Looking For Madeleine McCann: All Show And No Punch (Murat’s Car And Malinka’s Release)
MADELEINE McCann is missing. Still missing. But Madeline McCann is not missing on the front page of the Mail.
The Mail has news on how readers can learn Spanish in a week, or at least learn to speak Spanish the way Spaniards should speak it. There’s the offer of a The Darling Buds of May DVD. And the news that Nigel Havers is getting married for the third time.
But no Madeleine McCann.
Murat’s Motors
Madeleine McCann does gets a mention on the Sun’s front page. But there’s no picture of the missing four-year-old. The image if of Kelly Brook’s bra.
We do learn, however, that Robert Murat ordered a hire car two days before Lori Campbell of the Sunday Mirror told the local police she found him “creepy” and he was taken in for questioning. Before being released without charge.
Readers can get more on this story via the Sun’s page 7. After stories about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s money (he made £122million last year), swimming pools in five jails, Emma Thomason loading up her boyfriend’s van with her boyfriend’s clothes and driving it into the sea, there is news of Madeleine McCann.
Maria Rocio, of Auto Renta111 (number on application), fielded the call from one-eyed Murat. “I didn’t understand why he wanted another car when he had one of his own already,” says Rocio. “I could tell in his voice he was in a real hurry.”
Oh? “He wanted it then and there. It was lunchtime last Saturday and Madeleine had already been missing for eight days.”
Murat did not want this “car fast” in the moments immediately preceding or following the theft of Madeleine McCann. It was eight days later.
Says Rocio: “He said the English couple who were looking for the little girl needed his car and wanted to put posters on it.” Did they? Were posters put on Murat’s car? The Sun fails to say, but it does tell readers that Kate and Gerry McCann “ALREADY had a hire car”.
Watching Madeleine
While Sun readers wonder about Robert Murat, and everyone else wonders what good knowing about such things can do, the Mirror sticks to the story.
The paper that kept its weapons of mass destruction counter going well into the Second Iraq War knows how to stick to a story.
“25 MILLION hearts go out to you,” says the front-page headline. There’s a picture of Madeleine McCann’s mother. And another of Madeleine.
News is that millions of you have logged onto the website created by the family to aid the search for Madeleine. Tributes have been flooding in to www.findmadeleine.com. Readers learn that the family has been “overwhelmed” by the support shown.
The campaign is designed to raise Madeleine’s profile. (Not to spread anxiety about child kidnap. That’s the tabloids’ job.) And it is working. Many know the name Madeleine McCann. Many know what she looks like.
Everyone’s A Potential Suspect
But no leads have come from the site. And buried in the story of the traffic attracted to the website is news that Russian “web geek” Sergey Malinka has been released without charge. He is not a suspect. He is being treated as a “witness”. Lead detective Olegario Sousa tells us: “It’s a very dramatic investigation. A witness could be in the future a suspect. There may be more suspects for all we know.”
Yes, there may be. They may be tens, hundreds, thousands of suspects. Robert Murat may be the first of many. Robert Murat, he of the bouncy castle “fixation”, may be innocent. Robert Murat’s family may come out of hiding.
Maybe. And maybe. And maybe.
The case goes on. But things are staring drift. Many want to look at Madeleine. Many want to find her. But where she is remains a mystery that no-one appears any closer to solving.
And there are signs of the media becoming tired of the story…
May 18th, 2007 at 10:02 am
The media are doing a great job. Lay off them. They are to be praised that they have learned lessons for not keeping the Millie Downer campaign alive.
May 18th, 2007 at 10:19 am
It’s true the media need proper stories now in order to keep this on the front page but the non-evidence on Murat is non-helpful. Nothing he has done suggests he has taken or murdered a child. Maybe his allegedly weird vibes suggest something maybe not. The media at the scene appear to have just become frustrated and angry because they weren’t able to get information out of him or the cops - information that was perhaps not favourable to the police it is true but nevertheless protected by a law designed to prevent details that could aid the escape of the perpetrator being made public. Most of what they are doing in the absence of actual news - which is what we all want after all - is continuing to feed their readers’ bottomless appetite for blame and fear. The police have so cocked this up and I am afraid that the extent of their failure means they are desperate to pin this on someone.
May 18th, 2007 at 10:27 am
The press are in the business of selling papers, nothing more, nothing less.
I do not doubt that many of the people working for the press care very much about what has happened and would like very much to help find Madeleine (as do I).
When the press can make more money by focussing on a different story they will move on, this is simple business sense.
The way that the press have focussed on the anguish of the mother and indulged in unsubstantiated speculation about people the Police have interviewed has certainly served to keep the story live, but at what cost? Suppose that Mr Murat is charged, will the Portugese authorities accept that he can receive a fair trial after all the allegations that have been printed? Will Mrs McCann start to wonder about her own sanity now that it has been questioned in the press?
May 18th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Young children go missing every day, in every country, but never has any case been given so much prominence. If Madeliene was black and from an under-privileged background, the media would disappear after the initial reports. However she is white, pretty and from a middle class background with successful, prosperous parents. The way the media is salivating over it is unsavoury.
Now the family are lobbying and demanding that the government get involved. People these days refuse to accept responsibility for their actions, and expect the government/nanny state to come to their aid when things go wrong, in this case tragically wrong.
I feel the greatest sympathy for Madeliene’s parents and admire them for their courage and for the way they are staying so positive and visualising a happy outcome. However, the fact is that they left their very young children alone - THREE children, all under the age of four.
Many millions of parents in this country would NOT leave their very young children alone. They would not do it at home, it is against the law and they would be charged with an offence. Why then do it when on holiday abroad, no matter how “safe” the environment appeared to be. Madeliene’s parents apparently did it every night of their stay at the resort. Just because all the other parents were doing it does not make it right. The British are increasingly unable to make intelligent decisions and to think for themselves.
May 18th, 2007 at 11:38 am
I am not sure that the ‘white middle class’ statement holds up, but I fundamentally agree with alot of what you say.
I am more inclined to say that the prominence give depends on the photogenic qualities of the child involved, which is perhaps a more cynical approach than your ‘white middle class’ observation. The net result of this means that the media are judging a story by it’s marketability rather than any other factor.
May 18th, 2007 at 11:46 am
I agree a lot with what Edwina of Warwick says. Very astute and intelligent comments. My children are 2 and 5 and I never let them out of my site. Even now after all this has occured I notice parents holding their children a little more tightly whilst out shopping etc.
May 18th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
Of course there is blame - there has been a crime. The blame goes to the criminal. So many clamour for victimhood. Madeleine McCann and her family’s pain is turned into a public spectacle. Gordon Brown’s tears. Yellow ribbons in Parliament. Everyone wants in on the pain, to show they care. But they are not the victims. Madeleine and her family are. They are not to blame. The criminals are. The belief that you must grip your child’s hand tighter comes from anxiety brought on my media hysteria and a victim culture…
May 18th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
HI,
HAS ANY BODY CHECKED ON ROAD WORKS IN THE AREA , TO SEE IF MADELEINE WOULD HAVE FALLEN OR THROWN INTO OPEN WORKS WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN CLOSED IN FRIDAY MORNING..
May 18th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Maybe Gordon Brown is…
http://www.anorak.co.uk/twitterings/173416.html
May 18th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
I am disgusted with the comments made by Edwina Warwick - Typical turn it into a race issue. What else should have on the front page of our newspapers when one of our children going missing in such way? A topic about Tony Blair leaving or how Gordon Brown looks in his new suit? No - we have the right medium to convey our concerns and support to the family. I am sure your criticism at this point in time is just the typical sort of negative backlash we all come to expect from small minded people, this is not the time to do that. We must stop what we are doing and help!
May 18th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Two weeks gone still no Maddy, if it was in Britian she would have been found within the week . The Portguesse police have no effort to find Madeleine McCann at all. I think Maddy is still alive, DON’T give up now scearhing for her, she out their in Portgual. ” Please pray for the McCann family & Madeleine for a safe return”.
May 18th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
It seems like so many people are surmising various scenarios. Is there some where that all these scenarios can be accumulated i.e. A CENTRAL BRAINSTORMING HEADQUARTERS to be viewed and worked on by the police/interpol etc… A case of putting our millions of heads together to work out scenarios. Maybe just maybe someone will hit on the solution. Or maybe just maybe someone may establish a real link. What better use could we make of a worldwide resource than to protect our children.
Bring Madeline Home!!!
May 18th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Ciara - Who would want to read all the millions of goodwill messages? They are by far and away the bulk of the correspondence on this matter. Leads are few
Aaron Doyle - No effort? What more should they do. We hear how devious a child predator is yet the police are supposed to know them all. How?
May 18th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Blackhat
I would have more sympathy for your point of view if every child abduction received the same blanket press coverage, but this is not the case.
Are you advocating that everyone in Britain should go to Portugal and help in the hunt?
May 18th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Not I am not - but as a parent myself I firmly believe more can be done. Sometimes Britian needs to stand up and be Great again! I see no better cause than a family who have had a child taken from them in such a manner. Just because this happens and does not have the same coverage, does that mean we should accept it and hope it doesnt happen to ourselves. Mabye 1 in 100,000 children, I dont care either whether it is one child or 10,000 children, no one should go missing! If each of us can help then I am saying we should. Do nothing and lose all hope!
May 18th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Blackhat -
You say that such a case must be on the front page of our newspapers?
There have been 450 children gone missing in the UK since May 3rd. I may have missed them, but I have heard NOTHING sbout these 450 other children,
I agree entirely with Edwina - this case would not recieve anywhere near the amount fo attention if this had happened to a family that was -
non white
poor
working/lower class
living on benefits
no ccess to media/celebrities/money
I do hope that Madeleine (and not Maddy as the Medai have dubbed her) is found safe, but I also want justice to be done. If - and this is a big IF - Murt is put on trial, he will never be able to recieve a fair trial after what has been suggested about him by the British press. Under their own regulations they would never get away with this in the UK.
This case is not about race per se - but it highlights the racism and class bias that exists in Britain.
May 18th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
I am afraid we beg to differ you views are out of date. These discussions take away the importance of what has happened and are irrelevant. Your beliefs and discussions which were initiated in the 1980s have caused such harm to such minorities within the UK. I know I used to live in Africa. You may think it is better to be PC but I am afraid you are doing more damage than you realise (to the people you think you are protecting!) - to cry wolf over such matters does no one any help. And finally I think the UK is bored of it.
May 18th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Yes the parents shouldn’t have left her, but this is not the childs fault. she is 4 years old and didn’t ask to be left or to be taken.
keep looking and praying for her safe return for Madeline’s sake!
May 18th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Well, I for one am glad to know CEOP have sent their finest over to ‘assist the Portugese police’. Mind you, I’m STILL waiting for their definitive, incontravertible evidence of the ‘global paedophile ring’ they are so keen to remind us all operates daily, in every town of every country around the world (and of course in every chat room across the entire internet).
I applaud Anorak for taking a stand against hysterical, hypocritcal reporting of cases such as these. It’s the the very lowest form of so-called ‘journalism’ - pandering to The Mob in the very worst possible way.
Can’t wait to see what fun Private Eye have with the media’s behaviour over the past week!
May 18th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Gazeta Digital
News in English, Portuguese and Chinese
Editor: Paulo Reis
Journalist (Press Card nº 734)
Reporting and blogging from Praia da Luz, Algarve
Main Page: http://gazetadigital.blogspot.com/
Blog: http://gazetadigitalarquivo.blogspot.com/2007/05/em-directo-da-praia-da-luz-algarve-news.html
May 18th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Blackhat -
Your views are inherrantly racist, and underline the deep routed racism and class divide within the UK.
As I said before, these issues are not simply about this case - they are to do with the thousands of children who go missing each year, yet do not recieve the same media hype that this case does.
Durfar, DRC, Iran, Labour leadership, Zimbabwe……all these issues are so much more important than this case to the UK as a whole….so we need to ask. Why is this case recieving so much attention?
May 18th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
[...] - Looking For Madeleine McCann: Al .. [...]
May 18th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Important to you, fair enough but don’t speak for me or the rest of the UK Ross.
Anyway…
The news will cool on this pretty soon and you can go back to chattin bout Iran and Durfar down your local. The Portuguese police plod way too slowly for The Sun and Sky and they only managed to drag it on for another week because of Lori Columbo and the press gang creating a storm.
Shame the whole ‘one eyed oddball’ and ‘the russian’ rubbish has smokescreened the likely truth that De’Niro and his force have nothing and there will not be a fairy tale ending.
May 18th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Why should we all know about a criminal investigation? whjat good does iot do to hear of Robert Murat and Malinka? A Russian. A man with one eye. Surely there is no need to dress up any suspects and witnesses in this story in panto garb? The criminal/s who took Madeleine are human. And that is something far worse than any monster…
May 18th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
…for those who do not understand that the parents leaving their babies ALONE, even though they clearly love their children, started this horrible chain of events…what if it were found that Madeleine wandered out of the UNLOCKED apartment on her own, and ended up in harm’s way…(e.g., in the ocean or a large construction ditch)…what then?
I pray this sweet little girl is found alive and reunited with her family…
May 18th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
ALL OUR THOUGHTS ARE WITH YOU GOD BLESS HOPE SHE IS SAFE AND WELL
May 18th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Thanks to Paulo. Will be following your blog closely.
Also found out today that there is plenty of publicity here in Greece and ports and harbours are alerted.
May 18th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
This in the Mail looks like halfway positive news, and one can only hope that it isn’t too late. Apparently the woman who saw her has had a hard time getting sense out of the police
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=455458&in_page_id=1811&ct=5
May 18th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
james: your’e a bag of laughs arn’t you. but it’s a scary thought though, to be stuck down a manhole in portugal. lets hope you are wrong.
in the old days before megapixels, gprs, google engines, online chat, youtube, email and dns lookup; i imagine child abductors would pretty much get away scott free.
one good thing that will come out of this shit is that future perverts will think twice before nabbing a lovely looking white kid. as the response has set a precedent - whoever has madeleine must be shitting bricks.
then again, in future they could just nab fat ugly kids with poor parents and mousy hair, then they’d be sure to only make the small print.
May 18th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
To Edwina Warwick…well hadnt you noticed that this is a predominantly white country and that races tend to look out for their own?