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“Woolworths has withdrawn bedroom furniture for young girls bearing the sexually charged name Lolita after a campaign waged by a mothers’ online chat room”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
Comments
- susan jones on Susan Boyle Weeps As The Press Set About Destroying Her
- The Real Stig on The Great Cathay Pacific Blocked Toilet Mystery
- SoDak-GhostDog on Interview With Survior Of James Arthur Ray’s Sedona Sweat Lodge
- Katie Norman on I’m A Celebrity: Joe Bugner’s Career In Pictures
- HOTWATER on Madeleine McCann: The Media Creates A New Maddie Monster And Twists The Facts
February 1st, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Mr Mitchell said he felt “shamed” as a former reporter by the “sloppiness” and “laziness” of certain journalists in covering the story. The Mail
******************
Preparing the next spin or really shutting up because it has gone too far,including for the british govt?
Have “they” received a “warning” from the PJ?
February 1st, 2008 at 1:38 pm
afternoon all
Happy Birthday Karen x
re the fancy dress plan, i think it will be the ” best fancy dress party ever!”
February 1st, 2008 at 1:37 pm
382
Stevo Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Firestar
I want to apologise for disagreements in the past ok?
Let’s move forward…we’re on the same side here aren’t we?
————–
ok stevo, suits me.
apologies from me as well.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:36 pm
393…mary
Auntie Phil could take up quite a lot of space.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Bell Pottinger connections are interesting…
One of their board members is Mark Smith - their finance director. He is also a non-executive director of Holiday Extras Holdings Limited. Does that company have interests in the Algarve?
Saturn…know anything about this?
February 1st, 2008 at 1:35 pm
374 steve T and stevo
There should be something for everyone in the fancy dress - pyjamas galore, creepy “beast” men, swarthy Moroccans, rich Arabs, cuddlecats, bungling PJs and, for those who have failed in their new year weight loss campaign, Auntie Phil. Me, I want to come as a little maid!
For refreshments we can have 14 bottles of wine for every 9 guests, all sorts of tapas, meat that has gone off, and some sardines to munch on.
Party games to be arranged but no “swinging” allowed. Nominations for the music welcome!
February 1st, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Stevo, I know this is well off subject but you seem to have a good working knowledge of computers.
I was wondering the other night how easy it would be for a govt or similarly resourced organisation to zap a website and take it down?
February 1st, 2008 at 1:33 pm
387…jo
Who will have to take the dodgy role’s of acting as the Odd Couple…Mrs G Cooper
and Mrs I Gonzales ?
February 1st, 2008 at 1:33 pm
If I’m invited, Im going to come as evidence of stranger abduction - you may not recognise me or be able to find me.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Karen
Happy Birthday !
February 1st, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Hello all!
Any news from sledghammer regarding suspect status being lifted?
Hi Stevo, any luck with original picture in original format?
February 1st, 2008 at 1:30 pm
383
Stevo Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I’d hate to be the one who came to the party as Cuddle-Cat…you’d be dead by the end of the night with the hand round your neck!
**************
Let me think….. may be you could come as our favorite pig farmer? the second version investigated by the illegal M3 “mousquetaires” in portuguese land…(very good false teeth are easy to find )
Would be a fantastic party!!!
February 1st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Lord Bell
Another figure whose hand could be detected as the strange poisoning story unfolded was Lord Bell of Belgravia, the man who, as Tim Bell, came to be synonymous with the advertising campaigns that helped usher the Tories to power in 1979.
Today, as chairman of Bell Pottinger Communications, his clients include Mr Berezovsky with the result that his firm has been fielding media inquiries about Mr Litvinenko, and distributed the photograph that showed the former spy in hospital.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:28 pm
384 Chloe Spain
Exactly…and dominated as well!
Tanner would be interesting…she’d have a white stick and guide dog.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Am I allowed on yet?
February 1st, 2008 at 1:25 pm
383 Stevo
Wouldn’t care to be Kate, either, with Gerry’s fingers digging in all the time.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I’d hate to be the one who came to the party as Cuddle-Cat…you’d be dead by the end of the night with the hand round your neck!
————-
Mods and Admin
Hence forward known as Clutched Cat?
February 1st, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Firestar
I want to apologise for disagreements in the past ok?
Let’s move forward…we’re on the same side here aren’t we?
February 1st, 2008 at 1:22 pm
¡Feliz cumpleaños Karen!
(no, it isn’t subversive, it means Happy Birthday in Spanish)
February 1st, 2008 at 1:21 pm
#
376
dcb Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 1:18 pm
374
Stevo Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
++++++++++++++
Oldfield with a white stick !
#
375
firestar Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 1:17 pm
i’ll come as the dna
_____________
Sledgehammer was going to come as the Rogatory Letters but as there were never any according to him - he won’t be coming to our “do”!
February 1st, 2008 at 1:20 pm
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tim_Bell
There’s a book on Lord Timothy Bell:
Mark Hollingsworth, The Ultimate spin doctor: the life and fast times of Tim Bell, 1997
February 1st, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Mods and Admin
Karen have probably got the wrong number, but enjoy anyway
February 1st, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Saturn
We come full circle with this….
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20030803/ai_n12743137
Bell Pottinger are not some small-time outfit at all. “Lord Bell” is their chairman and no doubt the origin of half the Firm’s name.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:18 pm
374
Stevo Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
++++++++++++++
Oldfield with a white stick !
February 1st, 2008 at 1:17 pm
i’ll come as the dna
February 1st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
SteveT
I’ve proposed a “do” for all us Anoraks once this case reaches conclusion. Ok…that means it may never happen, but if it did, I propose a fancy dress do where everyone shows up as a character from this plot.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Saturn
I’m not thinking about nuclear although I know this is your slant on the case.
I’m now thinking that Woolfall would be a well-known investigator of pharmaceutical problems. It’s been hinted that the twins/Madeleine were sedated. A major problem with a contaminated drug is a major issue reaching to the Government.
John McCann perhaps knew of people like Woolfall because of his job at AstraZeneca.
Was Woolfall brought in because of his special skills with contaminated drugs?
February 1st, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Carmen, did Brandon get caught in the spam filter just cos she said it was her birthday?
February 1st, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Coolandcalm
Thanks. Yes, I will probably be drunk by this evening. Not too drunk - the weather’s too bad, I’ll need to be sober enough to stay upright in the gales.
20 though - it’s the beginning of the end.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:11 pm
is there a kate on here?!!
anyway - i’m orf down the boozer for a pint or two - see you later