Minxie Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Maybe it would be an idea for the UK, like the USA to put pictures of missing children onto milk cartons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Pretty sure they used to do just that Minxie. May still do it now, although it is, happily, 5 years since I bought a pint of UK milk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 BBC NEWS ITEM Over the top? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebees Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 Today I read a headline that said "They opened the door and Madeline ran into their arms" I thought she had been found but, no, this is what her parents dream. The press are making a gypsy circus of a very serious event for one family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnieK Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 Today I read a headline that said "They opened the door and Madeline ran into their arms" I thought she had been found but, no, this is what her parents dream. The press are making a gypsy circus of a very serious event for one family. That's just plain awful. For the past decade or so the press seems to have raised the ante with nearly every missing child/abduction case that they've felt as having all the qualities of a "good" story - i.e. one that can not just be reported but turned into a cross between a national crusade and a kind of grimly compelling real life drama that ensures the papers keep flying off the newsagent's shelves. I wouldn't be surprised if this story was treated like a godsend by some editors, especially since it allows them to exploit the "your kids aren't even safe on holiday!" aspect. These cases are attractive to editors because they provide them with weeks, if not months of material with which to fill out their pages, with their treatment of the incident, subsequent police investigation and aftermath following a formula established in coverage of previous cases (and often referring back to the most tragic ones, just emphasise the tension of the story for their readers). When it comes to child abduction the press have gone far beyond simply turning each case into a circus - they in effect are trying to dramatise a real event, trying to turn it into something more akin to a cheap soap opera storyline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 Bruce Schneier has an excellent essay on Rare Risk and Overreactions which applies to this case, as well as many others. Well worth a read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 The media frenzy that has stirred up around this case is quite sickening. They (the media) are only reporting on it as it's caught the public eye and they want the newspaper sales and viewing figures. The national missing persons hotline has recorded nearly 450 enquiries about other missing young people since Maddy disappeared, but that's not news apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starchild Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 Madeline Movie to Be Shown This has definetly gone to far now. What is the reason for this? People are aware she's missing and also aware of what she looks like. There have been none stop services at churches around the country for her and also yellow ribbons everywhere... I think they need to be careful, because if someone has Maddy alive, they run the risk of scaring her captors into disposing of her, instead of returning her as safe as can be expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
When Skies Are Grey Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 I have to say that this is even starting to turn my opinion on this topic now...whislt I saw no harm on a couple of posters being shown about the place this has turned in to an ugly circus. Whatever happens in this case the "press" should be called to account on some of the more sensationalist pieces of "journalism" surrounding these events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 On the BBC NW news tonight they mentioned, almost in passing, a missing mother, 6 year old and six month old last seen at their house. Missing for two weeks. I know this is a different 'missing', but possibly a very tragic 'missing' all the same. Are the circumstances that surround anybody's disappearance the fact that it is newsworthy, or just the disappearance alone? I suspect the former. A year or so after I moved down to 'the smoke' a local 13 year old disappeared after going to a football match (he was from Carshalton and the match, I think, was Wimbledon). He never came back, there was a flurry of posters and appeals, but nothing more was heard. Then, 10 years later, another flurry of posters, but still nothing. It is now probably getting on for 20 years, but that boy is still missing. There are so many missing children (usually, I have to say, of an age) that it would be good for the energies of the press to be focussed on that. Yes, give publicity to the Maddy case, anything to help. But remember, she disappeared in Portugal and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of equally deserving (if not so appealling) missing children right here under our noses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
integer Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 The fact the children were left alone seems acceptable because the parents are church-going professionals on holiday in Portugal. Imagine how different the story would have been if Maddy was abducted from an unemployed single mother in Sheffield, who left her alone to go to a friends house for something to eat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted May 19, 2007 Author Share Posted May 19, 2007 I had this argument with a posh mate recently. His defence against any kind of neglect or blame on the part of the parents seemed based around them being middle class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 Another predictable side-effect of the huge publicity the case received: Internet scam artists try to cash in on missing Madeleine London - Scam artists have set up websites similar to the official site for missing 4-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann in an attempt to steal credit-card numbers and personal details from donors, British media reported Saturday. The official website for McCann, who disappeared while on holiday in southern Portugal, had received more than 70 million hits in three days, the Daily Mail reported. But gangsters had set up a series of similar bogus sites looking for donations, and some even had advertisements from well-known British brands, the report said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
%age Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Any news of the bloke they had questioned last week and who the press had seemed to be convinced he was guilty? Alex Brindley and our very own Stu Peters were discussing the headlines last week. Stu was aghast that the bloke Murat had been released because there was not enough evidence. "Well," sneered Stu, "why did they question him for 16 hours?". In a tone of voice that meant he was surely guilty as sin, and should be castrated and hanged drawn and quartered on the spot. Such a tactic might work when you want to rile public opinion for the Talking Heads show, but was simply out of place whilst reviewing newspapers. I get a bit worried when our own Manx Radio journos start joining the UK hack frenzy on this one. Although on the plus side it made Alex's flippant view on serious matters rather comforting by comparison and on this particular topic he kept clear. Aye, we've enough rubbish coming out of the UK/International press without our domestic boys chipping in with no-brainers too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebees Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Have they found her yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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