The Newsroom

Madeleine Coverage

ONE YEAR ON (May 2007)

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NE
Newsroom
Just an idea, but as this awful story continues, I thought it apt to start this thread which should be about the continuing coverage of Madeleine.

it is hard for anyone to have to trawl through the various threads - sky, ITV, BBC, CNN.... So discuss it here.
NH
Nick Harvey Founding member
I just wish the Portuguese police would get round to finding the father guilty of murdering her, cutting her up into little bits and flushing her down the toilet.

It's just too damn close to the Pepper Place, Warminster story to be true.
DV
dvboy
Her name is spelt Madeleine (still, better than Maddy I suppose, which is what people have been calling her on bulletins for "support" on MySpace).
:-(
A former member
Nick Harvey posted:
I just wish the Portuguese police would get round to finding the father guilty of murdering her, cutting her up into little bits and flushing her down the toilet.

It's just too damn close to the Pepper Place, Warminster story to be true.


Oh Nick how I so agree with your sentiments. In the days since the child's disappearance, how many children have suffered abuse, starvation, died in unsanitary hospitals, been killed on the roads...?

Yet here we have 'populist' news coverage, indeed over-coverage, of one child. It seems the Diana-syndrome is at work here.
RV
RegionalVariation
Have a heart, gents. I appreciate you're trying to make a wider point about the coverage this unfolding case is receiving but the above comment was insensitive and inappropriate in these circumstances. I would never dream of typing something so hideously insensitive and I would think the majority would back me up on this. I hope the little girl is found soon, safe and well.
:-(
A former member
What's hideously insensitive is the sensationalist media coverage of the plight of one child - and I do agree it is tragic for the family - when there are plenty of cases each which are just as deserving.
TO
tominstockport
Andrew Wood posted:
What's hideously insensitive is the sensationalist media coverage of the plight of one child - and I do agree it is tragic for the family - when there are plenty of cases each which are just as deserving.


Exactly. Will there be millions of pounds in reward money for the next child who goes missing? Of course not. So is Madeleine more important than another child?
PT
Put The Telly On
The parents are probably to blame for leaving their 3 year old daughter unattended whilst they went out for a meal. But of course, nobody is allowed to blame them at this stage.

Either way, I, like everyone else hope that Madeleine does return safely. BUT What annoys me is some people say they're going out to Portugal to help search for Madeleine...well, I don't doubt that but I'm sure the real reason is for a good old soak in the sun and excuse for time of work. Don't think that would be the case if she was lost in say, Finland.
EY
the eye
I agree with everyone but that guy that said have a heart gents ... I really dont think a fund is nessacery and I do think that its the parents fault she is gone.

Think of all the other kids missing at the moment... there is probably lots of them. But do we see it all over the news 24/7? No.

They need to give this story a break and let the police carry on with their investigations etc, and just have small news updates during the day if SOMETHING actually happens.
JW
JamesWorldNews
All,

It is inappropriate to discuss the intricacies of the case itself. This thread should be limited solely to television news coverage of the story.

James
ST
Ste Founding member
BBC WORLD posted:
All,

It is inappropriate to discuss the intricacies of the case itself. This thread should be limited solely to television news coverage of the story.

James


I was unaware you had been made a mod.
KA
Katnap
BBC WORLD posted:
It is inappropriate to discuss the intricacies of the case itself. This thread should be limited solely to television news coverage of the story.


Hmm...try telling something similar to the media.

Can anybody, hand on heart, say that this incident would be getting anywhere near as much coverage if it involved a child who was any combination of the following.

1. Male
2. Ugly
3. Non-white
4. Parents are immigrants from a non Western country
5. Working class
6. Chav
7. Is from a single parent family (in which case the media angle would be that the fact the child is missing is definitely the fault of mum/dad and proof that single parents = bad parents).

No normal person would want a child harmed and most people would like to see a happy ending in these sorts of things. However, I am getting tired of hysterical media coverage whenever a white, cutesy, middle class girl under the age of 14 goes missing and in turn, the equally hysterical reaction by some members of the public.

If people really do care and feel "involved", instead of building huge shrines of flowers and soft toys (or even travelling to the scene of the crime - what the hell kind of kick those types get out of it, I don't know), I wish they would give the money they'd spend on petrol and cheap carnations to a children's charity (or even, in this case, Madeleine's fund) where it will be put to good use in helping all children in need and will not be just some misplaced feeling of closeness to the lucky child in a million who managed to get their mug on the telly and in the papers.

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