Saturday, 16 February 2013
THE MCCANNS AND THE MARR SHOW
I wonder what impact these television appearances have on their fundraising? I doubt it is anywhere near those heady days of the Summer of 2007.
I wonder also, if the Marr Show contacted them, or the other way around? They have a highly skilled publicity and marketing machine, so I would imagine the 'Madeleine' brand is constantly being promoted. They are trying to buy 'goodwill', unaware, that it is something that must be earned. I do not think they like it when people realise that they may be approaching the media, and not the other way around. I have seen the pair physically squirm if an interviewer mentions that the McCanns contacted them, as the impression they like to give is that they are much in demand, and sifting through offers. Its an old showbiz trick.
Attaching themselves to Levenson has been a boost for their publicity machine, but it comes with a double edged sword. The fact is, many viewers will switch off, on the basis of enough already. Their daughter is the most high profile missing child in the world, there are probably car stickers on the Mars Rover.
Unfortunately, other than the Dowlers, many of the hacking victims do not elicit our sympathy. Hugh Grant will always be linked with the seedy hooker episode and Charlotte Church was the original 'wild child' (though should add, I do like Charlotte). The Dowlers would have been the most sympathetic people to be the face of the Hacked Off campaign, but they do not seek publicity for themselves, and the idea of appearing regularly on the television probably appals them. The McCanns probably got the slot by default, and a lot of pressure from Gerry. The photograph of Gerry with Harriet Harman and another spoke volumes. To me it said, this is a man who gets what he demands, while others squirm.
The McCanns are demanding they we all believe them, and are mightily irked that some of us do not. I am sure we have all been in the position where we have caught someone in a lie. Be that a child, or a partner, or whoever. It usually ends with the other person begging over and over, for us to give them an opportunity to explain. I think this is where the McCanns find themselves, if they could only explain, everyone would like them again.
The Marr Show will probably have a higher audience this Sunday - appearances by the McCanns seems to have that effect. Unfortunately, much of the interest is no more than speculative curiosity, and indeed, its very likely that they will do more harm to the Hacked Off cause, than good, as we have seen from the letters pages of several media sources this week. The truth is we don't want the news hidden from us, and for many that surpasses any sympathy we may have for the parents of a missing child, who, on their own admission, left their very small children alone in a strange apartment.
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If you believe the Leveson Report seeks to hide the news from you then I fear that once again you have not bothered to do any proper research before you pontificate.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you actually listen to Lord Justice Leveson reading his report. It's on Youtube and tell us what it is you find so threatening about his recommendations.
Very good Article and for snyone who watched the Andrew Marr show this morning , the McCanns looked decidedly miserable.
DeleteI think the SY request to ask NZ Police to obtain the DNA of the Madeleine look alike was not what the McCanns expected . They also have the outcome this Thursday of their suit against Tony Benett, their late attempt to reach agreement with Amaral ...all these signs that they are worried.
The McCanns have worked tirelessly to stop debate on the circumstances surrounding their daughter's disappearance, as a quick glance at all their legal actions will show (available on Jill Havern forum). As Jeremy Paxman suggested, they reaped a whirlwind when they engaged with the press, and everytime they appear on our screens and in our newspapers, it will open discussion. Not even the Queen or the Pope can demand only 'good' press coverage, and I doubt even they could afford to sue everyone.
ReplyDeleteNo they haven't Rosalinda, they have only taken action as a last resort again those who are libelling them and refuse to stop.
DeleteThe McCanns sought the co-operation of the press only to help find their daughter - which is understandable. Their mistake was to not realise that the Press would happily turn on them when THEY realised that ANY McCann headline, no matter whether it was true or a pack of lies, sold papers. The libel which went on for months was the worst ever witnessed and for which they were eventually compensated, and rightly so.
It's because of many of those libellous claims that many hate sites were born, and unfortunately many of the members still base their claims on those old disgusting headlines - so the damage they did goes on.
When a newspaper a while back printed that Tony Bennet had claimed the McCanns were responsible for the death of their daughter, all hell broke loose, he immediately contacted the paper and demanded a 'correction'. His outraged followers advised him to demand a frontpage apology. However in the McCanns case apparently THEY should just content themselves with the fact that if they know what has been printed isn't true, then that should be enough for them - and they should simply turn the other cheek.
Sheer hypocracy.
Enough with the old headlines, they were 6+ years ago, and as you say the mccanns were amply compensated. Unfortunately for them, everytime they appear people will discuss the case.
DeleteAs for their 'not realising the press would happily turn on them' - are you for real? They had the best PR, lawyers and crisis and reputation management teams the Fund could buy. And in addition, deh, ever since the first caveman gossip columist carved 'read all about it' in a rock, celebrities lives have been up for grabs. Some get addicted to this limelight, and in some cases, the press have good grounds to be protected from them.
If you really believe they are celebrities, then provide some proof of their celebrity lifestyle. Gerry works full time in a hospital and still peddles to work on his bike. Hardly the life of a celebrity is it?
DeleteHave you read the Leveson Report yet? I'd be very interested to hear why you oppose it.
No they are not celebrities, their backstory precludes them from the celebrity circuit and as far as I know, they do not support causes such as Children in Need.
DeleteAs a writer and campaigner for survivors of historic child abuse, I certainly do not want to see the press regulated by people who have much to hide.
They really are insufferable and never ever have they looked distraught about their daughter merely indignant about their public image. Enough now go away with your shabby sightings etc and why no mention of the TB court case surely that should have been IN the press yet not much indignation there!
ReplyDeleteYour becoming as deluded as TB...NEVER MIND THOUGH --any publicity is good publicity Rosalinda..so long as it's not your child thats missing and you dont have to fight the media as well as the nutters like these posting leaflets through doors or having a failed and disgraced ex-police officer writing books about this child's disappearance and blaming the McCanns and yet
ReplyDeletenot ONE SINGLE piece of evidence to show any of it to be true...oh! I forgot..he proved nothing...said he would --but the deluded lot who actually paid for the book got no proof whatsoever...if they had read the files they would know all there was to know about the case..AND THE FILES SHOWED THE MCCANNS WERE AS GUILTY AS THE SCHOOL LOLLIPOP MAN.
I don't know what files you read, but the official files are very clear. The very young children, including a sick baby, were left alone night after night while the adults went out to dine.
DeleteThe facts are as they are, they need no elaboration. The obsession with GA, is strange, the PJ shelved the case in 2008, that is, they exhausted all of the leads and the evidence available. In order to move forward they needed the McCanns and their friends to return to Portugal to do a reconstruction. As we know they refused. The PJ could have kept the file open if the relevant parties had co-operated with the investigation, and indeed it was an opportunity for them to be ruled out as suspects.
Taunting GA to reveal his evidence, is really not helpful to the McCanns, especially as they are presently in negotiations with GA to prevent the libel case THEY brought from going to trial.
They don't need to do a reconstruction as SY have already established the following and no doubt shared that with their Portuguese counterparts.
DeleteQuote from Andy Redwood
''We have conducted a forensic analysis of the timelines and there is clearly opportunity there for Madeleine McCann to have been removed from that apartment alive.''
Over at least 6 decades millions of parents on holiday have left their children sleeping and gone out, knowing that regular checks will be made on them, because they signed up to the Listening Service. What is the difference between a staff member making the checks or the parents making the checks. Please tell me.
This service is still on offer today, which means that in holiday complexes, hotels, etc parents are doing exactly the same as the McCanns did - in fact they have never stopped inspite of knowing what happened to Madeleine. And yet you do not have one word of criticism for those parents. Why not?
Hi christobel....can anyone reply to this point regarding "listening services?" If not, apologies and I expect it can be removed.
DeleteCould "anonymous " present an example of a "listening service" offered officially by a holiday complex in which parents are recommended or allowed to leave the doors unlocked, thus enabling access in and out for children and "abductors" alike between their listening checks?
This comparison by latching onto the listening services offered commercially in order to absolve the McCanns is ridiculous.
What commercial enterprise would risk being responsible for children vulnerable to access via open doors onto the carpark and street or the little rascals nipping out between checks?
The listeners could be listening away at an empty apartment.....with the kiddy long gone.
Listening services are for kids secured inside, with someone listening for signs of distress or disturbance from within.........
Not for chasing up a 3 year old kid whose parents left the door open to enable her to get out and look for them ( check the statements!)
You're missing the point. The Antis constantly demonise the McCanns, adnauseum for leaving their children asleep to go to dinner during which they made regular checks.
DeleteSo why aren't all the millions of other parents who have done the same and continue to do the same, not 'Evil' as well? IMO they deserve far more criticism than the McCanns because they KNOW what can happen, because of what happened to Madeleine, and yet they still do it.
As you can't prove that no parents over the last 50 years have ever left their doors unlocked when they went out,its irrelevant.
Locked doors are no guarantee that someone will not get into your apartment. Ask the parents of the 6 British children who were subjected to sexual assault in their beds whilst their parents were sleeping in the next room. All of which took place within an hour or two's drive from PdeL, prior to the McCanns holiday.
You quite cynically attempted to link the McCann parents` behaviour with the listening service offered by hotels and holiday complexes which, as you put it, parents "sign up to."
DeleteYou then moved the goalposts in your reply to include millions of un-provable examples in which parents apparently left doors unlocked over the last 50 years.
Wriggle and spin as you will.......the McCann listening service does not compare to Butlins` or any other listening service offered commercially.
That was the "relevant point" I did not miss.
If I`m wrong, name a holiday complex which offers to do the rounds, supervising children at night in un-secured ground floor flats left unlocked specifically to enable a 3 year old to access the street to find her parents if she woke alone.
If you can`t, then stop using the comparison in order to link the McCanns with commercially offered reasonably safe listening services in an attempt to accuse others of "demonising" them.
The most telling piece of journalism about the McCanns is the one the Times did in sept 07, it came out about 2 days before they became suspects and it was such a weird piece of writing, as of they were being prepared for the GMTV sofa. I'd urge anyone to seek it out online. It does come across as. PR piece for them to launch a media career. I think the fact they have been so litigious in order to preserve their version of events and silence other more coherent possibilities says it all
ReplyDeleteGoing by the letters published this week, it looks very much as if the majority are not accepting the abduction story. I think the tide is turning.
Deletei dont think they will ever prove anything against the mcanns and they will go on forever looking for the daughter .making appearances and money .
ReplyDeleteMuch will depend on the outcome of the libel trial in Lisbon. The McCanns are trying to negotiate a settlement with Goncala Amaral, and having had his reputation, and indeed his life, destroyed, I doubt he will be gagged anytime soon. Two of the highest Courts in Portugal have put his book back on sale, he is not going to volunteer to withdraw it to appease the McCanns.
DeleteOh dear me. Your pal Tony Bennett has been sentenced to a 3 months custodial sentence suspended for a year. He has had to pay litigation costs and get this; he has APOLOGISED to the claimants for basically making their lives pure hell. Egg on face springs to mind and it's about time people with too much spare time stop spending it trying to dig the graves of others. The McCanns made a mistake for which they have paid the price in the most horrendous of ways. Perhaps now people like you who spout your unfounded bile will do the decent thing for one and shut up. By the way. Your book is crap.
ReplyDeleteOh and btw, my book being crap - the heads of several major publishing houses might beg to differ.
DeleteFirst of all, I don't spout unfounded bile. First and foremost, I am an academic. I strive to examine this case from a scientific perspective, some might call it voyeurism, lol, but I can live with that. I cut my teeth on Agatha Christi.
ReplyDeleteIt is intriguing. I am now, after so, so, much research, no longer on the fence. I have sympathy for those involved, but their twisted and some would say, quite wicked, actions, ever since that key night, is like something out of the Chamber of Horrors. Truly chilling. I have no idea what happened, but along the lines of Henry James - and without knowing the facts, we can only think the unspeakable.
Rosalinda said
Delete''I cut my teeth on Agatha Christi''
Agatha ChristiE wrote fiction - maybe that explains why most of what you write about the McCann case is fiction too.
Maybe you should ask yourself how after your scientific examination of this case - your conclusions are in direct opposition to the SY team, who are made up of professional criminal investigators and not authors of fiction.
Or maybe you should do a blog explaining your scientific examination and why think you are right and they are wrong.
I won't hold my breath.
I only write about that which is available on the internet v. May I call you that? The police files are not fiction, nor is the book of Goncala Amaral.
DeleteIf you are trying to infer my book is fiction. The trial of my case was held in open court. All the documents are available. I am with a large publisher, and you can be assured the manuscript had a full legal reading, err, not to mention the hundreds of witnesses who, since my appearance on ITN have now since forward.
As for a scientific examination. Still, you are giving me assignments? lol.
I disagree with Anonymous 21.2.13 who labelled your book "crap". I've read and enjoyed every minute of it and so have many others. Not every book that goes on sale in this country is automatically marketed and sold in major bookshops throughout north America, as yours will be. Therefore, in spite of Anonymous's unimportant, less than favourable opinion of your book, when the royalties start rolling in from all your overseas book sales it will be you who is laughing all the way to the bank! No doubt much to Anonymous's chagrin.
ReplyDeleteLOL, might be why they are so keen to get me in front of Carter Ruck ;)
DeleteThe McCanns did NOT search for their daughte. Available for all to see on You tube video - THE McCanns DID NOT PHYSICALLY SEARCH. - why? They know she is gone forever. Nuff said.
ReplyDelete