Clarence Mitchell And A Debate On The McCanns And The Media
OVER the news wires: “Madeleine’s parents ‘not suspects’”
Says Clarence Mitchell: “I have never once seen or heard anything from either of them to give me any cause for suspicion in any shape or form.
“I have also had briefings privately from the police and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre that also gave me complete reassurance that the authorities, in this country certainly, are treating this as a case of rare stranger abduction, as they call it.”
Mr Mitchell says he feels “shamed” as a former reporter by the “sloppiness” and “laziness” of certain journalists in covering the story of the missing child.
Anorak has been commenting on just this for months…
Mr Mitchell was speaking at a debate on The McCanns and the Media at the London School of Economics.
He adds: “What we have taken issue with, and our lawyers continue to review, is the aspect of coverage that is not only distorted but wilfully misrepresentative at times of the facts as we know them or the lack of facts. In that vacuum I’m afraid some very sloppy standards have crept in.”
He singled out “the sloppiness and laziness of some of the journalists, and the lack of independence of thought and checking of facts”.
Mr Mitchell said he understood putting a story about Madeleine’s disappearance on the front page could add 70,000 sales to some newspapers, meaning there was “definitely a commercial imperative” to reporting on the case. He assured the audience they could be certain that “every single one” of the negative stories they read or heard about the McCanns was untrue.
But wasn’t it the Independent on Sunday that reported: “Maddy’s off the front page”:
“Followers of the Madeleine McCann story have been able to depend on the ‘Evening Standard’ to clear the front page for any development. So how come a potential breakthrough, with police looking into the disappearance of another little girl near Praia da Luz, was buried on page 17? The answer is: sales fell by 10,000 the last two times Maddy made the cover, so the news desk have been told to curb their Maddy enthusiasm. If only they’d tell the ‘Express’ to do likewise.”
As for the McCanns being innocent, all we know is that they deny harming their daughter but remain on the Portuguese police’s list of suspects, along with Robert Murat….
Posted: 30th, January 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (168) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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January 31st, 2008 at 2:11 pm
164
May Says:
January 31st, 2008 at 10:00 am
*****************
Its like in spain right now with the elections coming up.
Weve heard Sarko and the fat german one giving their support to the principal opponent RAJOY (son of a f…… bitch).Litterally,those 2 idoits would vote for him…..jajajajajajaja….NOBODY in spain swallow this kind of crap,thank god for that.The spanish are too busy to SURVIVE.They dont believe in the media etc…..they are very critical and DO have a hard life.Not like in the uk where there is social help and the lot…Ok,more sun? so what????
It is just an “apartee” about media and all
January 31st, 2008 at 2:06 pm
165
May Says:
January 31st, 2008 at 11:57 am
And if it comes to that, it will be another expensive farce.
***************
Lets put it like this: there wont be any inquest because the PJ is going to lock them up SOON.
I prefer think in these terms: locked and away for a looooooooooog time
End of story
January 31st, 2008 at 12:09 pm
112
Maria Says:
January 31st, 2008 at 12:56 am
***********
When you say there should be a little more “respect”, I suspect you mean, and would like, “deference”.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:57 am
71
Abraham Zapruder Says:
January 30th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Jo
But maybe one day there will be a Maddy INQUEST in this country, like the Princess Diana inquest that is going on at the moment.
*****************
And if it comes to that, it will be another expensive farce.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:00 am
16
slyfox Says:
January 30th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Edit…..
Jeez, I really think we need an underground news channel. There’s two layers to this and the underground will win out eventually!
I am actually pissed off with the amount of rubbish we’re fed. There’s definitely a better way, and it’s the way we’re going. SNIP
************
Good post. Couldn’t agree more. When I have lived abroad, I used to miss ‘a way of life’, and basically this meant media reporting, particularly serious news journalism and genuinely independent assessments of situations, politics etc.
Now I feel no allegiance to anything here in Britain. Everything is spin and the public are treated like gullible fools. Those with money and influence pull the strings and never seem to be accountable. I wish all the luck in the world to those with the courage to rebel.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:15 am
129 Grande Finale Says: January 31st, 2008 at 2:36 am
SPIN SPIN and MORE SPIN (it used to be called lies IIRC)
Edit….
QUOTE ” the Sun readership is mostly C1’s and D2’s. When I wrote a story sympathetic to the Mccanns I got the largest ever email bag between 8 and 10,000 emails. 99.9percent of them were against the McCanns. They said that the coverage was classist. There is some truth in that.”
Not quite as dumb as you took them for granted for then Eh!!!
Edit….
+++++++++++++++
The editor doesn’t understand the most basic of matters about research/feedback.
The Sun, by his own admission, has a readership that fits a certain demographic. If they write an article that broadly grates with their demographic then of course you’d expect a lot of negative feedback!
Without intending the slightest offence to Sun readers, I wonder what response the “Turkey Times” might get if it ran an article proposing that since Christmas was such a jolly fun time, that they were supporting a campaign for a mid year Christmas Day in addition to the traditional December one?
January 31st, 2008 at 9:14 am
We did life insurance months ago.
You can’t.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:05 am
159 Saturn
Yes you could be right. I myself didn’t pick up on the word “disappearance” but it could have that meaning.
Clarence could only be sure that none of the T9 was involved if he knew what had actually happened and it didn’t involve them. But this doesn’t really make sense.
I think we have to accept that the PJ have done/are doing their job and that the matter has been blocked for political reasons.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:58 am
There’s a new thread, although not much going on there as far as I can see.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:58 am
95
Châtelaine Says:
Stevo, I recollect them saying [repeatedly, incl. CM] that they “had nothing to do with her DISAPPEARANCE”…
****************
100% spins and lies from Clarence Mitchell. Sure, theMcCanns probably did not have anything to do with the disposal of the body. I recall Kate once saying “The worst thing is not knowing where she is” which of course meant that she had not been told what was done with the body.
Clarence’s “briefings” from the “police”? He is talking about the retired police detectives who spoke out publicly. The “authorities” think it is a “rare stranger abduction” — sure, anyone can be an authority on the subject if you want them to be. But even if anyone still was contemplating abduction, they would have to assume that possibly McCann acquaintances were involved.
Instead, Clarence is now saying that not only the McCanns have nothing to do with it, neither did anyone they know. How can he be so confident of this?
As I said in 768 last thread, if Clarence Mitchell has the full support of MI5, he does not need to sound plausible or even rational. And it is hard to fathom how he could otherwise be permitted to continue the abduction scam and obstruction of justice for the Team McCanns. It is hard to comprehend why the Madeleine Fund was not frozen long ago, and fund-raising efforts forbidden. After all, it was clearly stated that the cadaverine had come from the girl.
From the Portuguese you have to wonder why they do not present that much evidence now, in order to demand and end to the justice obstruction and the fraudulent fund-raising. They don’t try to stop it, though, and only complain about it. Perhaps they are weaklings, bending to the pressure of the British from the start. It could be that letting the McCanns slip away back to Britain was only the first sign of that. All imho only.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:56 am
157 just_me
Yep. Same idea.
We seem to be alone! Any lurkers out there?
January 31st, 2008 at 8:47 am
156 Chloe - Exactly - usually compensation is based on loss of earnings for life, since a minor is not earning a wage, they pay a statutory figure.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:46 am
154 just_me
Hi just_me.
I don’t know whether you get anything in Spain but you certainly couldn’t get insurance when the child I knew was killed. There was a court case actually and the main argument was that a child under 16 was not a breadwinner or potential breadwinner.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:45 am
my post 154 - that figure is based on my experience in 1998, of course things may have changed since then.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:43 am
morning all
Chloe Spain - I dont think you can get insurance for a minor in UK. If your child dies you get a statutory payment of £7,500.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:43 am
121 Michael
Congratulations!
I really admire you for that. I think we should all follow your example.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:29 am
143 Sally
Can you have life insurance on a child in the UK? I don’t believe you can in Spain. (Could be wrong about this because it was some years ago when a friend of mine’s daughter was killed in a fire.)
January 31st, 2008 at 8:27 am
……and I love this one……
Their unconcealed bile, their lack of compassion for the McCanns, their sanctimonious statements about the supposed parenting inadequacies of the McCanns, do not stem wholly from poor reporting.
Certainly, false stories have contributed to their fallacious arguments. But they were uninterested in the rational statements of Mitchell and McGuinness. They took no notice of the subtle arguments of Graef and Mills.
They were the equivalent of those mobs outside courts in murder trials, deaf to facts, cocooned from reality by their own self-righteous demagoguery. Their major aim, outlined in a “manifesto” circulated within the lecture theatre, is to see the McCanns prosecuted for “abandoning” their children
January 31st, 2008 at 8:25 am
The Portuguese don’t say Gracias, they say Obrigado a bit like when we say “Much Obliged”.
It’s all the same, I guess…
January 31st, 2008 at 8:23 am
An extract from Roy Greenslades report…
“Their anger may have been sincere, but it became abundantly clear that they are infected with prejudice. Many of the claims they made - about money donated to the McCanns’ fund, about payments to PRs, about the McCanns’ actions and relationship with the police - were obviously based on the inaccurate accusations and innuendos published by so many newspapers”.
Would you believe it?
January 31st, 2008 at 8:21 am
Says Clarence Mitchell: “I have never once seen or heard anything from either of them to give me any cause for suspicion in any shape or form.
“I have also had briefings privately from the police and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre that also gave me complete reassurance that the authorities, in this country certainly, are treating this as a case of rare stranger abduction, as they call it.”
****
To paraphrase the great John Betjeman….
So spake the McCanns’ PRO
A man who really ought to know
For he is PAID for saying so
January 31st, 2008 at 8:10 am
Insurance? Gawd it gets worse…………………….
January 31st, 2008 at 8:07 am
112
Maria Says:
January 31st, 2008 at 12:56 am
—————————————
Maria
A fair, honest and balanced opinion - as always. Thanks for that!
January 31st, 2008 at 7:38 am
143 Sally - what a brilliant thought. Yes, any way of finding out. Cut and dried really if insurance was on that poor little thing.
January 31st, 2008 at 7:29 am
Good morning all,
Cant Say No
Do you know a portuguese lawyer who could give us some info? Gracias
January 31st, 2008 at 7:07 am
I have never seen this next question I am about to bring up and don’t intend to sound crass, but how much life insurance did the mcs have on Madeleine?
January 31st, 2008 at 4:19 am
140 Cheryl
Sadly, you may very well be right.
Take care.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:16 am
Hu G Finale,
It has become increasingly obvious that the elite (as I guess they would like to be known), have grown up in the knowledge that it is perfectly OK to leave 18 month old children to fend for themselves.
The wealthy who send their children off to boarding school and discuss whether or not to have them home for christmas! Seems to me, “why do they have children in the first instance?” I just wish they would’t broadcast it all over Europe that Brits abroad leave their kids on their own it’s just not true!
Anyway sorry to leave you in the twilight zone but I need sleep. there were some good links to Utube from last nights thread ? if you can find them.-
—
Sleep without regrets. I don’t understand the boarding school thing. At all! But some Anorak posters defend it. I agree with you. Why have children? It is really beyond my comprehension. Is it a class thing? I don’t have a clue. It is beyond my human understanding of why human beings would CHOOSE to be rid of their children. To advance their socioeconomic standing? I really don’t get it. I try to be nonjudgmental but why separate from your children when they are young?
Well of course the McCann situation is the worst extension of such an ethos — to leave a 3 year old to care for her 2 year old siblings!
January 31st, 2008 at 4:08 am
138
veritablequandary Says:
January 31st, 2008 at 3:53 am
Ok, one of my favorite movies is Groundhogs Day.
Bill Murray, love him or leave him.
I love him.
Buy it rent it love it.
If we just keep at it we can be better people.
Reminds me a bit of Anorak, where we just keep living the same day over in the hope of getting it right.
Here’s my groundhog’s day (Feb 2) wish for Anorak: that Feb 3 brings a new day.
And justice for the little one.
God bless you all!
_____________
VeritableQ - I’m not certain in my mind we’ll ever know what happened that night she disappeared. I couldn’t begin to count all the cases throughout the many years over here - a child disappears, an adult disappears without a trace or a clue - 5 - 10 even 20 years later you read in the papers that remains (bones) are found by hunters out in the woods during hunting season. DNA testing is done or ‘reconstruction’ of how the person may have looked from the bones found is put in the newspaper for help in identifying the remains. That is how many are finally ‘found’! Many years ago a local radio broadcasters two daughters went missing on their way home from school, I’m not sure if it was 10 or 15 years later, remains (bones) were found out in the woods and DNA testing showed they were his two little girls.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:01 am
136
veritablequandary Says:
January 31st, 2008 at 3:39 am
That they played the class card seems so odd.
I don’t believe it will ultimately work in their favour because child neglect (and worse) is surely not a class or race or gender matter.
Undoubtedly class comes into discussions but ultimately it is a diversion.
*********************************
Hi again,
It has become increasingly obvious that the elite (as I guess they would like to be known), have grown up in the knowledge that it is perfectly OK to leave 18 month old children to fend for themselves.
The wealthy who send their children off to boarding school and discuss whether or not to have them home for christmas! Seems to me, “why do they have children in the first instance?” I just wish they would’t broadcast it all over Europe that Brits abroad leave their kids on their own it’s just not true!
Anyway sorry to leave you in the twilight zone
but I need sleep. there were some good links to Utube from last nights thread ? if you can find them.
January 31st, 2008 at 3:53 am
Ok, one of my favorite movies is Groundhogs Day.
Bill Murray, love him or leave him.
I love him.
Buy it rent it love it.
If we just keep at it we can be better people.
Reminds me a bit of Anorak, where we just keep living the same day over in the hope of getting it right.
Here’s my groundhog’s day (Feb 2) wish for Anorak: that Feb 3 brings a new day.
And justice for the little one.
God bless you all!