How The Madeleine McCann Story Was Hijacked By Web Trolls
FROM the Anorak Forums - by AGW:
One of the most bizarre and troubling aspects of of the Madeleine McCann story has been the way the coverage of the story has itself become the story.
Anorak is not a site which has ever been (or ever will be) dedicated to the alleged crimes of abduction and subsequent claim and counter-claim of deeper, darker deeds involving in turn a resident Englishman in the Portuguese holiday complex where the McCann family had been staying and then the parents and their friends themselves.
Right at the beginning of all this I had predicted it was a complex story which would run and run. I confess to being bemused by the the tale’s longevity. The Madeline McCann story has become Dianaeque in its telling and re-telling, worse it is on a par with the empty and drifting ship the Mary Celeste.
The story of a photogenic, pretty little white girl from a professional and middle-class background was sure to attract attention.
I had always expressed serious doubts about the wisdom of the parents’ determination to avoid clear police advice and follow their own route to infamy…because that it what it has become.
The story divided neatly pro and anti. Not pro and anti the hunt for a little girl or her remains but pro and anti the parents. It has become a love-hate story. Every day in Anorak there are those who praise or condemn, support or vilify.
Professional journalists have watched with increasing bemusement, bordering on horror, at the activities of sites created and devoted exclusively to the Madeleine McCann story. They have risen, flowered and been cut down. The same individuals, only the names have been changed to protect the guilty, have in their turn raged or praised as each site flourished and then fell by the wayside.
The same experts and lost souls appeared again and again, and yet again, during the brief existence of these sites. Sometimes only the keystrokes or style and use of phrases and words revealed their true identity. They took full advantage and became legends in their own lunch-times, master spies, superheroes CyberMan or DigiWoman each using the Internet’s basic anonymity to change gender, location and re-invent themselves as brilliantly clear thinkers, defenders of the faith and public morale and morals or, very sad solicitors posing as desperate housewives.
The 3 Arguidos site is probably the strongest of the allegedly Madeleine McCann dedicated sites. I have no access to it nor seek any since it regularly appears to be an outrageous vipers nest of sad people, many of whom have had brief cyber-existences here. It has attracted an interesting group of supporters and helpers and we should genuinely wish them well. They are the Jerry Springer end of the coverage.
The McCann story can not sustain sites like this and they have to diversify. Recruitment from sites such as ours is one way of doing it.
The Moderators here at Anorak have noted a recent surge of activity as the once-again revamped team at the 3As have become our new friends. Avid letter writers to Anorak and when gently challenged, retreat to vent their spleen within their own site. We had such an incursion yesterday.
We are aware the 3As site has suffered dreadful problems lately and we sympathise but do have our own course to run.
There is always a suspicion, often borne out by later scurrilous attacks, the new best friends have their own agenda. That’s fine we all do…and I do not intend to give the 3As site any further creditability by association with us.
It is worth passing on one of the alleged solicitor types in there tried to publish our editor’s telephone number. Why? It is freely available on this site and he is more than well-equipped to be happily entertained by the odd moronic or dirty phone call.
We remain secure in the knowledge of many things but among them are:
Anorak is the leading site of its genre
It has the most experienced and competent team of Moderators
Its writers are skilled and entertaining
It is growing and constantly evolving which is a healthy thing
It is often not a comfortable place to be but remains vibrant and exciting
Imitation and jealous rages remain the sincerest forms of flattery.
…and the headline to this piece? It is often forgotten that the very next line in that quotation is:
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself”
Posted: 30th, June 2008 | In: Anorak Says, Madeleine McCann Comments (626) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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June 30th, 2008 at 11:07 am
#
67
wtf Says:
June 30th, 2008 at 10:31 am
clouseau
Lots of people cant put their fingr on what it is, but imo if the mccs are so outraged at the “ludicrous” idea that they are somehow involved, why not be like an open book, answer questions, do the reconstruction, hand over phone records. But no, they only show a few pages dont they?
————-
Answer questions to whom exactly?
June 30th, 2008 at 11:06 am
clouseau 80.. Margaret??
Absolutely no way the twins are WOC’s. Trust me!!
June 30th, 2008 at 11:05 am
#
81
wtf Says:
June 30th, 2008 at 10:55 am
gandolf
your debating skills consist of continuously insulting those that dont agree with you, putting people down
————–
Well not really. Its just a low tolerance of fools unfortunately wtf.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:03 am
any real news?
June 30th, 2008 at 10:55 am
gandolf
your debating skills consist of continuously insulting those that dont agree with you, putting people down
June 30th, 2008 at 10:54 am
75
as Margaret was made a ward of court my personal opinion is that the same would apply to the other siblings in the family as the parents are for the want of a better phrase are prime suspects in the disapearence of a child
got to go lots of red Herrings to get through
Mods and Admin
WHO is Margaret?
June 30th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Your debating skills are limited wtf, you revert to the last refuge of the loser, accuse the poster of being some one else, how typical.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:51 am
It is pleasant clueless to have a bit of joviality in such a maelstrom of dark confusion.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:50 am
june
sorry
Re multiposters, i find it a tad sad that they need to create another persona to drive home their point
M and A
wtf
re multiposters, not to drive home a point, more to mangle one or ten
June 30th, 2008 at 10:48 am
74
carry on Gandy you are always good for a laugh
June 30th, 2008 at 10:48 am
62
Melanie Says:
June 30th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Gandolf, I don’t think they allude. I think they state categorocally what their thoughts are!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Yes I understood your statement quite well, you obviously don’t.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:46 am
I did cluless, found the link yet, JJ usually requests a link to back up a statement, probably didn’t request the passport one from you, as we all know it is an invention of the haddy counter, anyway how are you today, I hope you didn’t mind me having a go at your adversary last night.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:45 am
The newspapers print copies of other newspapers’ printed rumours, conjecture and fiction. If the rumours are in enough newspapers, they are accepted as ‘fact’. Attempts to redress this by the McCanns via libel action is seen as moneygrabbing, rather than attempting to set the record straight.
The ‘no evidence of abduction’ is interesting. Who has the ‘facts’ relating to this? Just the bloggers it seems. Clearly they more in possession of the facts than the police, who continue to consider abduction, as well as the other possibilities of harm done by accidental death, etc. Who then can dismiss the possibility of it having happened? Just the bloggers , who have accepted the ‘no evidence of abduction’ theory as fact.
And then as a fall back argument, it can be argued that they were at least guilty of child neglect. So not murder then? But if murder, then no child neglect?
Mods and Admin
Seemingly no one was present when MM disappeared, so abduction is at best a guess, and ONE of the lines of enquiry. The Portuguese legal system states the parents are arguidos, so that is another line of enquiry, Murat being another arguido, so there are 3 lines of enquiry.
There is no body, but yes abandoning the children is neglect, the consequences of that neglect remain to be determined.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:37 am
WTF you haven’t quite got the hang of the boundaries of free speech have you, after the good advice I gave you, never mind JJ will wet nurse you.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:36 am
JJ………. oh yes, I wasn’t saying they don’t try. I’ve seen a few sneak through and even stay for a teeny while but then they can’t control themselves any longer and say something really stupid but very enlightening! I love it when that happens.
I also love it that so many toddled off to the 3 arses saying how crap Anorak is and yet can’t seem to stay away!
I didn’t word it well… I meant among the regulars who post but then get called trolls because someone disagrees.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:35 am
67
ward of court Gandy ………….work it out for yourself
June 30th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Gandolf, learn to read please
June 30th, 2008 at 10:34 am
gandolf
Garth?
June 30th, 2008 at 10:31 am
clouseau
Lots of people cant put their fingr on what it is, but imo if the mccs are so outraged at the “ludicrous” idea that they are somehow involved, why not be like an open book, answer questions, do the reconstruction, hand over phone records. But no, they only show a few pages dont they?
June 30th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Found the passport link yet clueless ?
No Melanie the Express group stated categorically and rather foolishly, it cost them. Perhaps you would like to state categorically and back your categorical statement up, with evidence.
You think wtf they are acting suspiciously, so that makes them fair game for your baseless theories.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:28 am
65
i agree as do 1000s of other people
June 30th, 2008 at 10:26 am
wtf, does one think they act suspiciously because one is suspicious of them?
June 30th, 2008 at 10:24 am
gandolf
there is a child missing, fact, no evidence whatsoever that an abduction took place, just parents word. Parents are acting very strangely, therefore in my very humble opinion that in itself is guaranteed to make any normal thinking person question!
Edited jj
Wtf, I changed a word, the fact being that you suspect the parents is one thing, but that is NOT why they are arguidos
June 30th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Gandolf, I don’t think they allude. I think they state categorocally what their thoughts are!
June 30th, 2008 at 10:22 am
59
because they cant do anything else….no evidence of an abduction etc…need i say more
June 30th, 2008 at 10:22 am
People who allude to the parents of Madeleine McCann having committed some terrible crime against Madeleines person or allude to the McCanns having colluded in such, without a shred of evidence, are indeed mentally challenged.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:21 am
melanie
I agree, and why is it the posters that support the mccs insult those that do not think they way they do
June 30th, 2008 at 10:19 am
wtf, they are mentally challenged. Those that are suspicious have the capability to think for themseves and work through a logical sequence of arguements and formulate their own opinion. That’s mentally challenged in my book!
Those that blithely accept everything and then diss those that don’t have no capacity for thought themselves.
Gandolf is on your side! Easy!!
June 30th, 2008 at 10:16 am
by nosey, good luck
June 30th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Gandolf Says:
June 30th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Every one is indeed entitled to an opinion, but the Law is very sensitive as to how that opinion is expressed, do not confuse freedom of speech with the freedom to say what you like without penalty.
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Yes gandolf, it is also not very nice to call those people who are suspicous of the mccs mentally challenged, which is what angered me about your post, nothing to do with the law