New Channel 5 documentary 'Madelaine Mccann: A Global Obsession'

http://www.channel5.com/shows/madelaine-mccann-a-global-obsession/episodes/madelaine-mccann-a-global-obsession

Documentary looking into the reason why the disappearance of Madeleine McCann continues to make headline news when hundreds of children go missing every year? Journalist Martin Frizell - who broke the story in the UK in 2007 - analyses the unprecedented campaign run by Madeleine's parents to keep their daughter in the public eye.

Joana Morais @xklamation · 7h 7 hours ago
Another #mccann mockumentary by Martin Frizell (married to Fiona Phillips) http://www.channel5.com/shows/madeleine-mccann-a-global-obsession …

Re: ANOTHER TV programme about Madeleine - Tuesday 18 November, 7pm, Channel 5 - 'Madeleine McCann: A Global Obsession'
Post Evening_All Today at 2:50 am

The Senior Social Services representative will FINALLY APPEAR and announce PUBLICALLY once and for all the what the McCanns did is WELL WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF RESPONSIBLE PARENTING.
Mr Mr Mr
What poppycoodle. They were a bunch of swingers who went out on the sauce together , the only reason they had to return to apartments was to have impromptu oral sex. The children were not even factored in. Check the gasper statements, Jane Tanner was known to be the service deliverer.

Re: Preview of channel 5 t.v. prog
Post ann_chovey Today
Comments disabled I see. Produced by Mr.' Fiona Phillips'.

Postby tigerloaf » Tue Nov 18, 2014 9:22 pm

My immediate reaction to the programme is that it was very balanced.

It showed the way the news media were so desperate for news that the tiniest snippet was spun and latched onto in order to increase sales. We all knew that, we saw it at the time. The desperation for news led to some of the worst examples of journalism I have ever seen and it seems that professionals in the media also agree with that. And very significantly Frizell made it very clear that the leaks which were fuelling all the speculation were coming from the Portuguese Police unofficially all during the period when they were supposedly under the rule of judicial secrecy.

The word used about the media was "hysteria". It was used to describe the way that the desperation grew, the way the element of truth was left so far behind by the media that at least one Police Chief had to call for restraint but still it continued and eventually the McCanns felt obliged to sue the Express and Star to set an example.

The programme also showed very clearly that the McCanns have done everything they could to keep the story in the media. It is a fact that they had more contacts, indeed better contacts than Daniels' parents, for example, but does that mean that they should not have exploited those contacts? Only an idiot would argue that. Only an idiot would argue that parents who are desperate to be reunited with their missing child should not use all the resources available to them. It is not the McCanns' doing that the media found their child more saleable than other children. That is the fault of the readers and the viewers of the media. Editors know which stories make them more money. It is the ones that the people are buying more and watching more. And nobody made the public buy more copies, nobody made the viewers watch the Madeleine news more than stories about other children. The viewers and readers made that choice for themselves.

Importantly it was pointed out that neither Gerry nor Kate had previously had to deal with the media and that they were taking advice and help from as many professionals as they possibly could. The efforts in particular of Gerry to involve himself in the campaign were mentioned, the fact that he tried to find every possible way to get the media to keep mentioning the daughter he wasn't going to allow to be forgotten.

The fund was mentioned as part of the desperation as was the use of PR. In a balanced way it was stated that the campaign, the fund and the PR had had both positive and negative effects. The cynicism of some regarding the McCanns was mentioned with an inference that it was at least in part due to the appalling journalism and the negative reactions to such things as Kate not crying, the PR campaign, the fund etc.

Neither negative or positive, the programme gave a brief but fair summary of the media coverage and some of the underlying reasons for the way it has developed over the years.

If I get a chance I will have a further look at the programme and will post further comments if I feel they would be appropriate.

Channel 5 Due to the sensitive nature of this programme, we're no longer accepting Facebook comments around this topic; any comments left will be removed.

zodiac zephyr ‏@zodiaczephyr 2h2 hours ago
Does any1 know why the interview with David Entwistle, Daniel Entwistle's father, was pulled? #McCann https://www.facebook.com/ThisMorning/posts/10152973733147122 …

Liz Martin ‏@martin_liz 2h2 hours ago
@zodiaczephyr maybe as it would take away from the #McCann case as always

zodiac zephyr ‏@zodiaczephyr 2h2 hours ago
@martin_liz No I don't think that is the reason.

Liz Martin ‏@martin_liz 2h2 hours ago
@zodiaczephyr what are your thoughts seems weird as the case is recently gaining more publicity ?#McCann