Saw this:

Let’s get this clear: I feel awfully sorry for Gerry and Kate McCann, although I have never met them, as their four-year-old daughter Madeleine is still missing in the Algarve. It must indeed be “every parent’s worst nightmare” to lose a child. Worse still, to not know where she is, and to have the eyes and ears of the world on your every grief-stricken appearance. However, my thoughts on this matter are not straightforward. I see far more here than a missing child.

The British media is currently and unhealthily fixated on this story. It’s the lead news story on most bulletins, and has been since Maddie was snatched from the apartment where her parents had left her while eating tapas. (They were popping back to check on her, and the twins, every half an hour, which reminds me of what my parents used to do when we were very young and they attended a house party in our street - although this was the early 70s, when we used to leave the back door unlocked and the garage open, and it wasn’t in a foreign country.) Even though leads seem thin on the ground (one suspicious local has been arrested, the parents attend a vigil, some millionaires have been shamed by the News Of The World into stumping up a ludicrous reward, as if we are in a cowboy film), the papers are pedalling madly to find fresh material from Portugal to fill their pages. Am I the only person who finds this uncomfortable? I bet I’m not.

We are invited, indeed encouraged, to “feel” for little Maddie and her distraught parents, to “identify” with their plight, to “pray” for her safe return (whether we believe in a deity or not), to question the efficacy of the Portugeuse police forces (useless foreigners!), and to “remember” the last missing child who so dominated our news media for days and days on end. This story may end badly, as the Soham kidnapping did, or as Sarah Payne’s abduction did, but you get the feeling that deep down, the newspapers would rather it dragged on a bit longer. Hope sells papers. Followed by tragedy. Followed by postmortem. But let’s pray for a bit more hope before the possible tragedy, shall we?

It’s not exactly controversial of me to detect a certain unscrupulous ambulance-chasing venality on the part of the papers, especially the tabloids, but what does it say about us as a nation that we allow ourselves to get caught up in it? To be emotionally blackmailed in this way? Are we actually incapable of feeling empathy or sadness or alarm about less “photogenic” tragedies, the sort that unfold all around us every day, and in countries much further away and less familiar than the Algarve? People are killed, abducted, abused and made miserable all the time. So please don’t let’s lose sight of the bigger picture as we wring our hands over a family we have never met.

I actually saw a handmade poster on the gate of a house down our street this morning urging me to call Crimestoppers if I had any information about Maddie’s whereabouts. What’s that about? Whose conscience is that assuaging? I think we are collectively losing our marbles. Look what Princess Diana did to us.

Remember: at the end of the day, all that newspapers want to do is sell more newspapers. News Of The World didn’t rustle up that bounty, by contacting the offices of Phillip Green, Richard Branson and Bill Kenwright, because they care. It’s because they knew it would sell them a few extra copies on Sunday. And I bet they did. It’s a great spin on a story lacking in new detail. This is the newspaper that thinks naming and shaming anyone on the paedophile register will help “our children”, when “our children” are more at risk from abuse within the family than from shady looking strangers in dirty raincoats by the roadside. They don’t care about your children. But it’s not just the tabloids, is it? They dress it up more soberly but all the papers are chasing the same prize. Radio 1’s Newsbeat has been leading with Maddie all weekend, with, again, nothing new to add. How are we ever to put this complicated world into perspective when the media weight individual stories of tragedy so heavily against less “sexy” ones. (I hate to use that word, “sexy”, but are you telling me that the newspaper editors didn’t use it, or think it, when the story first broke? Missing girl, distraught, good-looking young parents, holiday nightmare, possible dirty foreign moustachioed paedophile on the loose?)

I sincerely hope that Maddie is alright. I really do. Who with a heart beating inside their ribcage wouldn’t? I hope she is reunited with her parents, and they never let her out of their sight ever again. Actually, I don’t wish that - we should not cosset our children, or they will grow up unworldly and inexperienced and dependent, which does not make for a better world, especially the precarious one they will inherit, where the sanctioned plight of one little girl is officially more important than all the others. Her parents are blameless in the media circus. That’s not of their making. All they can do is take advice and try to use the media to get their daughter back, but they are not in control.

Rather than a minute’s silence what about an hour’s search?
Just imagine the ground we could cover if everyone in Europe gave up one hour in the day to look for her in their surrounding area.
They say she could be anywhere… so we need everyone to be looking for her, not just standing for 1 minute thinking about her….

Can the silence be sponsored?

I think the Sun should make it a mission also to bring Madeleine home - after all not only will it help Madeleine and her family but the many other children lost all over the world - it will show these monsters that they will not win ! - I am a mother and cannot tell you what this has done to my family - the Mccanns are a normal family on holiday - it could happen to you. Love to the McCanns - keep going ans she will come home safely.

I’ve certainly not lost interest either. Although I cannot work up any enthusiasm for doing battle with the legions of “blame the parents” types so on the whole now I don’t post on forums, just read them feeling increasingly depressed. I just cannot fathom the compulsion which drives these people to post in the savage manner and quantity that they do not just here but on forums all over the place. I find their attitude wierd and neurotically obsessed with laying on pain. Talk about kicking someone when they are down. As for the picture of the poster in the window of the car hire company in PdeL (the same as reported Murat coincidentally it appears) deliberately attacking Mrs McCann in the most emotionally sadistic manner possible - it beggars belief. What is this unhealthy compulsion with causing emotional pain that seems to possess people? When will they be satisfied? When Kate McCann totally and irreparably implodes psychologically? Perhaps they think she should beg forgiveness from all these cruel strangers that attack her. We are living in a wicked world. It is no wonder we spawn such emotionally dissociated maniacs. I’m sure the kidnapper thought they deserved to lose their child too. Appalling. As for the car hire firm - is their fury with the parents based on loss of trade I wonder?

Jim Marchant,

Excellent post, summarising well what the paper’s real agenda is regarding this and many other stories.

The utilisation of jingoism (the references to OUR Maddie) and stereotypes (glass-eyed Murat) to generate a feeling of hysteria is becoming more and more common.

I find it sick that they seem to analyse the commercial aspects of a story before running with it. Their protestations that ‘these stories develop a life of their own’ or ‘we are only feeding the public interest’ are irrelevant when you consider that the language and presentation of these stories is designed to whip up the frenzy that results. This missing child is no more or less important than any other missing child.

The press may not have caused this situation, but they are certainly guilty of marketing it in the most cynical fashion imaginable.

My heart goes out to Mum and Dad but I do not understand why they havent called in a medium they work miracles with just an item of clothing mediums have been called in before on these sort of cases.
Never let go never give up hope hold on with all your heart and you will be blessed I’m sure with a happy ending.

REf the carhire company with the repulsive poster in the window which Kate McCann was photographed waking in front of on her way from Church. This is part of the report from the Standard. Just thought I’d mention that they are easily found via Google.

And the couple have again sought solace at Mass in the tiny church in Praia da Luz - their third Sunday service since Madeleine disappeared.

During their walk they passed a poster apparently blaming them for the disappearance. Stuck in a shop window, it consists of four pictures of their child arranged around the words: “Mummy help me”.

Workers in the car hire shop - Auto Rent III - refused to take it down. Saleswoman Maria Rocio said: “Whose fault is it that the girl has gone missing? It’s the family’s. They should never have left the children on their own.”

Do I see some cynicisim creeping in? I do hope so. This child is missing. This effects her parents and her immediate family. It does not effect me, my family, my friends, my neighbours nor anyone else I know. Nor does it effect all those residing in Leicestershire, Glasgow, Liverpool (don’t get me started on the ‘Liverpool cause’) or anywhere else where this family may have tentative ties. A minute’s silence for one missing child is an insult to millions of war dead throughout the world; yellow ribbons are a symbol of the longed-for safe return of serving soldiers - a point I’m sure was not lost on our respected MP’s as they were bullied into wearing them the same time as paying lip service to the British invasion of Iraq; newspapers and TV bulletins freely name the ’suspect’ in this case whilst the law of the country in which they are working clearly protects identity until guilt is proven; aged pop stars and gormless footballers get involved and anyone with money is embarrassed by the tabloids into stumping up a huge reward. All this of course is down to Big Brother and Princess Diana. Everyone laid bare, warts and all and everyone wanting to be famous for at least five minutes - witness all the teary-eyed people clamouring to do their bit for ‘Maddie’ as long as it’s caught on camera. The death of Princess Diana caused what the press call a ‘national outpouring of grief ‘and the same thing is happening here - this missing child has been hijacked by the emotionaly incontinent British public. I finish how I started - a child is missing. To the best of my knowledge whilst reading the more rational, less emotional press, there is still no evidence to suggest that she has been kidnapped by a lone paedophile, a group of Romanian gypsies, a grieving mother or a flock of faries come to that. If she is found alive, and I dearly hope she is - great, a happy ending all round. But what will happen to this story if it transpires she simply wandered off on her own, out of an unlocked apartment, never to be seen again. Who will the press and the do-gooders turn their attention to then? I’ll leave you to make up your own minds - if anyone is actually capable of that

hehe… sorry jane luv, you nipped that in while i was typing…

the “bollox” was for norman’s stupid statement.

Sorry John, I don’t think I once said I did not care about an innocent child nor that I don’t give a damn about children. I said quite clearly that the disappearence of this child will not have an effect on my life - it’s sad, I hope there’s a happy ending - but it is simply not my tragedy, nor yours. I have been and will be again, affected when people close to me or related to me die, so please don’t insult me. I just happen not to grieve for complete strangers; be it a missing chilld, Princes Diana, George Best or any other person famous or infamous. As far as this story being hijacked by ‘corporate monsters for profit’, I think you’ll find I said it has been hijacked by the emotionaly incontinent British public who became so in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death.

By the way, before you go off about how I didn’t watch my child closely enough and how dare I throw stones, it was not my child that was abducted. It was the child of a relative and it was her slacker of a husband that messed up and didn’t watch the child properly. It turned out to be a harbinger of things to come (he was on a downward spiral) and he is no longer in our family.

the real victims in all this are the Hotel complex owners; their bookings will fall dramatically once the Mccanns have come back to Britain. After all, who is going to want to stay in a potentially pedo ridden resort. If you ask me the Mccanns should be made to financially compensate the hotel shareholders, as the whole incident was due to their drunken stupidity and selfishness.

McCanns, more like McCan’ts! What a lot of old hoohaa; two doctors too stingy to hire a babysitter, they should be struck off and have the other kids taken away from them. It is obvious what has happenned to the little girl and we wont be seeing her again in this life (God rest her soul). Stop the search and donate the money saved to the nspcc. GET REAL moaning mccanns!

Goodnight to the humans who contribute to the board. It appears to be dodgy obsessive hour again. Yawn.