Madeleine McCann: Kate McCann To Appear On BBC And ITV Interviews

MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann: Madeleine McCann is on the cover of the Sunday Express. Says the headline:

McCanns launch TV blitz to find Maddie

If only the Express group and owners had TV channels they could use to help. Of, course, they do:

We interrupt this edition of Teen A*** Sla*s on the Fantasy Channel to bring news of the appeal to find Our Maddie.

We must all do what we can to help. The Sunday Express tells us:

KATE McCANN will take part in a round of heart-rending TV interviews this week appealing for anyone who has knowledge of her daughter Madeleine’s kidnapping to come forward.

Anorak

Posted: 1st, November 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (25)

Madeleine McCann: Patronising Aisling Symes

MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann – Aisling Symes is missing. Aisling Symes is aged 2. Aisling Symes has gone missing from an Aukland suburb on Monday.

And you know what this means?

Kate and Gerry McCann say their “thoughts and prayers” are with the family of Aisling Symes. We do our emoting in public. Private matters are public spectacles. And Our Maddie has been the biggest shared grief fest in years, a global campaign lapped up by a once objective media.

But it’s not about the McCanns is it? This is about Aisling Symes. Or is it useful for the McCanns to be involved, and thereby raise the child’s profile in the UK – the child that went missing in New Zealand? How can us knowing in the UK help find the child? It can”t. But the McCanns need to do something – doing anything is better than doing nothing.

But the media has become the whole message. Kate and Gerry McCann are now the media’s familiar voice for all missing children and the face of the bereft parents, speaking about other missing children whether the parents want them to or not.

A cynic might believe the disappearance of Aisling Symes is both a tragedy and an opportunity? The McCanns are Ailsing Syme’s media celebrities, joining the singers and footballers on the side of the good, a familiar and reassuring face.

When Mari Luz Cortes went missing in Spain, links were made to Our Maddie. She became Maddy 2. Posters went up. And:

Mari Luz’s father, Juan José Cortés, said after a meeting with Manuel Chaves, President of the Junta de Andalucía, this weekend, that, while he is not against collaborating in the search for Madeleine and ‘even helping to draw up a poster of all the missing youngsters,’ the lines of investigation into the disappearance of the two young girls are distinct, and are being carried out in two separate countries. EFE [Spanish news agency] said he is considering taking legal action for using his daughter’s image for the campaign.

Said the Sun: “Both girls were pictured on posters put up by four-year-old Maddie’s parents because the cases were so chillingly similar.”

But does a missing child story need a point of reference? Are we so cynical and cold that we cannot feel unless the face of Our Maddie is placed before us? And what does it say about us that we need the innocent and abused McCanns’ authentic victimhood to shape the story of a missing child, that media obsession?

The McCanns’ kind words tell us nothing about Ailsing Syme – they just say something about them. The footballer in the Our Maddie T-shirt, the mawkish politician in the yellow ribbon and the woman with the balloon say nothing about the missing – they speak only about themselves. They have a need to advertise their caring.

No-one sane cannot but sympathise with the McCanns, working to keep their daughter in the news in the belief that in doing so there is a better chance of her being found. And Madeleine McCann, as we’ve noted, is no longer the benchmark for missing children.

But do the McCanns’ comment make us care about them or their daughter more, or less? Does it make anyone look for Our Maddie with a keener eye? Or is their appearance at the media spectacle when a child goes missing now just part of the show? We look. It’s on the telly. We look. But it’s not real. It’s just another show on the magic box. We look.

Mr and Mrs McCann, say in a statement:

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Aisling and her family. We wish Aisling’s parents the strength and support they will be needing at this most painful time, and we join them in hoping for Aisling’s safe and speedy return.

“We urge anyone who has any information about Aisling to come forward to the local police as soon as possible and end this family’s suffering.”

Says Sky News: “McCanns Pray For Parents Of Missing Girl.”

Even a person’s prayers are now part of the public spectacle to be featured in the media.

And instead of looking for a missing child the media is still watching the parents…

Anorak

Posted: 9th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (20)

Madeleine McCann’s Parents To Make Private Trip To Praia Da Luz

MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann – The Spanish news agency reports that Kate McCann and Gerry McCann could return to Praia da Luz before the end of the year.

The parents of the girl Madeleine McCann, Gerry and Kate, could return on a private visit to the Portuguese town of Praia da Luz, where their daughter disappeared before the end of the year.

Says Gerry McCann:

“Kate was like to return to Praia da Luz when things are less intense, but we would like it to be a private visit, probably before year-end.”

Anorak

Posted: 6th, October 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (12)

Madeleine McCann: Correcting A Correction

MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann – a few words on apologies:

A WORD on newspaper apologies in the University of Virginia’s Cavalier Daily – oh, the irony – featuring Our Maddie as the ultimate newspaper apology.

Christopher Hitchens has said that the purpose of putting corrections in a newspaper is not really to correct what the paper got wrong. It’s to point out that everything else in the paper was right.

Tim Thornton goes on to talk of corrections and clarifications. And then introduces Craig Silverman, who writes the excellent book Regret the Error.

Anorak

Posted: 30th, September 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (4)

Madeleine McCann: Kate McCann Returns To Portugal, In Pictures

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Kate McCann is in Portugal. This is the first time Kate McCann has bene in the country since being questioned by police over her daughter Madeleine’s disappearance.

Gerry McCann, her husband, is there with her.

Also there is Clarence Mitchell, PR for hire. Says he:

“It is Kate’s first visit back to Portugal since 2007 and it is difficult. It’s something that has always been daunting for her, but she knew she would go back at some stage – and she’s always said she’ll do anything necessary to keep the search for Madeleine alive.

“If it means a trip to speak to the Portuguese media, then so be it. But she’s always said she’ll do anything to keep the inquiry alive.”

Anorak

Posted: 23rd, September 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (20)

Madeleine McCann: Watching Amelie And Sean Start School

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – We’re watching Our Maddie’s twin siblings Amelie and Sean go to school with Jaycee Dugard.

Sky News tells us: “Parents’ Pain As Twins Join Madeleine School”

All the media talks is of the McCanns’ pain: Pain. Pain. Pain.

We are not looking for the missing child, we are watching the parents, as ever. And we are watching the children. Nothing creepy about watching someone else’s children, a stranger’s children start school. This is just good wholesome gawping.

After “pain” the other word is “proud”. As all news sources tell us, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann are proud. This from Sky:

It will be a proud moment for her parents when they drop off twins Sean and Amelie for their first day in primary class in Thurmaston, Leics. But the occasion will be tinged with overwhelming sadness for the couple.

Anorak

Posted: 3rd, September 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (5)

McCanns To ‘Sue’ The Madeleine Foundation

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – “McCanns to sue”  The Madeleine Foundation “over leaflet distributed in their OWN VILLAGE blaming them for Madeleine’s disappearance”…

A source told MailOnline the couple intend to pursue legal action and may even bring in the police.

Anorak

Posted: 15th, August 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (87)

Madeleine McCann Is Hijacked

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – The ‘Madeleine Foundation’ leaflet Kate And Gerry McCanns’ home town. It’s the Third Summer of Maddie and the ghouls are conducting a witch hunt…

The Sun: “Maddie villagers get ‘McCanns did it’ letter”

THE parents of Madeleine McCann were angry and upset yesterday after neighbours were sent leaflets claiming they were to blame for her death. Vile campaigners put copies of the four-page publication through every door in their home village of Rothley, Leics.

Produced by the “Madeleine Foundation”, it included “Ten Reasons Why Madeleine McCann was Not Abducted”. ..

There is no evidence that she was. And – get this – no evidence that she wasn’t. There is no proof of any crime. Madeleine McCann is missing.

The group, which claims wildly that Kate killed Maddie and Gerry helped hide the body, added “Reasons Why Her Parents Should Be Prosecuted.”

Kate and Gerry McCann are innocent. This claim is disgusting and unwarranted – unless it is fame you seek?

Its secretary is disgraced solicitor Anthony Bennett whose bid to bring a private prosecution against the McCanns last year was thrown out of court.

Anorak

Posted: 15th, August 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (36)

Madeleine McCann: Victoria Beckham Lookalike Found

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Posh lookalike found, live from Barcelona and the Swedish ghost ship…

Daily Express (back on the front page): “MADDIE: Mystery of yacht that just vanished”

It’s the “MADDIE YACHT MYSTERY”.

No, it’s not the yacht that just vanished form the new, the Arab yacht that in June 2007 caused the Express to yell “Find the Arab’s yacht.” This is another disappearing yacht entirely:

A YACHT which left the Algarve just hours after Madeleine McCann disappeared has vanished without trace, the Daily Express can reveal. The luxury Swedish cruiser sailed out of the Portuguese harbour at Portimao on May 4, 2007, the morning after four-year-old Madeleine disappeared. It has not been seen since.

Last night there was growing speculation that Madeleine might have been whisked out of Portugal on the mystery boat.

Speculation like:

It is possible Madeleine could have been abducted on the orders of a childless couple, desperate to have a family, and taken to Barcelona to meet her new “parents”…

And the mystery yacht?

In Sweden all vessels measuring over 12 metres (40ft) long must be registered with the Swedish Maritime Administration. But inquires with their head office in Stockholm yesterday found no record of the yacht.

You don’t suppose… No, it’s too far-fetched. Well, you don’t suppose the mystery yacht was smaller than 12 metres long?

Daily Star: “Maddie: Was she on boat?”

The Swedish boat or the Arab boat? The jet ski?

MADDIE: RIDDLE OF AUSSIE ‘GHOST SHIP’

DETECTIVES hunting for Madeleine McCann were last night trying to trace a multi-million-pound power boat. The high-speed craft flying the Australian flag was moored yards from the spot where a nervous Posh Spice lookalike asked a Brit: “Are you here to deliver my daughter?’’

Anorak

Posted: 8th, August 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (33)

A Madeleine McCann Found In Panama

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Another Our Maddie is found in Panama…

Sunday Express: “WILL MADDY NOW BE FOUND?”

It’s the Third Summer of Our Maddie, and the Sunday Express senses hope in news that a child, now aged 8, has been found in Panama?

“New hope for girl as McCann kidnap girl returns after 6 years.”

People can come back. But is the link to Our Maddie relevant or just a cynical ploy to spin the story and create front-page sensation?

Anorak

Posted: 5th, July 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (10)

Madeleine McCann: The Credit Crunch And Paedo DNA

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Raymond Hewlett questioned and Clarence Mitchell PR for hire.

The Sun: “’Maddie’” perv quiz”

It’s the media’s “Maddie” perv. It’s paedo Raymond Hewlett who has been linked to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann by a series of stories and inverted commas. To keep the lawyers off our backs, we will call him the “””””””Maddie””””””” perv.

PAEDOPHILE Raymond Hewlett is to be quizzed in the next 24 hours about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Anorak

Posted: 10th, June 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (21)

Madeleine McCann: The Third Summer of Maddy

IT’S the media’s Third Summer of Madeleine McCann – and the current subject is Raymond Hewlett…

Mirror (front page): “TRACE HIS CALLS.”

Ryan Parry and Stephen Moyes are in Aachen, Germany, where Raymond Hewlett is undergoing treatment for throat cancer.

Madeleine McCann cops ask couple who raised alarm about paedophile Ray Hewlett if they have his mobile number

Anorak

Posted: 25th, May 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (32)

Madeleine McCann: Three New British Suspects

IT’S the media’s Summer of Maddy – and the media is watching the McCanns’ detectives watching “paedo” Raymond Hewlett…

In the News of the World, Keith Gladdis delivers:

“Maddie suspect’s past fits crime“

Says the cracker:

A COP who interrogated Madeleine McCann suspect Raymond Hewlett says the case carries all the hallmarks of the sick sex beast.

Anorak

Posted: 24th, May 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (12)

Madeleine McCann: McCanns Want Hewlett To Co-operate

IT’S the media’s Summer of Maddy – and Clarence Mitchell, Kate and Gerry McCann’s spokesman, is talking about Madeleine McCann and a Raymond Hewlett.

Mr Hewlett has denied any involvement in Madeleine’s abduction.

Anorak

Posted: 23rd, May 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (11)

Madeleine McCann And The Paedo Priests

IT’S Tabloid Bingo time, readers – see if you can put these two stories of Madeleine McCann and Catholic priests together and make a new more exciting story:

Hundreds of Catholic priests ‘to be implicated in child abuse report’

Anorak

Posted: 20th, May 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (7)

United In Mourning For Missing Madeleine McCann, One Of Many

MADELEINE McCann: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at the missing child in the news – with new clues, shared grief and a promise of tears…

Daily Star: “MADDIE: NEW CLUES TO SPOTTY PROWLER”

DETECTIVES hunting Maddie McCann say they may have identified a prowler seen outside her apartment on the night she was snatched.

The man with the spotty face – the face that once seen would be hard to forget? And when did the man, reportedly, seen standing about become a “prowler”?

Investigators working for Kate and Gerry McCann claim releasing a photofit of the spotty-faced man seen watching their holiday home has resulted in a host of new leads – and even a name.

Anorak

Posted: 19th, May 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (13)

Madeleine McCann:Tunnels Under Praia And A New Theory

MADELEINE McCann: Hidden in tunnels, alive in America and a new theory…

Daily Express (front page): “MADDIE: DID SHE VANISH IN MAZE OF TUNNELS?”

Dunno? Did she?

“TUNNELS BENEATH RESORT MAY BE CLUE TO MYSTERY”

James Murray investigates a phone call:

Secret tunnels beneath the Portuguese seaside town where Madeleine McCann vanished two years ago today may hold the key to her disappearance.

The tunnels, dating back to Roman times, have never been thoroughly searched, despite repeated requests.

Documents in Portuguese police files, published today for the first time, suggest a vital line of inquiry was ignored and have led to fresh calls for a proper investigation into the tunnels…

Anorak

Posted: 3rd, May 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (31)

Madeleine McCann Kidnapped By A “Lucky Guy”

NEWS is that Madeleine McCann’s appearance on the Oprah Winffey Show will be broadcast in the UK.

Oprah is global

* Kate and Gerry McCann’s interview on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” is to be screened in the UK, a day after airing in America, NBC Universal Global Networks announced today.

Diva TV, which transmits “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in the UK, will broadcast the McCann’s first US interview on Tuesday 5th May at 8pm. Viewers will see a digitally created photo that shows how Madeleine might look today, aged six.

Anorak

Posted: 30th, April 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (5)

Kate McCann’s Latest Torment

THE search for Madeleine McCann:

In “KATE McCANN’S AGONY AT LEAVING TWINS FOR OPRAH”

The People’s Tracey Kandohla tells readers:

Kate McCann is in torment as she prepares to fly to America for a TV show – without her twins.

In a story that has hinged on “there but for the grace of god” and “every parent’s worst nightmare”, with readers and hacks empathising with the stricken McCanns, what do we make of this latest “torment”?

Anorak

Posted: 20th, April 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (27)

FBI Pictures Of Madeleine McCann Age 6

FBI Picture Of Madeline McCann Age 6…

ReadMADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of missing Madeleine McCann…

The image appears on the front page of the Daily Express. Yeah, Our Maddie’s back selling “The World’s Greatest Newspaper”.

More FBI pictures of what Madeleine McCann might look like:

Anorak

Posted: 19th, April 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (24)

Oprah Winfrey Wears Madeleine McCann T-Shirt

MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann…

Madeleine McCann is to appear on the Oprah Winfrey show, that tribute to being average. The Irish Independent reports:

A small banner has appeared on the homepage of the official Madeleine McCann website. It reads: Coming soon, new ‘Never Give Up‘ t-shirts. Two years on from the disappearance of the three-year-old girl from her family’s holiday apartment in Portugal, it has become her parents’ mantra.

Anorak

Posted: 18th, April 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (6)

Madeleine McCann: Gerry And Kate McCann On Oprah Winfrey Show

GERRY McCann and Kate McCann are to appear on the Oprah Winfrey TV show. Now read on…

AS predicted a summer of Madeleine McCann news awaits. Can the desired result be achieved? Will Madeleine McCann be found?

The Daily Record has more news: “McCANNS TO SHOW ‘AGED’ MADDIE PICS ON OPRAH SHOW.”

Pictures of what Madeleine McCann looks like now are to be revealed on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show.

Oprah Winfrey has reach, but is she big in Portugal, where the child went missing? Remember this?

DAILY EXPRESS: “MADELEINE: £1M WAR FOR MCCANN INTERVIEW”

“AMERICA’S top chat show hosts are locked in a bidding war for an exclusive interview with the parents of Madeleine McCann. Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters have each pledged £1million in an attempt to get them in front of the TV cameras, it emerged yesterday”

DAILY MAIL: “Kate and Gerry McCann in £1million deal to tell all to Oprah Winfrey”

Her parents Kate and Gerry will appear on the US programme, which will be broadcast on the weekend of the second anniversary of her disappearance on May 3.

Anorak

Posted: 15th, April 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (45)

New TV Documentary Accuses Kate And Gerry McCann

MORE on Madeleine McCann now. And we seem to be brewing up for a summer of Maddie.

Summer is a slow and lazy time for news hacks – it’s why no wars are declared in the summer and our boys in Iraq and Afghanistan spend the balmy season playing cricket and singing Agadoo.

The Irish Independent yells: “Sacked police chief points finger at McCanns”

THE former police officer thrown off the Madeleine McCann case is set to attack her parents again in a TV documentary.

Anorak

Posted: 13th, April 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (19)

Madeleine McCann: Gerry McCann In Interview

MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann…

The Daily Star bring the world the news : “THE TWINS NOW KNOW MADDIE WAS TAKEN.”

THE twin brother and sister of Madeleine McCann now know that she was taken away from them. And they still talk about her every day, says their dad Gerry.

Anorak

Posted: 10th, April 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (7)

Madeleine McCann Is Not In Portugal

THE news of Madeleine McCann is – as ever – not about the missing child: it’s about her parents. Gerry and Kate McCann are innocent but still we stare.

The latest flurry of news is that posters of the missing child have been ripped down in Praia da Luz.

Irish Herald: Letters.

I find it astonishing that posters of missing child Madeleine McCann have been torn down in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz. All he’s doing is trying to keep the memory of his daughter alive, in the hope that one day she will be found.

Daily Star:

ANGRY locals barracked Gerry McCann as he filmed a reconstruction in the resort where daughter Maddeleine vanished. One sacked worker raged at Gerry: “Go home, leave us alone” while others ripped down posters put up for a fresh appeal…

Anorak

Posted: 8th, April 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (12)