midnight and mid-day for 12 hour clock systems.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:40 am
does sledgie have ADHD, does anyone know?
February 1st, 2008 at 11:38 am
215
Rockhopper
Good point but wrong.
The “am” means it isn’t the 24 hour clock system!
So, the time at 1 minute paste midnight in the am/pm system is correct as 12:01am….and not 00:01 am.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:37 am
matt yeah……….its not the Blacpool ship is it, on the beach apparently,
February 1st, 2008 at 11:36 am
219…delboy
Must be the big news…the sinking ship of their Master and Mistress.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:35 am
115
Rockhopper Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 10:24 am
Hi, did you see my post 188 yesterday illustrating how easy it is to make contact with the consular out of hours?
***
Yes, I saw that, Rockhopper. But still doesn’t explain how the news got on the Telegraph’s that early …
February 1st, 2008 at 11:35 am
219,,sorry lone that was for matt, cukingf omputerc is fcku pu
February 1st, 2008 at 11:34 am
214
REPORTER Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 11:32 am
192 You are unaware, that the final decision if the suspects are to stand trial, will be taken by the Home secretary.
I don’t think anyone gives a flying feck what the home secretary says. The McCanns trial is already taking place, right here and the verdict is GUILTY,.
————-
Mods and Admin
Reporter could you get your sources confirmed, who is the Crown Office , and isn’t the Home Secretary attached to the HOME Office, or is it all from Clarrie’s Office?
February 1st, 2008 at 11:33 am
200
Stevo Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 11:25 am
+++++++++++++++++
It was Woolfall who downloaded and sent some pics to AP
“….The McCanns had photographs of Madeleine on their digital camera, which Mr Woolfall began transferring to a laptop computer. “I said to Kate, ‘Let’s try to identify pictures where her face is visible’. Downloading the images was a very difficult process for them. It was upsetting……..Mr Woolfall transmitted the photographs to the Press Association in London, from where they were distributed to the media. The portfolio included the now famous image of Madeleine wearing a hat on a tennis court…..”
February 1st, 2008 at 11:33 am
Lone Pigeon Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 11:28 am
3 minutes sledgie boy
pj coming by boat? have the mccs got torpedos ….oh dear..
February 1st, 2008 at 11:33 am
206
firestar
I can’t remember to be honest but I’ll have a look.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:32 am
how’sthe twins?