Madeleine McCann: Prayers, Bones And Media
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
Remember, everyone, to play Anorak Bingo you must mention Madeleine McCann, Shannon Matthews and – here’s the tie-breaker – Scarlett Keeling. Eyes down…
DAILY MAIL: Amanda Platell
There cannot be a person in the country who didn’t feel a surge of delight on learning that little Shannon Matthews has been found alive and well.
We can think of one.
All the more so in these days when good news has become such a rare commodity. Yet even as we celebrate, we should spare a thought for Gerry and Kate McCann, for whom Shannon’s discovery, wonderful as it is, will be a fresh reminder of their own terrible loss. The return of one lost girl is a marvel. The return of two . . . now that’s a miracle worth praying for.
Was it the power of prayer that got Shannon Matthews found? If so, who gets the reward?
Tick. Tick.
THE INDEPENDENT: “Deborah Orr: Wonderful news that carries a message for the media”
It isn’t often that the papers have some really wonderful news to report. But it really is wonderful that Shannon Matthews has been found alive.
Amanda Platell agrees.
This amazing news also carries a lesson for the media, about the way it turns horrible crimes into great stories, and what an unpleasant, self-regarding business this can be.
There were suggestions that Shannon’s disappearance was not getting the coverage afforded to another lost child, Madeleine McCann, because the latter was a middle-class child and the former a child from a more modest and chaotic background. There is some truth in this argument, of course.
You can read about it all over the media.
But the underlying assumption is that all the publicity around the McCann case is something desirable and useful, while the more meagre reporting about the Matthew case is undesirable and useless. If children really could be reunited with their parents because of the magical power of speculative column inches, though, then Madeleine, not Shannon, would have been returned to her family by now. The very idea that the hypocritical furore around Madeleine is something to be aspired to, a benchmark of any positive kind, is quite wrong and ought to be challenged.
The McCanns should not be the media’s benchmark for missing children. We’ve heard that before…
True, the “debate” helped to keep Shannon’s abduction in the public domain, just as the “debate” around Made-leine continues to keep her case in the public domain.
A debate. On what? What was being debated?
It might be argued that there would have been no great endeavour to find Shannon had the press not made the supposedly modest fuss it did.
MEdia.
I believe this isn’t the case. The local media has a vast part to play, but the national and international press, apart from reporting facts about the investigation, can offer little but intrusive “colour”. The reality is that the vast majority of the “stories” written about the McCann case have been prurient and sensational pieces of cynical propaganda, serving no practical purpose at all except for the selling of newspapers.
Indeed. Read all about selling papers in the Independent.
Tick. Tick.
IRISH INDEPENDENT: “Divers recover bag of small bones in search for Maddy”
DIVERS searching an Algarve reservoir for Madeleine McCann yesterday found a plastic bag containing small bones. Police experts were last night examining the gruesome find made by a frogman working for a Portuguese lawyer.
Gerry and Kate McCann were informed immediately by a private detective who was observing the search. Madeira-based lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia says he was tipped off by underworld contacts that Madeleine was murdered and her body thrown into the reservoir last May.The search turned up the bones in the murky waters of the Barragem do Arabe reservoir yesterday at 3.30pm.
Mr Correia said last night: “We found two bags one of which contains some small bones. We don’t know if they are human bones or not at this stage. If they are human bones, they look like they come from a child’s fingers.”
Tick. And a half tick for speculation.
THIS IS LONDON: “Bag of small bones found in reservoir where lawyer claims Madeleine McCann’s body was dumped”
Says Clarence Mitchell: “We have not been informed of anything by the police to indicate that this find is significant. There is nothing to indicate at this stage that they are human bones and they could easily be from an animal. There is nothing at the moment to indicate that this find has anything to do with Madeleine. We continue to believe she is alive.”
THE SUN: “Shannon: 24 days of tears”
IN the end, the prayers were answered – as yesterday the tears of anguish over missing Shannon Matthews turned to sobs of relief.
Prayers. What of the tip off? The police work?
TIMELINE:
Sunday, February 24: CHURCHGOERS pray for Shannon’s safe return. Madeleine McCann’s parents send a message of support.
Tick. Tick.
THE GUARDIAN: “What women want”
Following last year’s Booker win, Anne Enright is finally enjoying wider recognition - despite her work’s reputation for being gloomy and obsessed with sex and death
She became the target of ire in the tabloids when they picked up an article she wrote in the London Review of Books dissecting her reaction to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The piece was full of ambivalence, describing her suspicions of Gerry and Kate McCann but in the end condemning her own voyeurism. She refuses to say whether the fracas upset her, but seems sensibly resigned, agreeing that events proved how she was naive to think her nuances would be understood in the grotesque guessing game that the story had become: “I was misread and I hoped that would become apparent, but there’s no point in me stomping around and fighting with shadows.”
Posted: 15th, March 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (621) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
March 15th, 2008 at 10:53 am
50
Gandolf
I know .i’m here and was here
So WE ALL in Portugal KNOW
March 15th, 2008 at 10:53 am
jo
having been enlightened on the fact that you are Spanish please accept my apology…pat
March 15th, 2008 at 10:52 am
can’t say no, have you remembered, who was in charge of the whitewash, and don’t blame British politicians for corruption in your own country, thank you very much.
Have a pleasant and Brit free weekend.
PS I can tell you who was in charge of the whitewash.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:50 am
……………… “Oi, got me handicap to worry about!! Gonna miss me golf game on Wednesday”
March 15th, 2008 at 10:49 am
45 Gandolph and 47 SteveT
Absolutely.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Gandolph,
Im with you on this one.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Gandolf
Just came to reply to your yesterday post abouut “Casa Pia” ,didn’t had time
1- Remember when you are talking about Whitewash on that case ,are the same POliticos that are HELPING your Prime M. in this case !
Stop using , the abuse of children ,as an excuse to the behaviour of those WHO you support !
You have the same in your Country.
2 - For your Knowledge never the Portuguese Police had the FULL SUPPORT from the Entire NATION as in this case!
3 - It happened here ,the McCanns staied here for several months ,so we KNOW
4 - What about stop the misinformation you put here ,so i and you can enjoy from MY ABSENCE
March 15th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Ferdinand, you miss the point, the YP were allegedly told by two seperate sources, one a charity, that Shannon was likely at that address, what would you be saying if this search had ended in tragedy, because a few doors were not removed from their hinges.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:45 am
One for agw’s sin bin.
Famous last words.
What’s-his-name, as he is dragged, handcuffed, to a waiting police-car:
“I’m a poorly man, I should be going to hospital.”
Gerry, as he is dragged, handcuffed, onto the plane for Portugal:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fill in your entry, and return to Mods & Admin.
First prize, for our lady readers, a new wardrobe and makeover, from Fiona and Kate.
First prize, for our gentleman readers, a weekend at Champneys, with Fiona and Kate.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Pat, unfair to knock someone’s grammar, especially when they’re not writing in their own language!
March 15th, 2008 at 10:40 am
40
pat
I believe Jo is Spanish.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:38 am
29 Gandolf Says:
“Neither tip off was acted on, Yorkshires finest if these reports are indeed accurate, have some very serious questions to ask.”
Easy to say in hindsight. They must have received hundreds of hints on all kind of “suspicious” people. You would not want to have them kicking in the doors of hundreds of innocent people.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:37 am
35
it’s not your finger nails you need to look at it’s your grammar- no wonder you cut and paste everything…keep up the good work though I like the info
March 15th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Hi there Gandy. Yip, ‘fraid I have to agree that chances are someone didn’t want a pet or two!!!
March 15th, 2008 at 10:35 am
36
Gandolf
More like a murder investigation crusade I guess!
And goodmorning to you and everybody else.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:33 am
34
jo
really, you don’t say…btw my comment was related to the search for shannon
March 15th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Julie, good morning to one and all even Ian, hope he doesn’t have to bad a hangover.
Now you know that they are kitten bones, that kills so to speak, that bone of contention. The only downside is it might start Ian off on a kitten neglect crusade !!
PS reporter don’t worry about it to much no one else does, it allows Ian to flex his powerful legal muscle, his arse.!!
March 15th, 2008 at 10:30 am
*They had to be there that some like it or not… must cut my finger nails
March 15th, 2008 at 10:29 am
32
pat
They had to be there thet some liked it or not
This is a criminal investigation
March 15th, 2008 at 10:27 am
According to ‘enfants kidnappes’ website, the bones are those of a kitten!
March 15th, 2008 at 10:24 am
#
31
Gandolf Says:
March 15th, 2008 at 10:23 am
The bones are kitten bones.
———————————–
I KNEW IT! I just knew you were evil - you could have sent the kitties over to me if you didn’t want them - you’ve ruined a friendship now
March 15th, 2008 at 10:23 am
the police search was more like…’the show must go on’, than any real investigation.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:23 am
The bones are kitten bones.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:21 am
27
SteveT
Absolutely!
It was an incredible good news
I hope Shannon is well despite her ordeal
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/deborah-orr/deborah-orr-wonderful-news-that-carries-a-message-for-the-media-796246.html
March 15th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Allegedly Yorkshires finest where alerted to the possibility of Shannon being in the house where she was found, several times previously, once by the charity Missing People, “”The charity Missing People claimed yesterday that it had contacted West Yorkshire police to warn them that the missing girl might be in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr, Dewsbury, where she was found.”"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ryan Baynes, “”Within days of Shannon’s disappearance Ryan realised Donovan may have her and called Crimestoppers at Wakefield police station.
He gave them Donovan’s name and the address in nearby Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr. Police acted after realising Ryan’s information matched that given to them by a concerned neighbour of Donovan. At one point Ryan was so concerned his information was not being acted upon that he considered finding Donovan’s flat himself.
He said: “I was expecting a call back from the police to say they either arrested him or discounted him. But each time I called I was told it was being ‘looked into’”"
Neither tip off was acted on, Yorkshires finest if these reports are indeed accurate, have some very serious questions to ask.
It would appear that the safe return of Shannon, was despite the YP, and more to the credit of public vigilance.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Mr Correia said last night: “We found two bags one of which contains some small bones. We don’t know if they are human bones or not at this stage. If they are human bones, they look like they come from a child’s fingers.”
For what I saw on spanish TV there was an awful lot of small black bones
More than 10 for sure
Does Correia need new specs?
March 15th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Jo,
But such good news about Shannon. I must admit I did not expect that outcome.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:12 am
25
SteveT
Of course!
Who else?since we cant talk about anything
Very slow this morning.
Too many emotions yesterday….
March 15th, 2008 at 10:07 am
24
jo
Are you talking about Posh?
March 15th, 2008 at 10:05 am
22
yampster
Send to test for DNA
103% sure they are animals bones
Poeration over
Game over?