Madeleine McCann And Missing Shannon Matthews In The Media
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann and Shannon Matthews
DAILY MAIL: “The shocking truth behind daycare at nurseries and crèches”
“Britain’s childcare industry is booming,” says Imogen Willcox, who has no children. But she knows. And she’s blonde.
“Every working day, more than a million parents drop off their precious little cargos at childminders and private nurseries. All of them do it firm in the belief that those they trust with their babies are highly-qualified, strictly regulated and genuine, caring people. Terrifyingly, they are wrong.”
“During an eight-month investigation for the BBC1 investigative programme Whistleblower, I uncovered a childcare culture where a new career’s criminal records and references are never checked, yet they will immediately be left alone with young, vulnerable children.”
You mean someone with a conviction for criminal damage, non-payment of their TV licence or being banned from driving can be in charge of a child!?
And – worst of all – they may be left in the care of a childless TV reporter and Daily Mail writer posing as a caring nursery school helper as she snoops on her fellow staff members – those sad sacks circling life’s plughole without a media career!?
Imogen Willcox carries secret filming equipment into nurseries. Sick? Certainly. Perverted? You decide.
“The builders left their power tools inches away from where the children were playing and no one seemed to notice. I spent that particular session on tenterhooks,” says she.
Were the tools plugged on? Were they on, the drill whirring as Imogen reads the story of Little Red Riding Hood – the girl abducted by the leering wolf-like pervert? Frozen with fear, how could she turn them off or move them out of harm’s way?!
And what has this to do with Madeleine McCann? Patience. Imogen is working up to it. She secures a job on a Mark Warner holiday complex, a Hilton resort in Dahab, Egypt.
“Three weeks after I returned from Egypt, the disappearance of Madeleine McCann from a Mark Warner resort in Praia da Luz in Portugal made headlines around the world.
“No one blamed the company or its staff for the little girl’s disappearance, but given the case, I assumed the company would toughen up its vetting of nannies.”
Did the nanny do it? But the McCanns never hired a nanny to look after their children on that fateful night. What does Miss Willcox know?
DAILY MIRROR (front page): “’Give me back my Shannon”
“Lonely” Megan Aldridge wants her friend Shannon back. “I sat on the bench at school today on my own at break time because I had no one to play with. I just want my friend back. She was the bestest friend in the world.”
Mawkish sentiment. A child appealing for another missing child to be allowed to go by whoever has taken her. The Mirror jumping on bandwagon and showing how much it cares. Look at the child. Look at her pain.
THE SUN (front page): “IT’S NOT ME – Stepdad’s denials over cruel rumours.”
The Sun would never indulge in rumour. It just lets its readers know that the rumours that Shannon’s stepdad Craig Meehan had a hand in his daughter’s vanishing are “cruel”.
“I’M NO FIEND” – Craig says: “I know people start pointing fingers at family and friends when things like this happen. But I had nothing to do with Shannon’s disappearance.”
“SHANNON CIRCLED BY 1,400 SEX BEASTS – Evil stalks a 25-mile radius of her home.”
The Sun “can reveal” that almost 1,400 registered sex offenders live in a 25-mile radius of Shannon Matthews home.
DAILY STAR: “SHANNON: BODY DOGS SNIFF OUT 500 HOME”
“The animals, trained to detect the scent of corpses, were taken into 500 houses in Dewsbury, West Yorks.”
The police move came after Shannon’s mum Karen, 32, said she no longer trusted those “really close’’ to her.
Karen believes someone she knows may be responsible for the child’s disappearance.
THE SCOTSMAN: “Police hope DNA will help Shannon hunt”
Senior officers leading the massive hunt said the profile, together with a full set of fingerprints, had been pieced together by analysing items from the girl’s bedroom and other objects, including her schoolbooks.
Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan said: “Both of these items will assist the investigation in the long term.”
DAILY EXPRESS (front page): “MISSING SHANNON – Why her swimsuit holds the vital clue”
Not “Shannon”, rather “Missing Shannon”. Not blonde. Brunette.
“Swim costume is ‘key to finding Shannon.’”
Shannon, missing Shannon, disappeared after a school swimming lesson. She was carrying the swimsuit when she left Dewsbury Leisure Centre.
Madeleine McCann and media exploitation
March 5th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Morning.
Golly looks like they have cracked it, can we just confirm the latest report.
A bionic couple of carrot munchers from the uk decided to go out for a dip in the early hours of a cold morning. (JT confirmed that it was cold that time of year) possibly in chopy seas. Whilst they were out, they noticed a man in wet skins carrying a 3 foot pacakage which could have only been a child. Maybe they had xray vision. Then he got on a super duper jet ski and decided to travel six miles carrying a child. The olympic swimmers decided to turn up their night vision and swim like hell to keep up with him to see what he was up to. He put his package into a boat six miles down the coast. The super heroes seen all and told the ocean club, (psychic? how did they know that the child was from the ocean club?) unfortunately, after going to all that trouble they forget to tell the police.
Well at least now we know what really happened.
March 5th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Miss Marple ,
Thry just added that story to make they film better!
March 5th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Morning
Jolie & Duncan - I have emailed Tony Bennett this morning and pasted last nights post in the email. Hopefully he will be able to get things sorted and come back on site
March 5th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Steve
I cant wait to see the film, although I am not a big of black comedy.
Any Idea who are playing all these parts?
March 5th, 2008 at 7:53 am
4
Miss Marple
Should be a good film by the McCanns. Do you think they will mention Madeleine in it?
March 5th, 2008 at 7:55 am
SteveT - remind me again could you,, who is madeleine?
March 5th, 2008 at 8:03 am
SteveT
What’s your current take on the Shannon story?
March 5th, 2008 at 8:13 am
7
Logic
To be honest, I am not fully up to date with developments. I do however, find it strange the level of hostility to peoples views on here about the subject.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:24 am
SteveT
I got so misunderstood yesterday, that it’s time to quit. I’m just on to say goodbye to everyone in case we never cross cyber paths again.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Karen 9
What is the matter? You can’t possibly go. At least, wait until I have looked at yesterday’s thread - nothing can be that bad!!!
March 5th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Logic
Every way I tried to explain what I meant, it still wasn’t getting through - which makes me a liability and then I did my usual twittering on about my life and got someone I love in trouble. Basically too wrong to continue.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Karen - it happens to everyone every now and then - and some posters can make you feel really bad. But don’t give in to them. Stay Please.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Miss Marples, your take on the story bears no resemblance to the report I posted very early yesterday morning, more to the point, do the great British public really give a pigs flying fuk anymore. Maybe that’s the reason, people are unable to read what is actually printed, true or otherwise, preferring to add or read into stories their own pure bollox.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/newsfeed/2008/03/04/maddie-jetski-snatch-riddle-86908-20339789/
March 5th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Karen,
I havent looked at any of the posts from yesterday evening. Dont go!
I have avoided commenting on the Shannon case because the over reactions that some people getting on here to their commments.
Have a break for a few days then come back. Interviews happening soon!
March 5th, 2008 at 8:42 am
FFS, Karen you’ve got more balls than that, if you take my meaning.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:52 am
9 Karen Says:
“I got so misunderstood yesterday, that it’s time to quit.”
It rather seems that you are misunderstanding the nature of this game sometimes. You should be aware that you will meet all kind of extraordinary characters in an anonymous internet forum. So when confronted with …erhm… controversial … views, you have to decide at what point a further discussion doesn’t make any more sense. But how on earth could you take eccentric opinions of single anonymous persons personally?
March 5th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Karen - Come on buddy, dont leave, we all at some point feel like leaving the site, because of personal attacks to others or to ourselves. I felt for you yesterday, what you said wasnt that bad, and i couldnt see what all the fuss was about to be honest. Sometimes we say stuff that seems innocent and normal, but gets taken out of context by some other posters…. ignore it matie….your views and discussions are on the whole very well put
March 5th, 2008 at 9:02 am
11 Karen Says:
“I did my usual twittering on about my life and got someone I love in trouble”
Has he already been arrested?
March 5th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Thank you everyone.
I’ll lie low for a bit and sneak back on when I’ve forgotten all about it.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Karen
I’ve looked through yesterday’s posts. I can’t see any problems with anything you said. We are all human beings - we talk about ourselves and give our opinions. What’s wrong with that? You didn’t give anything away that you shouldn’t have.
What’s interesting is how one can see what bad experiences some people have probably had, to the point that they can’t bear to hear anything that reminds them. That’s quite understandable and one can only be grateful that one hasn’t experienced such things oneself. However, it does make debate difficult if people get so upset that they can’t discuss. It’s all part of the rich tapestry!
So - you don’t need to go. Forget about yesterday if it worries you and let’s get on with deciding who we should all slag off today.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Ferdinand
It’s the thought that he could be that’s horrifying me.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:11 am
21 Karen
No, it’s not going to happen, Karen. No-one knows who you are, where you are (apart from in Glasgow sometimes) and no-one knows who he is. Anyway, you could have been lying, lots of people lie. I don’t think that our great British Police Force is so energetic and motivated that it is looking for a road that goes nowhere. Anyway, I didn’t notice anything illegal discussed. So forget - who’s on the “critical list” for today?
March 5th, 2008 at 9:14 am
21 Karen Says:
“Ferdinand
”
It’s the thought that he could be that’s horrifying me.
The horrifying thing is that indeed he could be in our days - keeping in mind that as you told us nothing important happened, and what happened was all consensual. That’s certainly worth to discuss.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Karen, it’s on the road to no where, a bit like Madeleine’s investigation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQXsuAey-NE&feature=related
March 5th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Aren’t we going to criticise someone today? Where is everyone?
March 5th, 2008 at 9:18 am
i must have missed something.
whatever it is, fuck ‘em karen.
who’ll stick up for me if you go?
March 5th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Ideas for who should play Murat in the film???
March 5th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Now you’ve caught me, I’m supposed to be working…
Karen,
I don’t allways agree with your posts, but I think they are often refreshing like a breeze of cool air and I love to read them. I also love the ‘enfant terrible’ as you are [or pretend to be] sometimes. People like that make things change.
So take a deep breath, lie down for a while, go out for a walk and forget about yesterday.
[pssst if it helps you, you can put me on today's "critical list" because I'm gone now!]
March 5th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Karen - come on, come to Nettos with me and brandon, we still got some of our giro’s left, might even treat you to something in Primarni
that should cheer you up! 
March 5th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Karen
Don’t let them win! You know who they are & they know you know! Don’t bang your head against a brick wall just ignore them. Their aim is to put someone down only to make themselves feel & look bigger. I call it bullying. They’re not worth it.
We should all be entitled to our opinion even if some disagree.
I’m ”’assuming”’ you think so too??