
Madeleine McCann: Clarence Mitchell For Hire, Richard Desmond And The Guardian Repeats
MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY TELEGRAPH: “McCann’s spokesman Clarence Mitchell ponders PR move
As Kate and Gerry McCann return from their first family holiday since their daughter Madeleine disappeared 14 months ago, their spokesman Clarence Mitchell is in talks to join a PR agency where he plans to help other parents who have lost children to deal with the media.
Such is the news of the McCann case that the internet traffic-hungry Telegraph is looking at Clarence Mitchell’s career options. An interviwer might ask him what good has come of all the PR and media handling, and point out that not every missing child is the the blonde, photgenic progency of middle-class doctors and thus not deemed to be as newsworthy.
Says Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman:
“I’m happy to help anyone in the eye of a media storm, but I need to put myself on a firm financial footing. I should stress, however, that there’s absolutely no question of me abandoning Kate and Gerry McCann.”
Working for the McCanns is a job, and it pays. But when will it end?
THE GUARDIAN: “Fakery fallout hits TV sector”
Deception rows caused several top television figures to slide down the top 100. It’s the MediaGuardian 100, an arbitrary league table of TV shows and staff.
The newspaper sector accounts for three of the top 10 fallers - two editors and a proprietor. Richard Desmond is the second biggest faller, down 20 places to 55, after his newspapers had to make unprecedented front-page apologies and pay £550,000 in damages to the family of Madeleine McCann.
And the Guardian loves to write about Desmond:
55. Richard Desmond
In March, Richard Desmond’s Express Newspapers titles ran unprecedented apologies and paid £550,000 in damages over stories they had run about the family of Madeleine McCann….
It was another blow to the credibility of the papers, credibility that has suffered ever since Desmond bought them in 2000…
Under-resourced and undermined by the McCann apology, Desmond’s newspaper group also saw the first 24-hour national newspaper strike for 18 years in a dispute about pay and outsourcing.
Desmond is Fleet Street’s least-loved proprietor, but as the Observer’s Peter Preston memorably put it: “No one likes him, though (in common with Millwall FC) he doesn’t seem to care.”
No.78 is Peter Wright, editor of the Mail on Sunday.
If Wright is occasionally a controversial figure, then he gained extra credibility this year when he joined the Press Complaints Commission after the Daily Express editor, Peter Hill, stepped down in the wake of Express Newspapers’ £550,000 damages payout to the family of Madeleine McCann.
James Murdoch takes the top spot from his father as other City players suffer a tough year
Richard Desmond, the owner of Express Newspapers, has also had a mixed year, paying out £550,000 in damages to Gerry and Kate McCann for a string of inaccurate articles about their daughter Madeleine’s disappearance, and taking the unprecedented step of publishing front-page apologies in all four Express and Star national titles.
Is the Guardian obsessed with Richard Desmond?
Posted: 14th, July 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann Comments (620) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments





July 14th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
The links are still on the bike but it wisnae me
July 14th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I dont even fancy clive
July 14th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Clive - could you please provide a link to back up your statement
July 14th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I did not steal Lone’s bike
July 14th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Well, at least I’m only 1/2 hour ahead of Anorak time … which means I can spend an extra 1/2 hour here in the evenings before I think I’m tired
July 14th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
220…Noseycow
And all those ghostly apparitions floating their way along the dimness.
July 14th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Damn!
Reading about food reminds me of parlous state of my stomach and fridge; both empty.
I had better go and do something about it…
July 14th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
213 Carmen Says:
” Anorak leads; Greenwich Mean Time trails in its wake…….. ”
Less than 7 minutes to go and it’s nearer to continental time.
July 14th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
mmmm ta very much
July 14th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Matt
reminds me of a long dim hospital corridor after midnight
July 14th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
This place is Spooky. IMO
July 14th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
215 brandon flours Says:
” ferdinand
have you missed your lunch ?
”
You can share my ham and mustard bap if you like and I have a spare straw to my 7up
Thank you. I can offer you some chicken soup and a glas of Palatinate whine.
July 14th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Ferdy
Yep - he’s used that one aswell.
July 14th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
212 Noseycow Says:
” Ferdy
”
Anorak is a time warp - a bit like my bathroom. My son can run upstairs brush his teeth for 2 minutes and reappear downstairs all in 30 seconds…
Relativistic effects. Your son rushes near the speed of light.
July 14th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
ferdinand
You can share my ham and mustard bap if you like and I have a spare straw to my 7up
July 14th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
200
Noseycow Says:
July 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Chenier not advocating violence are you?
———————
Only to people wantonly abusing the English language.
Still, that gives us plenty of scope…
July 14th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
210
Ferdinand Says:
July 14th, 2008 at 2:14 pm e
208 brandon flours Says:
” ferdinand
wassup mate ? ”
The Anorak clock. Now more than 23 minutes ahead.
*********************
Anorak leads; Greenwich Mean Time trails in its wake……..
July 14th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Ferdy
Anorak is a time warp - a bit like my bathroom. My son can run upstairs brush his teeth for 2 minutes and reappear downstairs all in 30 seconds…
July 14th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Brandon
Is that what I’ve been doing wrong? Bloody hell now you tell me - having spent a small fortune on a replacement…
July 14th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
208 brandon flours Says:
” ferdinand
”
wassup mate ?
The Anorak clock. Now more than 23 minutes ahead.
July 14th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Ferdinand
What is? your small vessal disease?
July 14th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
ferdinand
wassup mate ?
July 14th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Nosey
You arent supposed to sit on it
use your other hand
July 14th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
It’s getting worse every day.
July 14th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
you’re not a bloody spy as well are you???
surrounded by them now-a-days…
July 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Nosey, tis the vibrations I send through the ethernet.
July 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
July 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Chenier
July 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
200th!
July 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Chenier not advocating violence are you?
Melanie - hiya what have you been up to - when you appear my computer goes belly up!!