大象传媒

By focussing on the quantity of the coverage, you have neatly avoided commenting on the quality of coverage which has often been shocking, especially jumping on the trial by television bandwagon. And why was no one willing to debate this with Matthew Parris the other evening. Perhaps you should provide a link to the responses from PM listeners. Or would that expose your blatant ratings-chasing tabloid news values to some unwelcome scrutiny ?

I have to agree with the critics, there has been far too much coverage. It was, at one point, completely suffocating the coverage of other news stories on News 24, which was making the channel almost unwatchable.

I don't mind the story being covered when there are actual new updates, but the same story given such prominence repeatedly for days when nothing new has happened it is frustrating.

I think this abduction has resonated within the national consciousness because this close-knit family were on holiday, the parents were just nearby, and Madeleine's 4th birthday was imminent.

As one of your reporters put it there is a widespread feeling of "There but for the grace of god go I." It is truly the unthinkable, and could happen to anyone.

Your team have covered the story well, on the whole. For example Jane Hill who, in just one example of her professionalism, tapped in to the frustrations of the nation, when she highlighted that the description of Madeline's pyjamas were not given by police until days after her abduction.

This was indeed vital information that our police would would have released to the public as soon as possible.

If we feel that another country's police are underperforming, we should feel free to say so, without fear of reproach.

Well done to Ms Hill for having the backbone not to mince her words, whilst still respecting the differences between the two cultures in their approach to these matters.

The whole team have handled a most delicate and difficult tightrope walk in a most accomplished manner and the whole nation, (and hopefully Madeline's family,) have had their dispondency lifted by your team's coverage under such circumstances.

Simon Jenkins may be mistaken in his assertion that the Madeleine McCann story led yesterday's 6 O'Clock News. However, it is certainly true that it was the lead story on News 24 for much of the day.

Therefore, his main point is still valid. You gave more prominence to a statement from the Portugese police that they had nothing to say than the fact that Gordon Brown had finally been confirmed as our next Prime Minister. While it is true that Brown's succession has been inevitable for some time, yesterday was the first time that it was a 100% certainty. The story should, therefore, have led news bulletins yesterday afternoon and evening.

I think the news comments could often have been shorter when there has been no new news. However wht really surprises me about the wider coverage is the lack of link with kidnapping/people trafficking and the 200th anniversary of the anti-slavery legislation. If it is thought seriously that Maddie was taken by some trafficking gang and that the loss of one dear child rates the news attention she has received, what about all the others who are lost or abandonned around the world every year? Whatever happens to Maddie - and I really do pray she turns up safe - would it not be right for attention to turn to the international children's issues?

I appreciate that for a commercial broadcaster, ratings drive news, but the 大象传媒 should be a bit above chasing ratings by exploiting a sad situation, which it now seems chunks of the press are doing. As you alude to, a missing, cute, middle class little girl interests people, but so do celebrities, and Paris Hilton and Britney Spears do not get the constant coverage of a rota of reporters saying nothing and trying their best not to speculate or say what everyone watching is thinking.
If the worst has happened, I find it odd that, on average according to Women's Aid and NSPCC, four women will have died because of domestic violence and two children will have died at the hands of the parents or carer during the period since Madeleine's disappearance - what is it, other than ratings, that makes her sad story more newsworthy than the tragedies which go on in Britain every week and every day and are ignored?

I have a low opinion of News 24 in general, which seems to me to be superficial, left-wing and soccer-obsessed.

BUT your decision to continue serious coverage of this child's disappearance ia absolutely correct. Keep it going.

One definition of 'news' is 'new information about specific and timely events'. I'm bored hearing about the lack of real news and watch NEWS24 less as a result.

On NEWS24 you have to fill the huge space with something and this has shown how badly you do it. You're following in Sky's footsteps though, who have really reminded us how important a sense of perspective is.

I can't say I've been really following the story, but my feeling is that it is out of control - like many of the similar situations we've had over the years. The thing is that it doesn't happen uniformly - children go missing fairly frequently and the media doesn't make it a front page story for 2+ weeks... Sure people might be interested in it - but why not take advantage of this and show them some of the other terrible things happening in the world?

No, definitely not too much from Portugal Mr Bakhurst. I, like many others, am constantly checking for news of little Madeleine. We have only had a digital box since Christmas and think 大象传媒 News 24 and its reporting is excellent.

While you say that you have tried to satisfy "the genuine interest among a huge portion of our audience" - I can't help but feel that it is you the 大象传媒 (and the media in general) who have created this interest. If the media had treated this sensibly and given a proportionte response(as opposed to the massively over the top coverage that has been given to this story) then I strongly doubt that the "genuine interest" written about would have existed.

Obviously most companies need to worry about ratings, and even the 大象传媒 which isn't reliant on advertising money needs to be concerned about them. But I feel that the 大象传媒, given it's ability to worry less about ratings, should be more willing to run stories on the things that matter to the country, and not just the stories people like to get emotionally invested in.

The TV news in Australia has also been running with this story, and I would say that most of us do not object to the coverage.

Some questions though,......will the coverage send the kidnapper underground? Is it true that the Portugese Police have been very lax about this situation? If the parents were so loving, couldn't they have arranged for a baby-sitter, or better still, take the child with them? Is it politically incorrect for Scotland Yard to lend a hand in the investigation?

Your comments would be appreciated.

I will put this bluntly since my last message to you dis not seem to count.

I find News 24's coverage of this story mawkish, unnecessary and way over the top.

As I posted in response to the last blog on this subject, most of the coverage consists of the reporter on the ground saying there has been no developments and the rest of the report consisting of filling and uneeded platitudes.

Of course we want to know if there are any true developments in the case. But saying that the parents are still smiling for the benefit of their other children is not news.

I will say that the 大象传媒's coverage of this story is better than most, but then again I expect much higher standards from the 大象传媒 than the rest.

I agree completely with Simon Jenkins, who I suggest speaks for many 大象传媒 viewers and listeners. The media coverage of this poor girl's abduction is vastly inappropriate, and has indeed been exploitative.

The madeleine story should be kept at the top of every news story while there is still a glimmer of hope that she is alive, the life of a 4 year old child is considerably more important than anything Gordon Brown or Tony Blair has to say or does at this present time. Keep puting madeleine at the top of the news in the hope that someone somewhere will be moved to do something and hopefully bring this little girl back to her family.

Vacuous waffle. If ratings were any guide to content then there would be no news programming. The Madeleine coverage has been in line with a recent trend to follow photogenic or emotive stories with no regard to newsworthiness. I suspect you have complaints because most people who feel this way have given up. The completely OTT coverage of the Virginia massacre was the last straw - why are American stories more important than those from Africa or Asia? Answers on a postcard.

RE:Simon Jenkins: Pathetic. Get your priorities right, we`re talking about human life here.

I can understand that this story has a lot of news value, but is that how the amount of news should be reported? A story may be 'important' in the wider sense but not be of much immediate interest. Who really cares about Wolfowitz at the World Bank? How may readers even know what the bank does? However, this could lead to a majosr shift with a non-American taking charge for the first time.
Please keep on reporting developements in the Madelaine story, but when there is nothing to report, why not just leave it alone?
Wall-to-wall news coverage of anything is pretty silly when there are no changes to the stories, but I suppose you feel the need to fill spaces. Does this keep readers scanning the news every ten minutes? I doubt it.

We need as much coverage as we can with regards to this little girl's dissapearance. We need to keep the story red, red, hot and it must not be allowed to cool down at all. This sort of large scale coverage should be in place whenever any child goes missing for a longer than normal time.

Not only does it keep the family involved reassured that people are still involved and that the nation cares and are being regularly informed, but it also keeps the pressure on the abductor and lets him/her/them know that there will be no let up - that until the child is found it will be difficult to move around as they might like.....

There should be an Amber Alert and Megan's Law set up, (or something very similar), in the UK.

I think you're missing the point somewhat. The media is responsible for generating interest in a story. The sole reason for the "Diana effect" over the disappearance of Madeleine (I think there's been something like 2,000 articles written on the subject now) is because you're fueling it by giving it so much exposure.

If you have the same amount of coverage to the closure of a special needs school, you'd (also mistakenly) interpret the resultant hype as a genuine interest in the story.

As for the number of reporters in the Algarve and the need to provide reports for 4 or 5 different programs... what exactly is the problem with using 1 or 2 reporters, pre-recording bulletins twice a day, and simply distributing the same content to all the programs as and when they need it?

Finally, you probably haven't received a large number of complaints about this because people feel a bit of a lowlife making an issue about it. I think the face that you've received 10 is reason enough to reconsider your level of coverage.

As a postscript, when can we look forward to seeing the coverage of the hundreds of other kids who go missing each week, voluntarily or otherwise?

The 大象传媒 coverage of this search is good except where it risks "dishing the dirt" and delving into the private lives of people who may be completely innocent. In these situations there is often a prsumption of guilt - "there is no smoke without fire". However this is more of an issue for the tabloids than the 大象传媒.

The other side of the coin is those children who vanish or are killed and injured ( as in Iraq ) who hardly get noticed because they are not white, blond nd blue-eyed.

Interesting blog post but I still can't help but think that the coverage has bordered on the obsessive. It's an incredibly sad event but the media cannot argue that they have run a campaign that runs on the basis of guilty until proven to be non-newsworthy.

There can never be too much coverage when a little girk has been abducted. We pray that she will be found soon

I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments. It is difficult reporting no developments and at the same time trying to keep the issue high profile, which i know is what the vast majority of your audience want. I, fortunately, do not have to have respect for Mr Jenkins, nor anyone who feels it is acceptable to downgrade this "story"...frankly its far more important than gordon brown's leadership campaign as that will have the net effect of zero on the lives of almost everyone in the UK. If there is one positive to take out of this it is the goodwill and empathy shown by people the world over. A world community which doesn't benefit from these comments by Mr Jenkins.

I am a regular viewer of the 大象传媒 News. I feel that I must comment on this as I have been watching 大象传媒 24 every day since Madeleine McCann went missing. I totally agree with your blog, specifically the points you have made about Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. The coverage about Madeleine certainly did not take priority when Tony Blair announced his departure, nor when Gordon Brown won the leadership bid.
I feel that the coverage has been sufficient and has not been exploitive.
I think that it is important to continue with coverage as the 大象传媒 have a huge audience.

It's noticeable, Kevin, that you haven't addressed Simon Jenkins' point regarding the absurd and utterly pointless practice of having Huw Edwards present the Ten O'Clock News from Portugal. I wonder if you'd have the courtesy and courage to let us know how many licence fees went towards that little jaunt?

Well done - I don't think there has been excessive news coverage about this poor little girl and her family. We tune into the news to hear if there are any developments every day. Frankly most people in the UK are sick to death of the Brown/Blair business and wish they'd just shut up and get on with it.
Far more important just at the moment to help to solve this hideous crime and find poor Maddy McCann.

I think that the 大象传媒 has covered the Madeleine story with sheer professionalism and excellence considering the nature of the story. Anyone who feels that the coverage has been 'over the top', well let me put it to them this way... what if it was your child that had gone missing? Would it be seen as 'over the top' then?!

I didn't want to watch so much of this story but still found myself looking for updates regularly. It had to be covered while there seemed to be progress in the investigation

I think your listing of all the different outlets you have to provide content to "Breakfast, 大象传媒 World, 大象传媒 News 24, the One, Six and Ten O'Clock News and Newsnight," shows the real problem. Why is there so much duplication which requires so much resource to be deployed? Why not one 24 hour news channel which other channels can use during the day. Why is Newsnight not part of the News 24 schedule and yet you fill half an hour of News 24 time with dull shows like Hardtalk?

As a parent and a grandparent, I don't think the coverage is over the top at all. "There, but for the grace of God, go I!" - should be running through every parent's mind.

I agree that there has been far to much coverage of the incident and I have now reached the point of not watching 大象传媒 News for that reason. It is a great tragedy that the little girl is missing but it would be nice if the 大象传媒 spent a bit more time on the thousands of people that are missing in this country for one reason or another.I do feel that the 大象传媒 News does spend far too much airtime on topics that are for the want of a better description "Doom and Gloom".

I have been on the 大象传媒 NEWS website every day, and each day I make sure I read an update of the McCann situation. Sure, Simon Jenkins may be right in saying it is not the British Press' responsibility to cover story. But Simon Jenkins, hath you no heart?

I am generally wary of the press, the extent to which journalists will go (though admittedly I have much respect for them too). But over the past few weeks, I have felt proud of the press for their help, and infact proud to be British. The media may not play a role in running the country, but it inextricably, and perhaps unintentionally, represents us as a nation. When the portugese press said that this much coverage would not have occurred if a portugese child had been taken, I felt lucky that the media were there for the McCanns to use and help.

On a side note, I also think that the news coverage has hit home for a lot of parents out there. Yes, 'this happens all the time' but how many parents out there have absentmindedly left a child at home to pop out to the shops or something of the like?

Perhaps I am just being optimistic in thinking that the press are purely doing this out of the kindness of their hearts. But really, even if their motives are slightly skewed, if it reunites a child to their parents, I am inclined to say "so what?"

I think the 大象传媒's coverage of this particularly sensitive and emotive story has been absolutely spot-on.
Non-sensational, non-speculative and with just enough comment to present the facts as people would want to see them.

Hello Kevin

My name is Robbie Newton and I am almost 16. This is a good article, and your defense of the 大象传媒 is strong. I only have one gripe with the 大象传媒, not so much the TV side of it, more the internet side of the 大象传媒.
Browsing the website over the past week or two, there have been many articles about Maddy, that, for want of a better word, I am calling filler articles. Such as this one - "McCanns keep smiling for twins". I clicked the article, and it was an article about how the McCann family are spending time with the babies. It has no update about the Madeline situation however, so can it really be deemed as News?
Another article - "Madeleine Police not struggling", again, not really an update as the police just revealed that they were not struggling, and if memory serves right, that had been reported in a couple of articles previous to that.
I am still sticking with the 大象传媒 ofr my news though, because, earlier this week (Or last week, depending on how you look at things), I picked up about 6 different papers, and in 5 out of the 6, a filler article on Madeline took precedence over Scotland getting a new First Minister elected, Alex Salmond. I was quite shocked at those papers, because surely, a little girl who does not affect the majority can't be more important than a new leader of a country that will affect thousands, nay, millions of people in the year to come. However, that night, the 大象传媒 did give Salmond's election a fair amount of coverage in proportion to Maddy, and not just on 大象传媒 Parliament either.
Now don't get me wrong, I love the 大象传媒, I watch the Ten O'Clock news every night before I go to bed, I am studying Modern Studies at school and watching the news daily is recommended, and I quite enjoy it. However, on the web, perhaps the coverage of Maddy could be toned down, and only important updates should be reported.
- Robbie Newton

I think that the 大象传媒 has balanced their telling of this story rather well. Yes, it needs to be covered when there are genuine developments, however rolling coverage of speculation is no good for anyone and would eventually back-fire on the family.

I know it's a complicated issue, but there are parents whose children have been abducted in far worse circumstances, who could only dream of this kind of media coverage.

How dare you suggest the 大象传媒 are giving this little girl too much coverage! To think what her poor parents are going through. Surely this country isnt so hard hearted and cruel that it thinks Tony Blair finally stepping down is more important. This is the life of a human being at risk. No one has any idea where this little girl is, or whether she has been harmed or not. So please dont try to tell people that things such as Tony Blair or Gordon Brown are more important, than trying to find a 4 year old girl. Put yourself in the shoes of her parents and think how you would feel then.

If you really think you have handled this coverage with reasonable decorum, I suggest you look back at the "events" of the day when Robert Murat was taken in for questioning. Your speculative meanderings on News 24 were not quite as all-consuming as those on Sky News, but were out of all keeping for the weight of the story - "witness questioned, not charged, not arrested."

It is disingenuous of you to argue that of course you needed more than two reporters in the Algarve. Simon Jenkins' piece was referring specifically to the sending of Huw Edwards to anchor the main news bulletins from outside the house of this witness/suspect. His presence did nothing to help tell the story which the existing reporting team could not have offered, and his presence lent weight to this "development" in the story which it did not deserve.

The coverage is excellent - the worldwide media system is perfect for helping in these kinds of cases. The need to make sure as many people as possible have seen her face and know her story is made so much easier by utilising the media as much as possible.

However, it is exceptionally important that the same kind of coverage is given to all similar cases and not just this one.

I am appalled by the media interest in the case overall. Tragic as it is she is one child, and I find it abhorent to see the nation's reaction to this one story while they turn a blind eye to world poverty and war like it does not concern them. I think the 大象传媒 has been more responsible and balanced than most, however I still do find it disturbing to see her story take priority over, for example, the Kenyan air crash in Cameroon where over a hundred people died and relatives looked on while a third world country did it's best at a recovery in a swamp.
I think whilst the media have to address what interests people, they are also responsible for the things that catch our attention and how they are perceived and without the media bringing it to the public in the way that they have, Madeleine's story would have taken a more appropriate position in the scheme of world news and events.

I personally think that the coverage over the disappearance has gone on long enough - I amongst many of my friends sit down to watch the news and on comes "day 15 of Madeleine..." and a massive groan goes around - I go nd make tea, cook dinner or whatever until the feature is over.

You may have only received one email - but perhaps there are thousands of us who can't write an email to a 大象传媒 director for a number of reasons.

Can we please just have the story reduced to "the search goes on" period!

And how about finding something really POSITIVE to finish the 6pm and 10pm news with? Like ice cream sales have shot up over the past x weeks due to the warm weather - I don't know but something that is positive. So much of the news is negative that many of us just can't cope and although the tv may be on we are not there!

Please find more positive things to talk about - News isn't all doom and gloom - there must be some good going on in the world that you can mention everyday!

Jude

The coverage has been ridiculous, as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately, the 大象传媒 have no choice but to cover it if the public interest is there, regardless of the fact it is public interest generated by the over-exciteable media.

What bothers me is that the case is being given prominence everywhere from the news to the UEFA Cup Final, despite the fact so many similar stories fail to get anything more than local awareness. I dread to think how the parents feel in those cases.

And the public who have latched onto this case need to think hard about their motives for doing so. Are they genuinely interested parties who campaign for kids outside those cute ones who make it onto the news, or is this once a year frenzy a way of assuaging their guilt for doing so little otherwise? Let's be realistic, a poster campaign in Stoke or whatever is hardly going to find the girl, but time dedicated to local children can make a big difference.

Also, the coverage from Portugal is unnecessary, as their laws mean that very little information can be given anyway. It is therefore gratuitous to have so many people there to tell us that there is nothing more to tell.

All the best to the family, however.

For me the question is "why" Madeleine's case did and does attract such a widespread attention, compared for example with any other similar cases that have happened in the past, or even happened more or less "during the same time as Madeleine's case"?

By all means, I do not imply that the media coverage is wrong either in terms of ways or terms of time of "air broadcasting". I just wonder what was the x-factor in this particular case that "hit the media chord"?

I also wonder: how do other parents, who have been unfortunate to lose a child in this way, feel when they watch this phenomenal widespread coverage and support for Madeleine's case? Do they ever wonder for example, "if we did have this support maybe our child would have had better chances"?

Why debate the coverage of 鈥渢he search for Madeleine鈥� its by far more important that anything else I see in the news! I have no relation to the McCann family but at the moment they are never far from my thoughts. Since the morning I logged on to the 大象传媒 website for my daily weather and news, to find the shocking story of the disappearance of a little girl in Portugal, I have been drawn to search for updates on the situation very often during the day since. I think the coverage of the case has been proportional to the severity of the situation and lets not forget this is where the media are at their best鈥� giving coverage and world wide recognition to a plight and giving a better chance of someone鈥� just one person seeing it and being able to help! The Police would have no ability to spread this kind of campaign without the HELP of the media. Such coverage is also helping in raising money for the 鈥渇ight鈥� by touching the hearts of all of us, lessening the coverage is almost feels like giving up.

Up until yesterday, I have been impressed and pleased that the 大象传媒 have given good, indepth and imforative coverage of the Mccann abduction on the 大象传媒 News 24 channel and website.

However, the last few days have seen a decline in reporting the case. During the day, i fully understand this as there are not ongoing reports to make and not regular updates. However I have been upset that the website is not doing more to promote the safe return of this little girl.

Websites are able to have a archive of all information of a story, it doesnt have to be a breaking story. I feel that the 大象传媒 news site has no real OBVIOUS link to Madeleine information. I am not suggesting it takes over the front page, but i feel STRONGLY that there should be an area of the site for people to read background info and any breaking news. This is so important now that the media coverage is going worlwide, as the 大象传媒 is seen globally as the UK news coverage specialist.

I appreciate there is lots of news to put on a site, and i think the 大象传媒 has done an excellent job so far to cover this tragic story, but lets see more creative use of the website to keep Madeleines abduction in the media.

I think the 大象传媒 has given appropriate prominence to the developing story.

Balance the flagship 大象传媒 One bulletins with those on ITV1 and it is pretty clear that there has been editorial restraint placed on the amount of coverage and inflammatory speculation, particularly in relation to Robert Murat.

Given the number of parents back in Britain that have loss contact with their children since Madeline's disappearance, which must surely now be approaching or surpassed triple figures - I'm sure they must feel a degree of resentment to the coverage of this case anywhere, in relation to theirs.

There is also much PR opportunism riding the back of this news, evident from the PMs sporting yellow ribbons in the chamber, to celebrities donating inconceivable sums of money. This is unfortunate, and something I feel has barely been touched upon.

I think the coverage of missing Maddy has been excellent and appropriate. Quite frankly the news of a missing child hits at the very core of most of us and as such far outways political stories - which by their every nature are often tranistory and not overly meaningful to the public - In this instance I believe Mr Jenkins has misjudged the situation and he only needs to look at the 90 million hits on the website to understand the impact this has had on all of us. I like many tune in everyday in the hopes that Madeline is found or that there is some positive news.

Over the top??????? how absurd!!!!!! Finding an abducted child could never have too much coverage. Shame on the detractors who seem sub-human, they should be thankful it isn't their child.

What a difficult line you tread.

There's no doubt that the story reaches the core of many, many people who watch the time tick by with an increasing sense of despair. At the same time there's no doubt that the family have been able to marshall the most amazing amount of publicity, from daily coverage in the press and screen to a film at the cup final.

I just have an uneasy feeling that there have been and will continue to be other families thrown into similar heart-rending circumstance that aren't able to mobilise the media, websites, films and more.

Whilst no-one would wish anything other than a happy outcome to this dreadful story, I feel a sense of unease that other dreadful family disasters are without the luxury of world-wide publicity.

It remains to be seen how the family will cope if the worst happens, the spotlights of the media are extinguished and the crashing sense of isolation hits them harder then ever because of the hype and possible false hope...

For once I am glad I am not an editor - it's not possible to get this one right...

It seems that everyone is covering this story. Check out the Daily Mail for example. It may not be front page, but it certainly is 'IN THE NEWS'.

Whilst feel sympathy for Madelein and of course her parents. It seems that the media, especially the tabloid media are milking the edges of the story for all it's worth. Also one might question the effect that reporting on potential suspects might prejudice the investigation.

Personally I don't think this web-site or indeed 大象传媒 World on TV have gone over board in their coverage. However, reporting the facts without sidetracked into suspects personal life's should remain the order of the day.

"There have been no developments" isn't news. At the very most, this has been a story that could be done in 30 seconds about halfway down the agenda.

Whilst I feel for the McCanns, for the most part this isn't national news at all.

The girl's disappearance is a minor story. The media circus around it is a bigger story and one the 大象传媒 can't ignore, even though sometimes I feel it is in bad taste.

The lack of sensitivity of even having this debate is breathtaking. How must thos parents feel when they read of it? In a world besotted with money and materialism, it shows that, underneath, people still care about other real people. It is way past time that the drivel written about so-called celebrities was severely curtailed instead.
We can only hope that there is a successful outcome to this dreadful kidnapping and if the media assist in this in any way, then continued coverage has been completely vindicated.

I personally am glad that the 大象传媒 is covering this tragic story - it hasn't ended and it has a lot of interest here in the UK and across the world. What we have is a UK citizen who has been abducted abroad for what ever reason and I think that we in the UK have a duty to her to keep the story alive, just as we do for Alan Johnson who has been kidnapped in Gaza. One of the problems with news stories is that they move out of the news as people become 'bored' with them, this doesn't make them any less important and doesn't mean that we shouldn't be reminded of them. I would also like to see more follow up stories about what happens when a story no longer is deemed 'newsworthy' to let us know what the eventual outcome was.

Who the hell would complain about so-called excessive coverage of a missing child?

I bet they wouldn't complain if it was their kids that had gone AWOL.

If this little girl was of an ethnic minority the media would not be covering it as much.

a sad fact.

The 大象传媒 website tells us that the 'Find Madeleine' film shown at half time during the FA Cup final will have potentially reached a tv audience of 450 million. So why didn't the 大象传媒 show it? There was nothing during half time except the usual pundits' prattle, and I watched after the game until all the pointless, breathless, shouted "how does it feel?" interviews, and the presentations, were over, but still no 'Find Madeleine'. What happened? Has the 大象传媒 abdicated from supporting the McCanns or was the schedule just too precious to interrupt? Disgraceful is my word for it!

The national missing persons helpline reports that 450 children have gone missing since Madeline McCann went missing.

When the coverage given to these (zero in practically each case) is compared to the coverage given to this one child it does seem excessive, although I do admit that the 大象传媒 haven't been as bad as some of it's competitors.

If there's major developments in the case then we should hear about them but we don't need to hear about a news conference telling us there's no further news (or providing some useless facts about the investigation).

I find it hard to believe that anyone would complain about the lead coverage given to the disappearance of Madeleine - this story should lead the news every evening - followed by the story of Alan Johnson - who should not be forgotten. Let Gordon Brown wait his turn, i.e., when he is more important than a missing little girl.

Sorry, but I agree with those who say it is over the top. It is very sad for the parents, of course it is, but it is not more important to the country as a whole than 'real' news. There appears to be a growing desire in the UK for mawkish sentimentality. If only such concerns for one's fellow citizens could become part of everyday life, and not just aired publicly on emotive occasions.

It will be interesting to see how many comments, and of what flavour, this blog entry attracts.

You may not have had many complaints yourself - none from me because I do not watch news on television and tend to blank out large sections of the news that I listen to on Radio 4 - but the responses to Jenkins' article are overwhelmingly supportive.

There is a backlash againdst the media 'feeding frenzy' - but it is muted because of the way it xxcanxx will be interpreted as "not caring"; especially by those with the self-justificatory agenda outline here.

I do care. I am deeply sorrowful for this child. But Madeline is not the only one, and when there is no hard news, I object both to the waste of money and the pretence that the drivel being served up us "news".

Would it be true to say that you view your role in news presentation as to give the public what you perceive it wants to hear about? So that the grading of importance of a story is fundamentally public-driven - whatever you believe the majority of the public wish to give their attention to becomes the main story of the day?

Have you any thoughts on whether this policy is actually in the best interests of society? Do you recognise that there is a line of thought that the majority is in denial of the need to engage in meaningful thought? That mass, 24/7 focus on transient emotion may cause irreparable damage to society's structures?

Unpleasant though it is, and tragic though it may turn out, the real impact of the case of Madeleine McCann on the people of the UK is zero. Well, perhaps not zero - maybe negative, in the sense that the millions and millions of man-hours spent focusing on this one-off incident could more productively have been spent. For example, if the public focused on becoming better informed about the likely movement of interest rates, there would perhaps be a heightened sense of planning how to deal best with rises in mortgage payments, instead of, when they happen, the mass of the population throwing its arms in the air complaining that they weren't told about it.

Something else that might be considered is that the majority of the public may be simply followers of the system. If the mainstream opinion is that emotion-rich human-interest stories are what matters, then huge numbers of people will accept this, unquestioningly. Maybe, however, if the system made an effort to draw attention to stories that have a REAL effect on people's lives, the public's attention may become re-focused on informative news that is of long-term relevance.

I don't know that I am right, but my feelings are that we are dealing with the desire for egalitarianism in the wrong way. We have, quite rightly in my opinion, set our sights on making national decision-making non-elitist; encouraging anyone, from any walk of life, to feel comfortable becoming involved. The tragic error, as I see it, is that we have chosen to encourage Joe Public by removing from the process the requirement for understanding and intellectual precision. To my way of thinking, the only way egalitarianism can work is by bringing the masses up to the level of mental ability previously enjoyed only by the elite.

Personally, I have been grateful of the news coverage via the Internet by the 大象传媒 regarding Madeleine. I live in Spaain, do not have a TV nor listen to the radio. I sincerely hope that you have some 'good' news to report soon. Thank you.

Shouldn't have been covered at all -
utterly trivial in terms of what is
happening in the world.

I'm afraid I agree with Simon Jenkins - the amount of coverage has been entirely disproportionate, considering that, since the abduction itself, nothing particularly newsworthy has happened in over two weeks. One girl going missing is a tragic shame for the family, but the media frenzy is completely unwarranted. Comparisons may be drawn with Alan Johnston, but his kidnapping has many more ramifications, political and journalistic, than the abduction of one young girl, sad though it may be.

Whilst I do think that there has been a disproportionate amount of coverage on the 大象传媒 it pales into significance in comparison with the rabid and tendentious Sky News. In particular their coverage of the formal suspect has, in my view, been outrageous.

I will never watch Sky News again.

Of course the 大象传媒 have given too much coverage to the Madeleine McCann story. But they always do, no matter what the "flavour of the moment" is.

I have some sympathy for the fact that we live in a 24-hour live news media, but more often than not we are left with anchors and field reporters struggling to fill the slots allocated to these stories, simply because there is nothing to tell.

What makes it worse is that eventually overkill turns people off the story and we just hear repetitive "white noise".

This is one scenario where less is actually more -- but you will never persuade editors of this.

Of course, it's a massively heart-rending subject. I myself have a 4 year old girl and this subject brings back sympathy and fear each time the story is broadcast.

However, I do wonder, as a British Asian, to what extent the quantity of air time is due to Madeleine being white, anglo-saxon, blonde and blue-eyed.

Having said that, I do hope that is the reason, if the only alternative is voyeurism on the part of the media.

I can't believe anyone would have the nerve to complain about the amount of coverage given to Madeleine. As a concerned parent I would encourage as much coverage as possible. As an expat, I don't really care about coverage of "Gordon Brown's leadership bid (isn't it a given?)" and would much rather see TV doing a public service by keeping the story on air if it can help to locate the little girl.

Yes, I genuinely feel very, very sorry for the parents and of course for the poor child.
But. This story has gone crazy. The level of coverage by both the broadcast and print media is almost out of control. And then there's the apparent obsession with it of a large part of the population.
It's sad, but it has to be said that these things do happen. Time to move on.

Anyone who wishes to complain about the amount of coverage on missing Maddie should stop and ask themselves one question - What would they want if (touch wood it never happens) it was their child? - I know what I would want without a doubt. I check in on the news websites a couple of times a day just for news of Maddie and I'm not a relative just a concerned parent who knows how precious every child is. There are so many children lost or missing in the world surely using whatever resources necessary to find one child gives us hope that more may one day be returned home.

I am totally appalled by the coverage the Madeleine story has received. Whilst it goes without saying that the events are a tragedy for the family and friends, the extent to which the news and the public have seized upon the issue makes me feel quite ill. This appears to be a tumour of compassion. Whilst the public desensitise to the death and hopelessness of Iraq, Darfur, Afghanistan and all those other countries too far away to really affect us we re-focus all our concern onto this one case. I am reminded of the excess and hysteria generated around Princess Diana's death. I thought then the government ought to offer free vouchers for therapy and I think so again. Where she was the 'People's Princess' Madeleine appears to be the 'People's daughter', a channel through which to express an outrage and concern that might otherwise be blocked.

The 大象传媒 should not be treated as means for the personal advantages of others; it should be there to deliver relevant and important information.The story of Madeleine McCann has been drastically over-reported for the sole good of finding her.This is not the responsibility of the 大象传媒 and the constant reporting of minor details constantly seems to suggest that the 大象传媒 is being 'exploited'.I severely doubt that the story is of huge importance to the general public.It would also be apparent that the 大象传媒 is trying to gain popularity by taking such an 'interest' in the story.

An absolutely fantastic article. At the end of the day, Madeline is still a talking point in offices and homes around the country.

Everybody has their own ideas on what constitutes a news worthy story - and on a national level stories can be even more controversial. The 大象传媒 has a duty to broadcast to the majority and I believe that this is what you're doing. Or, at the very least, trying to do.

I really do feel like there has been too much coverage of this event, especially since there has been such a lack of development of the story.

I would say judging the level of viewer dissatisfaction by the number of actual complaints received is a poor metric - I'd need to feel really angry about something to want to make the effort write in (posting on a blog like this seems somehow much less effort). I just have been turning off the news more often than usual lately because I'm really fed up of hearing the same old headline! By all means 2 minutes halfway through the news would be ok, but there must be more pressing matters to deal with.

Quite Frankly I think it is wrong the amount of coverage this story is getting. There is plenty of rape, murders and other equally atrocious things going on in our country let alone abroad that goes unreported. Why is this story getting so much attention?

There can never be too much coverage on a tragedy such as Maddie being taken. We must all continue to hope for the safe return of the little princess and show our support to her family. I check the 大象传媒 news regularly through out the day in the hope of something positive for the McCann family. I am saddened that Maddie no longer makes the Headlines.
My heart pours out to the McCann family.

The public are deeply sympathetic to this tragedy. They are eager to hear any news. But in the truth is there is no news here; no new facts. No new information is being presented.

Instead we get to witness an obscene feeding frenzy. Newspapers trying to outsell rival newspapers by tearing off juicy chunks from this story. Their business has always been to turn profit from personal tragedy.

We are told that the way the 大象传媒 is funded gives it a different perspective. Not much evidence of higher standards at work here.

Lame excuses. I object to my licence fee being used to ship loads of people over to Portugal to cover the one event. The 大象传媒 continuously complained about the lack of information being provided by the police and yet you needed at least three people to tell us that. Repeats are popular for entertainment, why not for news when there is nothing more to add.

I feel sickened by the constant coverage of the Madeleine story. Much as it is sad, tragic, and my heart goes out to the parents, there are millions of children out there starving in humanitarian crisis on a daily basis; where is there coverage? Why isn't that constantly hounded on the TV until those that can, take action? The vast majority of viewers watching the Madeleine story can do nothing to help, much as they would like to. Those viewers can and should be thinking of the millions of kids out there that CAN be helped right NOW. Come on media, think morally - balance your TV coverage.

It is not so much the amount of coverage that this missing girl is getting that grates, it is the style of the presentation, why the amount of interest you cry? Because you tell people its important, that's why! It is a self fulfilling prophesy, you feed it till it gets to the level of borderline psychosis, an then you can justify the coverage. It has been done before, Diana, and it is imbalanced, and insulting, thin of the other parents with missing children who must be wondering why their child does not warrant the same amount of coverage. This is a tragic tale that deserves telling without the faux "sincerity" being displayed in Portugal.

That poor little girl still needs as much coverage as it is possible to give to her so that her plight isn't forgotten. These people complaining that too much coverage is being given may not feel the same way if it was a member of their family. I appreciate that this is not the only news in the world but it is still of great interest all over the world, I commend the 大象传媒 and ask them to continue to remind us all of the continued search for her. If the license fee is used to do this I happily continue to pay it as simply donating to her cause cannot provide the media coverage that the 大象传媒 is able to do.

Relating to "is there too much coverage", I don't believe there can be. Personally, I hope sincerely this goes a long way to bringing Madeleine back. I also feel, that we should be proud that we have shown the ability to care for something/someone other than ourselves.
This child should not be allowed to fall from the headlines until she is found. To do so would be to give up all our children.
Put yourselves in their shoes.... and hers.

I believe that the media spotlight is keeping up pressure on the police to produce a result in this tragic case.
For once the media is being put to good use.

Messrs Simon Jenkins should pray that nothing of this magnitude ever afflicts his own sad sorry life.He is clearly trying to gain his own publicity on the back of this sad case.

Please could the Telegraph be aware that I shall never buy their paper again as their views are worthless.

I wish to add my support to all the family and friends of Maddeline and pray she is found safe and well

Daren Masters

I think that Keven Backhurst's response to Simon Jenkins fails to make contact with his main points. The tragedy for this family is very real but the world news item it has become has been a creation of the media. Why are we focussed on the tragedy of this family in such intense detail? Does the high media coverage do them any good or does it just give them another set of problems to handle? Why is is the tragedy of this child, as opposed to that of thousands of others, the point of focus? I have repeatedly had to turn of news broadcast in which as much as 10 minutes of news time was given to this item. This is lazy journalism in which their is a failure to observe reasonable limits. This intensity of coverage has turned what might have been a short straightforward news item into an exercise in voyeurism.

I wonder if those who think that there is too much coverage of this case have (or have had) a young daughter. Ten years ago, I may well have thought there was too much coverage. Now, with a duaghter of my own, I do not.

This coverage is as bad as the media frenzy for the princess of wales. There is no one i talk to who does not think the same - what are the media doing!!!

Hi Kevin, I think you've done really well. You've given the story the right coverage in any respect. I honestly think the 大象传媒 sets an example for much of the British and international media.

I do not think the 大象传媒 has given too much coverage to search for Madeleine McCann. If its coverage helps recover the missing girl and leads to the capture of the abductor(s) then that is a victory that the vast majority of the country will see as justified. As a minimum it is providing a very pertinent public service announcement and I am sure will help reduce the risk of a similar tragedy occuring in the future to other sensible parents.

The 大象传媒 is there to present bulletins which its audience and its license payers want to be kept informed about. Clearly the 90 million hits on the Bring Madeleine Home website confirm conclusively that this is exactly what people want. In the same way critics unecessarily condemned the (much more) considerable coverage of Diana's death. As for Gordon Brown's leadership bid - that is hardly news and I can assure you that the British public are not that interested in his bid, as your counter for that story confirms.

Please don't stop covering this story - the unprecedented interest in her case may be the only thing which brings Madeleine back. I am really hoping that the way the public have taken this case personally and run with it means that instead of just looking on helpless we can actually do something practical to help - ie the internet and email campaigns etc. But in order to do this we need to know that the media will keep the story in the public eye.
Please, please don't let Madeleine become yesterdays news, just because someone else decides it's fashionable and cool to slag off something really positive.

As far as I am concerned, child abduction cases should be given fairly prominent coverage (so long as it is, as you say, not exploitative) - because it keeps that child in the public conciousness and can assist in their being found. I can think of two missing child cases here in the United States in the last couple of years - Elizabeth Smart and Shasta Groene - where the huge amount of coverage helped. People remembered their faces, and called the police when they were seen in public with their kidnappers. While the abduction of one child might not impact the "larger picture" (unlike a change of Labor leadership) I think the majority of people have a great deal of interest in seeing coverage of cases like this because it hits a little closer to home. A child abduction is every parent's worst nightmare - people very much want to see that child return home safe and well, and want to assist in that process if they can, whether by giving money, a lead, or just commiting that child's face to memory.

Based on your comments in the blog about the lack of complaints about the absolutely disproportional coverage of the Madeleine McCann story, I regret deeply not having complained sooner.

I and many of my friends, colleagues and acquaintances have been appalled by the vacuous coverage of this story. I normally consider the 大象传媒 News website a reliable source that avoids the sensationalism seen in many of the papers. I have been greatly disappointed by the attitude towards this sensational, voyeuristic and emotionally manipulative story.

Of course I have compassion for the family involved, but why have they been allowed to hijack the headlines as they have? I expect the 大象传媒 News service to report news, not emotional speculation.

That said, I commend you for this blog entry and asking yourself the challenging questions that you are.

I do not feel the coverage of Madeleine's abduction too over the top. Heaven forbid how I would feel in the McCann's situation. If it is to be allowed to slow down a bit I do feel that some gesture of maybe her face on the screen at certain times would still keep people alert without having to hear that there is no further news. I would never anticipate a holiday in Portugal now as I have come to the conclusion that the Police of that country seem to be very uncooperative. I just hope nand pray Madeleine is recovered safe and sound and well.

Too much coverage? Yes.

This has done nothing to help the hunt for the poor girl concerned. It is all very tawdry.

What has really irked me about the 大象传媒 coverage has been the poor on-site attempts to manufacture reasons for being there such as the helicopter trip over the resort so viewers could see how close the house were to the place where the family were staying. Just pointless.

I completely understand the feeling of Maddy's parents for the disappearance of their first daughter. People as long as we live in the 21st Century will sympathize and empathize with her family. I believe also that anyone who could come across the little child will do whatever they can to notify the authorities. However, I believe there was an over-coverage of her case from the medias and not only the 大象传媒. The UK is seen as one of the most powerful countries in the world...but making Madeleine's case as such will only show power and wealth differences in the world. Maddy is one of the few who have gone missing everyday in the world and I just think that if her disappearance is worth that much...the others case should be worth the same.

I think it is important to keep Madeleine's face all over the news, but equally important not to try any suspects by media before they are proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt. I hope you won't entirely drop the story now.
Thanks for your efforts.

'I'm also sorry if others feel we haven't done enough.'

You do not mention in your blog any complaints that you have not given the story enough coverage. Were there any such complaints?

A shame that some moaners feel the need to complain about something that has stirred up so much emotion with people across the UK and Europe.
Everyone I have spoken to wants that little girl found, what better media is there than the 大象传媒 world stage. Yes there is lots going on across the world, most of it bad news, wouldn't it be great if the 大象传媒 can help generate some good news by helping to raise the profile (again) of missing Maddy. I for one have been eager to find out if anything has developed regarding the alleged spotting in Morocco, it seems as if the media has stopped reporting this heart breaking story.

One child missing. How many dead?

Your coverage both WAS and IS excessive. Just look at the facts:-

One English child has gone missing. But during the same period, how many 4 year old Iraqi children have been killed? One? Six? Thirty? Nothing or next to nothing is made of it. And neither knowing nor being told, the next step is that we do not care.

Should it not be the job of the 大象传媒 to make us care? To bring balance to reporting? To put things in perspective?

If you are going to be no more than a tabloid on television, then why should you continue to exist?

If network public service news is to be anything then it is editorial control. I found Brown and many other stories were demoted on 大象传媒 News 24.

Why a child's dissapearance should be the headline on any day I cannot understand. This is not to say it is not horrendous - it is unimaginally terrible for the family - but it is not headline news.

The explanation that a journalist is balancing competing requirements or that they 'tread this difficult line' as Kevin Bakehurst does is simply code for 'we got it about right' Notice, that this line of argument makes almost any choice by anyone valid. All it needs is competing opinions which are always available. Well, actualy no you didnt get it right, you got it very wrong - you went for ratings. You got completely the wrong balance because it was a secondary consideration. To say something is good reporting because it is popular is like saying the Sun is quality journalism (It's not their job: tabloids just don't do what the 大象传媒 news does, or at least did).

This is one family's personal tragedy. I would do exactly as they have done in respect of the media. This does not excuse the 大象传媒 from behaving like a tabloid. The news is just too important.

I do not feel that the 大象传媒 has given this tragic story too much coverage. This coverage is exactly what is needed to hopefully keep people's awarness up in the event that clues or Madeleine herself is spotted. This is an ongoing investigation which is why people are interested, which is why it remains a story to be reported. People who suggest that it has been given too much coverage are very odd in my opinion. If Madeleine is still alive (and I pray that she is) it is up to us as a society to stay vigilant, afterall she is only 4 years old. It is incredible that it takes only 2 weeks for some people to be bored by the news of a missing child. Meanwhile everyday we get news about the war in Iraq or the violence along the Gaza strip, are people bored of this??? Also I disagree with so many people that the media situation is similar to the Diana frenzy. Diana had no crime committed against her and the frenzy around her death was because she was a memember of the royal family, end of story. In the Madeleine Mccann story a crime has been committed against an innocent child therefore this story has to be kept alive in order to find her. God forbid if it were my child I would want my child's image on the news every night in the hopes that someone somewhere with real information would finally decide to come forward.

I completely agree; the news coverage has been entirely appropriate to the situation and I was and still am very interested in any further changes to the situation regarding Madeleine. I noticed that the news focused on the leadership of Government and Tony Blair's resignation before moving on to the update of the story in the Algarve. As a mother and an interested party to both the story of politics and a missing girl, I am constantly seeking updates and indeed came online to see if there were any differing news. The 大象传媒 has covered this story well and to the needs of the general public, in my humble opinion...keep up the good work and lets hope all ends well.

I, for one, would like to have more information about the abduction of Madeline. The concept of parents going on holiday and one of their children going missing is absolutely horrific. As a parent, I feel for the McCanns and I would like to know more about the Portugese legal system and the development of this case.

I would also like to know how we can continue to keep this case in the public eye. Maybe then, someone will find her.

Fingers crossed,
Kim

This is a very difficult issue, what ever the media do will be wrong. Who can really decide what is too much or too little coverage.
All everyone wants is for Madeleine to be found safe & well & back with her family the sooner the better.

Please do not stop the coverage and only when she is found should the media bow out gracefully and leave the family in peace.

Speculation and rumour will be the downfall of news reporting. I hate it, I switch off when I hear it. I don't care what the reporter thinks - I only want to hear the facts, what has happened - not what might happen.

I scanned the newspaper headlines in my local newsagent yesterday - it's now all about "Maddie" - how sad such a serious event has been turned into a media circus.

Good on you for not over-dramatising this story. Until there's tangible progress please it quiet/low profile.

It's a bizarre and tragic story. Newsworthy for sure.

But how many people of all ages have gone missing since Madeleine Mcann and what have you done for them?

Your argument about news audiences seems to be a postion of 'give 'em what they want' without regard to its practical use (how many leads from all the coverage) and without regard to other stories needing to be told.

The coverage may be disproportionate to how news-worthy the story is, but it retains our interest because, generally, we are thinking "there but for the grace of God go us" and are willing and praying for a happy outcome.
(I am no relation!)

Well just another excuse, why dont you tell the truth and admit it is "easy news" I have lost count at the number of stories the 大象传媒 write regarding the sensitive type of news coverage particularly when children are involved, overkill or poor journalism thats the question.

Another subject I would appreciate is if when showing images or stories of Cities or Regions in Scotland do you think you could let the rest of the UK work out where they are just like we have to in Scotland when its Cities or Regions in the UK more often England or are you just emphasising that the rest of the UK is perochial and ignorant. Your thoughts please would be appreciated

I agree with Simon Jenkins on this.
While sympathising with the family, I feel that the coverage by the media including the 大象传媒 has been prurient.
Perhaps the family sought out the attention. If so why? But what is the point of getting the British public looking for a child lost in Portugal? And what is the purpose of offering huge rewards, which I fear may not be paid out, except to generate self-publicity? It is not likely to bring the child back to her family. But the 大象传媒 still gives the publicity.

There are other issues in the world far more deserving of the 大象传媒's attention. Let the Portuguese police do their investigations without this media harrassment.
And I hope, find the child alive.

What, who, when, where, why and how. As I understand it, the six key elements of enquiry. Why therefore has it become de rigueur in popular journalism to focus entirely on the first four? How do we even begin to think that we can learn anything if we refuse to consider how or why a particular event occurred?

Maybe the answer to the complaint that 24 hour journalism is unable to fill up its schedules with important stories is to suggest that they abandon their fixation with why/who/when/where, and devote the preponderance of the time to why/how analysis, once they are satisfied that the key facts of important events have been given out.

Perhaps we would be pleasantly surprised by the public's willingness to engage in productive thought, once the supply of meaningless tittle-tattle has been cut off.

The coverage of the Madeline disappearance has been depressingly OTT. I like many others feel that the emotional content of this story has been capitalised upon purely for the self-interested purpose of chasing ratings.

Kevin Bakhurst does not acknowledge or respond to Simon Jenkins' central charge against the 大象传媒, which is that "Tabloid values have come to British public service broadcasting with a vengeance and without even the commercial pressure of the private sector." This is a trend which I have seen developing in the 大象传媒 news online front page in particular over the past few years, and which is perfectly exemplified by this weekend's "McCann family keep smiling for the twins" listed on the right side bar as a "top story". There are countless other examples of human interest stories and trivia being given undue prominence on this page, a trend discernible from the headlines alone, without even turning to the slipshod standards of writing and proof-reading of the stories themselves.

I think it's disgusting (and mostly male orientated) that anyone could think that the news coverage on Madeleine has been excessive. If it was your child/niece/sister wouldn't you want it constantly in the public eye? Try to put yourselves in the parents position and for once in your lives stop being so selfish. I am one of millions that switch on the news every morning hoping to hear something good for the McCann family and I don't care if it is rehashed news coverage, at least the 大象传媒 are keeping it fresh in all our minds. Shame on anyone for thinking politics takes precedent over the life of a 4 year old innocent. I couldn't care less about Mr. Brown - he will still be here tomorrow/next week, the point is will Maddie?

Well, as tragic as the circumstances are, I do wonder why this particular incident warrants so much coverage.

Since Madeleine went missing, I am sure there are hundreds of other kids who have also gone missing. Where is the constant barrage from the media about them? Where are the 'fighting funds'? Where are the celebrity endorsments?

Yes, this is tragic, but I think there are many many more people who are in similar circumstances not receiving the coverage this one incident is. Why is this so much more important?

In an age where 大象传媒 news coverage can be viewed across the world via both TV and the web, it is vital that the story of Madeleine remains at the forefront of any news coverage until the case is resolved. If there is a chance, however slight, that someone watching TV or viewing the web has vital information that they will be prompted to come forward with, through this "absurdly over the top" media coverage, then it must be worth it.

I am saddended by some of the replies on this page, and hope and pray that the people writing these comments never find themselves in the position that Madeleine's parents find themselves.

Mine and my families prayers are with Madeleine and her family that they will be safely reunited very soon.

Just how dare anyone complain about too much coverage of any child who goes missing. Children are innocent and deserve our protection and as much help as we can give to find her/them. Any parent who has lost sight of a child in a supermarket has just a little idea of what you go through when a child disappears for just a few minutes, so heaven alone knows what Madeleine's parents are suffering. I can only think the person who complained that there is too much news coverage does not have children of his own. If he did, and this had happened to one of his, he would be the first to want the world to help with the finding.
Every prayer and every pair of eyes looking can only help. My heart goes out to Madeleine's family.

I may agree that the media coverage was extensive but I assume that this was their response to the great public interest. If, for example, Gordon Brown's election as a leader of the Labours received around 100 thousand hits in the TIMES web site and Madleine's disappearence received around 500 thousand for the same period of time, then it's the public that in this case has set the priorities. Now it's up to sociologists/psychologists to explain the phonomenon.

PLS KEEP ON TALKING ABOUT THIS LITTLE GIRL UNTIL SHE IS FOUND, SO EVERYBODY GETS TO HEAR THE STORY AND WOULD REMAIN IN THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE ALL AROUND. LITTLE GIRL NEEDS THE HELP OF EVERYBODY. NOTHING IS IMPORTANT THAN A LIFE OF A PRECIOUS LITTLE ONE, PLS.. PEOPLE THINK IF IT S UR OWN CHILD HOW WOULD U WANT THE MEDIA TO REACT.

I haven't really watched the news for the past couple of weeks because of the dominance of this story. I've been using the internet to pick and choose from stories that are more important and interesting. Its not that I'm insensitive to this case, its just that I dont think this one case is more important than the hundreds of people who have gone missing since this case started.

Every now and then the media here whip up the public into a mass hysteria. The people that buy into it are to blame as well for sure, but I really hope that the 大象传媒 will be above any sensationalist, disproportionate and poor journalism. Please show the other news organisations the way.

In response to Sean Kelly's comment (17), what Tony Blair or Gordon Brown has to say concerning events such as those in Iraq is more important than the coverage of this poor girl as what they say has a direct effect on the thousands of British personnel putting their lives on the line in the 'service of their country', needless to say the tens-of-thousands of Iraqi lives which are effected by the words of the PM and the PM elect.

It seems that Kevin manipulates stance to suit his arguement rather than evaluating it from a far. Yes, the coverage is disproportionate to the grandure of the story in world terms, even at country level. Dafur countinues with maybe one story a month (if that) but the media decides that it is not a news worthy event, so it doesn't get reported because NOTHING is being done about it. Likewise, NOTHING has happened in the case apart from a media witch hunt and likewise should only be reported on when something happens!! This is not to say I don't want the safe return of her or anybody to their loved ones

Why why why? Why the constand coverage of Madeleine? Why is she so special? 450 children have gone missing in the UK since her dissapearance, yet not one second of airtime and not one inch of newspaper columns has been devoted to any of them. I'm sure their parents are going through hell and want the children to be found, yet their cries fall on deaf ears. All the time & attention focused on Madeleine should be taken away and moved to these other cases instead. Madeleine no longer needs the publicity- we're all aware of the story, we all know what she looks like, and there is no news.

Other children have gone missing in the past when media have "given up" on them and stop highlighting the efforts to find them. And what happens ? They disappear for good. Some turn up many years later like the girl in Austria. Had the media kept up the publicity back then, she may have been found far sooner.
I applaud Madeleine's family in England, publicity is the only hope of getting her back. I really hope there is a happy outcome to this and that she is found safe and well.

I applaud the manner in which the 大象传媒 has handled this very sensitive news item. As someone who has no time (or desire) to read newspapers I rely upon the 大象传媒 to stay informed of news events. I applaud the fact that the 大象传媒 have managed to refrain from 'sensationalising' as many other channels have shown a want to do. There is nothing sensational about this case, it is simply very very sad for Maddies parents, extremely upsetting for the rest of her family and hugely worrying for any other parent.
I dread the day when this story is no longer hitting the headlines and Maddie still hasn't been found because that'll be the day when we, the general public, start to forget about her and they, her kidnappers, breathe easy because they'll know that they have gotten away with this treacherous act.
So please 大象传媒, follow your conscience and keep the plight of this little girl at the front of all your headlines until she comes home.

If it was your child missing, you would want to maintain the public profile.

That said, I accept there is scope to do it in a more focussed way that doesn't pad things out.

I think overall, the 大象传媒 have performed a valuable service

So you're going to persist with this mawkish, prurient, tragedy porn because you haven't had enough complaints to start acting like a proper, responsible news organisation? Fine. I wasn't aware that I had to complain to get you to do your job properly, but in that case, please consider this another complaint.

I've found your reporting to be of no value, unquestioning, and often quite offensive, in particular some of the early reporting on Today, of all programmes, where the gross incompetence of the Portuguese police was routinely trotted out as a given, and airtime was given over to wild, delusional ramblings about gangs of child-snatching gypsies roaming Europe, which were allowed to go unchallenged. Even in the context, I was astonished that such unsubstantiated drivel was passed without so much as a whimper.

Sadly, you seem to have fallen into the trap of assuming that it must be a story, because everyone else is covering it constantly. It isn't. It's a missing girl, who might or might not have been kidnapped - the sort of thing which happens all the time. This is only news because the girl's pretty, the McCanns are sufficiently media-savvy to make it a story, and lots of journalists spotted a mediterranean break on expenses.

If you were doing your job properly, you might be asking what purpose the enormous fund set up by the McCanns is supposed to serve; whether it's a proportionate response to a single missing child, when the sum collected could be used to find many more missing children who haven't been the focus of worldwide attention; and particularly whether the McCanns' behaviour in leaving their children alone would have been glossed over, as it clearly has, if they weren't attractive middle-class professionals, who are adeptly controlling the media. As this would take courage, which is apparently surplus to requirements at the post-Hutton Beeb, I'd settle for reporting proper news instead of this travesty.

This is my greatest concern - it seems that, in the absence of routine press briefings from the police which are the norm in the UK, you have nothing to report at all. Far from letting that stop you, it seems to have fed the story even more, as lazy journalists turn to spoon-fed statements from the McCanns to fill the airwaves. This achieves nothing except fuelling an entirely synthetic, vicarious sense of loss, throwing petrol on the flames of this abject non-story. Lord Reith must be turning in his grave.

The only thing that can be said in the 大象传媒's favour is that your reporting has generally been less ludicrously speculative and libellous than most of the rest of the "Mainstream Media". This is most definitely faint praise, though. Sadly, it seems that you've learnt absolutely nothing in the 10 years since every programme was filled with public displays of emotional incontinence after Diana died.

(For the record, I have a son, who I wouldn't leave unattended in a strange house at that age. And call me old-fashioned, but if he did ever go missing, for whatever reason, I wouldn't expect the whole of Europe and beyond to be mobilised to look for one child.)

A minute's silence. I have no idea why. Yes I feel like a heel for mentioning it, but neither the family nor this poor child have done anything of note, to even consider a minute's silence, least of all by a whole country.

A lad, in Blackpool, has just died from a stab wound. If this had happened in a foreign country, would we all be up in arms demanding to know who did it and why? Probably not. As it is, we'd probably decide he'd done something to warrant it, and not give one minute's thought, let alone silence, for the rest of his family. And I shouldn't think everyone would suddenly start wearing yellow ribbons.

I find it hypocritical. All child crime is evil. Be it perpetrated by 'adults' or 'children'. Let the police get on with their jobs and stop perpetuating the myth that because it is all over the news, everyone cares more about one thing than another.

I do hope Madeliene returns to her parents safely. I think it is a real shame that the lad in Blackpool, won't.

To those who say we need to keep her face in the news: What real good will that do now? We've had it burned onto our consciences day after day for three weeks - those who can't remember what she looks like now probably never will. The coverage is getting perverse, with anyone who stands to gain jumping on the bandwagon, and it's our willingness to denounce anyone who tries to bring a shred of perspective to proceedings that's keeping it that way.

i think the story for missing madeleine, should continue full pelt ahead, and should never be dropped, untill she comes home again. Her parents have no button to just flick over a channel and move on, they cant just switch off, other people can if they get bored, but no one should complain to any parent, who wont give up the fight for the right to have their child back home where they belong. A child is priceless to any caring parent, and nothing in this world will stop them looking for her, i just hope they find her. I thought i read somewhere that madeleine had a bleeding iris, if this is true this hould be made VERY public as it could be used in a discription for her, and people would make an effort to look more closely at a child abroad.

The big difference with this news story is that the public have a big part to play in a possible happy ending. I feel sorry for the complainers that there weren't enough bad news stories elsewhere in the world to entertain them, on the days they accuse the 大象传媒 of "over coverage", but if there's one thing that could bring a happy ending to this truly awful situation, it's members of the public being aware of the kidnap and being confident enough to report any sightings. Keep it in the public eye as long as possible please, and let's take this rare opportunity to pull together as a community.

I agree that the coverage has been frenzied and disproportionate. Whilst any one with children can understand the parents wanting to do everything in their power to find the child, one does wonder if two people on benefit had gone to Spain , would there have been such a frenzy, or a massive fund established?Would they not be greeted by a committe of social workers on return? The question last night about ' what would Mr McCann be doing in the UK in the 24 hour visit?' was simply inane- it is as if we have a need to eat,sleep, walk with these people. What will happen when the media circus departs- and the Mark Warner complex offering the staff counselling- we need to see things in proportion again. It has all stemmed from Diana- the 'lay flowers,cry a lot ' that went on then. Children go missing every day .But so many parents must be feeling ignored.

All the points have already been well made. If there is genuine news on this story, then by all means report it. But keep it in perspective - this is something that is a worrying and increasing trend of the media in the last 15 years or so. Stories which are perceived as popular are overblown and kept artifically in the public eye in order to generate their own interests.

Therefore, it is pretty hypocritical for the media to say - as they always do - we are meeting the public demand. No, you are not. If your coverage of this was extensive for the first three or four days, then eased off signficantly, this would be fair enough. However, you know full well that this is not the case. You are feeding the frenzy with overextensive coverage, then holding your hands up in mock horror and saying "We are only meeting the public demand".

And in reply to those people who say "if this was my child etc" or "we must keep this in the public eye for Madeleine's sake". You obviously don't understand the role of news media. It is not - as some people and worryingly some commentators seem to think - to provide a public information/crime solving service. It is to report the news.

And before there are any posts accusing me of being heartless for not caring about her - this is nothing to do with it. I sympathise with anyone in their situation - but I want to hear some of the other events that are going on elsewhere in the world and which are in some cases more significant.

For example, Paul Wolfowitz and the World Bank was mentioned. This is a genuine story which was not given the prominence that it deserved because it happened to clash with this story.

There are some people who are trying to turn the media into a soap opera. If you are looking for this, watch EastEnders - the job of the news is to provide an objective coverage of the news events of the day.

I want to see a truly international news media service telling me the events of the day - not a public information body telling me what I can do to help this case. There are plenty of websites and information hotlines that are already fulfilling this role.

You attempt to refute Jenkins' assertion that coverage of Madeleine's disappearance led the 6 o' clock news ahead of Gordon Brown by pointing out that Gordon Brown led on Thursday.
You're being incredibly selective in order to give a false impression. Jenkins said that Madeleine "regularly led", not that "Madeleine always led". One counter example doesn't mean that a trend is mistaken.

The 大象传媒 comes in for criticism and what's the response? Subtly distort what's actually been said it an attempt to refute it. Come on 大象传媒 reporters! You can do better...can't you?

This story has received so much coverage because Madeleine has come to represent what we as parents fear the most about our children. The number of people who have begun their message with "I have a daughter/son...and I cant imagine what you're going through..." sums up the experience for most of us. It doesnt diminish the value of other children who are not covered but I cant help thinking to myself of the times when I've left my son locked in a B&B room to have dinner downstairs (with a baby monitor). "There but for the grace of God go I".

When I get up I want to hear if she has been found, when I go to bed I want to know where she is, I want more coverage not less until she is found. She is the daughter I never had and I am damned if someone is going to stop me hearing about her until she is found.

If this was a case of a single mum of 20 going out clubbing one night leaving 3 young children 'home alone' she would be ripped to pieces by the media. the word 'neglect' springs to mind.

whilst my heart goes out to Madelines family they are guilty of neglect.

The media coverage of this is totally over the top in my opinion and as for the mention this morning of a minutes silence at 12pm, do me a favour!

It shocks and upsets me that so many have complained about excessive coverage. I have a 4yr old grand daughter and feel like many others who have written that 'there for the grace of God go I' I hope I never become so cynical and unfeeling. I feel very sad for some of the people who have e-mailed in. I hope they never find themselves in this sort of situation. Please keep the little girl and her family in the public eye.

I feel i should elaborate more on my previous post (which has not been published)

if this had happened here in the uk except it was a 20 year old single mother from a rundown council estate who went out for a jolly one night leaving her 3 kids aged under 5 home alone and her front door unlocked she would be absolutely slated in the media for neglect and it would be 'all her fault'.

so why are the mccans any different? they are guilty of neglect.

im not saying i dont feel sorry for them but their sheer stupidity has lead to this.

however, madeline is a very photogenic child and this whole media frenzy has been orchestrated from the very start. each day we receive little or no news but are subjected to a constant barrage of new photographs of madeline looking cute. i wonder if the coverage would be this great if the missing child was not so photogenic and cute?

that and the fact that the Mccann's are above us mere mortals of the working class, they are seen as loving parents who can do no wrong. however they did do wrong.

there are more things going on in the world than a missing child. we do not need to be constantly reminded that there is a missing child and no number of people wearing yellow ribbons and saying 'they feel they know the parents' is going to bring the girl back.

people need to stop jumping on the 'diana-esque' bandwagons created by media overhype.

and this mornings mention of a minutes silence today (on GMTV) was even enough to make my other half groan.

I don't think there has been too much coverage about this story - perhaps too much speculation. If everybody is to remember that this child is missing, we need to make sure they remember what she looks like. When the odds are stacked so heavily against a parent, you will do anything you can if it will bring back your child. We are all bored with Tony Brown and the fact that Gordon Brown Prime Minister story was not headline news is obvious - we already new the outcome. If constant media coverage brings Maddie back to her parents, then please keep going.

You've probably done this analysis yourselves, but I've been through each of the 115 (to date) comments, and my reckoning is that, in relation to your coverage, and that of the media generally, there are:-

47 in favour
53 against
15 neutral/non-committal

However, it has to be said that all (bar perhaps one) of the comments in favour of the media approach concern themselves TOTALLY with this case. Their general drift is how anyone can dispute that it is right to go to any length to bring back Madeleine to her parents, and how can it be wrong for the parents to be given such mass popular support. And of course it does sound unreasonable to go against this.

But what they do not consider is that all this exposure has caused millions and millions of man-hours to be spent focusing on this very sad situation, really to very little effect, and that these man-hours have not just appeared out of thin air - they have been created by people substituting thinking about Madeleine for thinking about something else. And, whilst it's possible to argue that none of this "other" thought would have been in any way beneficial to society, it's certainly not possible to prove this so. It's also possible to argue that it is a very sick and self-satisfied society that has as an acceptable standard a situation where millions of hours of human thought is expended in a totally useless and purposeless way.

I wish more of the population were able to consider principles, not just specific happenings. Simon Jenkins' article concerned the PRINCIPLE of so much media and public attention being devoted to a case SUCH AS Madeleine's. For the counter argument to be concerned SOLELY with Madeleine's case means that the discussion is not being carried out in the same arena. Those who support the Madeleine coverage should consider that dozens of Madeleine-type happenings occur every day. Each one of them, if given the same degree of coverage as has Madeleine, would generate a similar amount of public emotion and attention. It will always be possible to make people feel sad, because in life sad things happen, and are happening all the time. Does a mature population really consider that it's socially healthy for us all to spend most of our time in contrived negative emotion, our attention focused on whichever sad or cruel story happens to have been chosen to be the headline at the time?

Of course we must keep talking about Madeleine - of course there are countless other issues in the world - but some just touch people's deep inherent feelings more personally than others - and this is one of them.

I have only read the last 10 or so postings form the 100+ that are on here, but most seem to be quite scathing of the coverage. I have been watching News 24 for quite a while now; not particularly for news of Madeleine McCann, but for Alan Johnston. The news of his kidnapping seemed to dominate the 大象传媒 for some considerable time but seems to be getting less and less now as there appear to have been no new developments. If poor little Madeleine is not found soon, the coverage will inevitably wane.
There are many tragedies occurring in the World at present but the disappearance of these two people strikes a chord with the UK public because they are the UK public. Not every tragic story can be covered, and I do not blame the 大象传媒 or the press for concentrating on Madeleine McCann. Publicity could prove to be useful in this case, and Alan's, and these two unfortunate incidents could serve to remind us all that there is a bigger World out there.

Madeliene is important because she is white, middle class, has blonde hair and blue eyes. She is one of 'us' (although she is not one of me, because I am not white). If Madeleine was an Arab, or black, or Asian, no-one would care. The media should at least be honest about this.

I don't have access to 大象传媒 television, but often check the 大象传媒 world website for updates on Madeleine. It has not seemed 'oversaturated' to me. In spite of the fact that there were many other stories on the front page, I read about Madeleine first. I fear that many people fail to see the monumental significance of this event. In this day & age of advanced technology, medical breakthroughs, space exploration etc, life has never been so good for the 'human condition' in general. So quite rightly, people are finally saying ENOUGH is ENOUGH. We will no longer sit back while our innocent children are abducted. Any thoughts, action or news story that helps to keep focus on Madeleine's abduction is surely a good thing. Political drama and catastrophes will always be there. Protecting our innocents (& future generation) should be a top priority. How would any of these dissenters feel if they were abucted as a child, and their disappearance moved to page 12 shortly thereafter ?

Looks like there's more than ten complaints today, eh, Mr. Editor? (And what is the heck is an "audience log"? Why don't you provide a link to somewhere where we can give our feedback about the coverage, whether it be this "log" or otherwise?)

Add my vote to those who think that there's been too much coverage, and there is a massive inequity between the amount of time given to this poor girl and other stories of missing British children, let alone those across the world. Not that'll it make any difference.

I am so tired of the media coverage about this. I am heart sorry for the family, but also bewildered by their actions...what on earth are they trying to achieve with this constant bombardment of news items apart from a mountain of false leads? Can their actions seriously help find their daughter? And what will all the money raised actually be used for?

Please please can we stop reacting to all this...I would not have believed how easy it is to manipulate the national media.

While "surfing" and as a regular reader of the 大象传媒 news website, I was amazed (and not a little saddened) by some of the comments from your correspondents. As a regular viewer of other news channels I don't believe that you have overkilled on this subject, in fact it seems to me that if the British media doesn't keep up the pressure, the Portuguese police will just file this one, as they seem to have with all the other missing children. Some people will complain about anything, looking on the bright side, thank goodness I don't work or live alongside such unpleasant people.

I have a young daughter and obviously I would be devasted if she were snatched from myself and my partner.

However it strikes me that because this little girl is of an affluent middle class background, and taken from a better than average holiday resort it becomes the whole nations number one focus.

As posts before have stated men, women and children from much less 'comfortable' environments and upbringings experience tragedy and heartache and the media, celebrity circus and general public do so little to help.

I hope that this young girl is returned to her family but surely the focus and energy being spent on relaying and supporting this story could be focused elsewhere to help many many more worthy causes.

This is certainly a very sad occurrence, but I also feel that there is too much media coverage. Madeline's disappearance was newsworthy; it is rare that young children are abducted by strangers, and an appeal for information could be useful. However, it is not news to continually report on how well the parents are coping and what their movements are day-to-day, and to mention statements from the police that there is no progress.

While I of course hope that she is found safely, I'm not certain what practical purpose further 'Find Madeline' campaigns and media attention in the UK serves. She did not disappear in the UK, and it is extremely unlikely that she is going to be found in the UK (it is probably the one country that a kidnapper would be least likely to take her!). I feel like these campaigns are trying to make me feel partially responsible for not having found her yet, despite my never having been to Portugal and certainly not having seen her. Wearing ribbons and making statements about how sorry you feel is also not going to change the outcome in the slightest.

I'm sure that everyone who's ever likely to in the UK now knows about Madeline. We should just let the police do their job, and the media should report again when there is progress to be reported.

Please, don't stop writing about this case. The world cannot have come to being so cold that we let this pass and forget about it like it wouldn't matter. Of course it will be easier to find the girl if media helps holding the case in our minds.

I have a little daughter who looks very much like Madeline. I have been appalled by her abduction and feel very much that this could have happened to any one of us. I admire the way that the McCann family are handling this whole affair. They are doing all they can, so if their worst nightmares are realised, at least they did all that they could.
I appreciate that this family's tragedy is very newsworthy. And whilst I tune in every day, hoping against hope that there is some good news, the snippets of no news is really too much. It's almost like a cynical media ploy to keep us coming back for more. But then, with the popularity of reality TV, is this just another version of it with a family's tragedy at the centre of it?

What a surprise. You didn't "approve" my comment highlighting your twisting of the facts in order to put down Simon Jenkins.

I had to smile when I read Dev Null's posting 111. Most of the "news" on the 大象传媒 currently is not factual at all, but speculation on what is going to or might happen later that day, or tomorrow, or next week. We might as well have Mystic Meg reading the news.

Then, of course, when something actually has happened, the machine goes into overdrive, droves of reporters are despatched, and the event fills the news for as long as the 大象传媒 thinks the audience will stand it.

The fundamental problem is too many journalists chasing too few stories, trying to fill the 大象传媒 schedules 24 hours a day. How many times is the news broadcast by the 大象传媒 every day, over its various outlets? Whatever the number, in my view it's far too high.

I think that the media coverage MAdeline is getting is great. But The media should take this opportunity to refresh the people's memory on other missing children while they are at it.

I would be interested to see how this would have been approached if the story concerned an unemployed single parent out for dinner while his/her children were left alone, rather than attractive medical professionals.

This is the media gone mad, 70,000 children go missing in the Uk every year but do you see constant news coverage of them no. Because normally none of you could give a damn.

People only feel bad about this little girl because the media is telling them that is how they should feel. I was one of those missing children once and there was no 24 hour news coverage for me, no constant headlines in the papers.

This case is nothing compared to the rest of the worlds children who suffer everyday, from traffickers, pimps, wars, starvation, drought. Do I see the same outcry for these children no. I don't and that is where the true shame lies.

The only people who should dealing with this are Madelines parents, who should have never left her or her siblings alone for no matter how short a time, they as Doctors should know how little time is required for a child to come to harm. And they are now helping spin the media machine.

I rather think that you hit the nail on the head in your attempt to argue your point. "In order to provide coverage around the clock for Breakfast, 大象传媒 World, 大象传媒 News 24, the One, Six and Ten O'Clock News and Newsnight..."

That's the whole problem, it is around the clock, you cant get away from it. An in an attempt to keep up with other round the clock news companies you treat any rumour as concrete fact. News coverage of this type does more harm than good, you should think about the impact this kind of coverage could have on any possible criminal trials. In other words, less is more!

The media coverage is embarrassing 鈥� the Dianafication of this event is detracting from what should be one family鈥檚 private grief.

We鈥檝e all been dragged through weeks of 鈥淭he Search for Madeleine鈥� even though very few of us could ever offer any real information or even knew the family.

The British media has turned her parents into celebrities and Madeleine into a franchise, and frankly, it looks incredibly tacky.

Has Britain lost its sense of dignity? Must we all be forced to watch endless hours of 鈥淏reaking News鈥� consisting of teary eyed strangers going on about how sad it is a little girl is missing...

I thought Britain was made of tougher stuff than this鈥�

It seems that many complainers of the coverage are missing a vital point. Yes, many children go missing every day, and many die in war torn countries! But in the main, the reason/s for their sad demise can be identified (e.g. victim of bomb explosion). That is not to say there is any justification for their deaths or disappearances - they are all tragic cases. However, Madeleine is one of our own, so the British media coverage will always be greater. But the main issue is: who has perpetrated this crime? Sadly, the most likely culprit or culprits is either a paedophile or paedophile ring, or a kidnap organisation supplying demand for a child. These crimes should not be allowed to fade from the media attention until the people involved are caught and brought to justice! The world today is dangerous enough, and we should not ignore cases such as this!

In reply to simon Jenkins, you said:

"I'm sure he would also recognise that in order to provide coverage around the clock for Breakfast, 大象传媒 World, 大象传媒 News 24, the One, Six and Ten O'Clock News and Newsnight, as well as to gather news and report from at least two locations in the Algarve, that TV News needs rather more than the three people he outlines."

This would be all very well if there were any actual news to report. But there isn't. It's all very sad and all but there is only so much desperate filling that you can take before you start to do what I do now and switch off the news in irritation for a couple of minutes until it's finished.

Idon't think people should complain about too much coverage. If it helps alert people and find out what happenned to Maddy then its worth it. Crime watch has a high success rate because of visual media.
Its a must that we find out what happnenned to Maddy and try to put a stop to hideous crimes against children.

Seeing and reading all that been put in front of us to date does cause concern. My concern is for the many before that have gone missing, been abused or miss-treated. Should there not be some balance and perhaps use this impetus to increase awareness?

As others have said, I really hope Madeline is found and my sympathy goes out to the family. I think the level of reporting has been over the top, but I don't blame the parents for using every contact they can. Madeline of course is now their top priority, if not at the time they left her. However, few are prepared to name the elephant in the room and debate the issues of parental responsibility, and be seen to criticise the parents for leaving all three of their children unsupervised and alone. I wonder what other issues may have been debated if the family were from a disadvantaged or minority background.

As for the level of reporting by the 大象传媒, I would have liked to have seen equal weight and prominence given to their own correspondant, Mike Thomson's report from Eastern Congo and the tragedies that are happening there every day to children. The report by a mother on how she witnessed 2 of her 3 children murdered by the Hutu militia, then was forced to hang her own baby, was the most distressing account I have heard. (/radio4/today/reports/international/congo2_20070504.shtml) I wished as a nation we had matched the energy we have given to Madeline, to help these children.

I too am curious why you should dispatch newsreaders such as Jane Hill whom I like very much, , to Portugal. why do you send John Sople as well, I think I am right, where then is Lyse Doucet, Orla Guerin, and all the other corespondents who seem to appear when a very important world event occurs then presumably they are sent back into retirement?? ( forgive my slight cynicism, but what do these correpsondent do with their time when they are not seen on television?) it does seem like jobs for the boys, however your coverage is quite excellent, and you have my respect and gratitude for this, it is an appalling story to listen to, heartbreaking. but I think Simon Jenkins has a point to some extent.

Like Alan Addison, I find the 大象传媒's coverage of this story mawkish, unnecessary, and way over the top.
A superb example of media management by Madeleine McCann's parents, of course; but the 大象传媒 really shouldn't have fallen for it in such a big way.

I am rather dismayed by reading the comments of those who firstly claim that they feel for the McCann family yet wish that there was less coverage of this case. It's rather like giving someone a compliment whilst punching them in the face.

How can people claim to have compassion yet not want the press to do as much as they can to help. It seems like the ultimate contradiction. Yes, there are many many important issues in the world. But why do we have to limit ourselves - anyone interested in the news will be up-to-date with developments across the continents. Maybe it would be different if our resources were low, but I really don't feel that this is the case.

And finally, to all those people who have been complaining about all the coverage, how can you still wish her a happy return when clearly awareness is required. If she is found, due to a person recognising her in the papers, can you still stay there was too much coverage?

Maybe my expectations of people are just too high.

This emotional outpouring for Madelaine reminds me of the death Princess Diana. Then I was astonished at the public reaction, the depth of sadness and how long the mourning continued.

People question why Madelaine has caught the imagination of the public, when this is just one instance of the abductions, death, famine, starvation, disease and disaster that we see everyday through the fast-moving media bandwagon.

Are people are generally unhappy, unfulfilled, un-needed and finding it difficult to live up to the expections of body beautiful (rising obesity), nice house (reposessions and high interest rates), successful career (who loves their job?) and happy family (!!).

We deal with these personal problems without the traditional close knit family or religious support structure that underpinned us during difficult times in the past.

Why are we a Prozac Nation?

This unhappiness needs an outlet - Princess Diana and now Madelaine allow people a public opportunity to show their general malaise.

Well, that's my take on it.
One thing is for sure, the media have an opportunity to become a positive force by ensuring that Madelaine Mc Cann's abduction stays in the public view and works towards bringing this episode to a happy and successful conclusion.

People may berate the fact that so much airtime is given to Madelaine;
others complain about too much football on TV. Such moaning is just another way of displaying the deeper unhappiness in people's lives.

This may only be one child, but I predict that her successful recovery will spark a global reaction.

I don't think there is anyone who doesn't want the little girl to turn up safe and well.

However, if you watch the news you would believe that Madeleine McCann is the only child to have gone missing this year.

However, this year I have seen posters for other missing children in super-markets. The very fact that I can't even remember what these children looked like let alone their names is clear evidence that this case is getting more coverage then is usual for this type of case.

What is most ironic is that this is a case where we are less likely to see the missing child because she wasn't taken from this country. I also suspect that if she had been taken in this country the news reports would not be as delicate when it comes to reporting that the parents left their children alone to go out for the night.

i am only a twelve year old girl from derby and when i found out about madeline i was totally shoked and at my school im trying to do a fun run to raise money.Never stop trying .i also need to ask how would send money to the mCann family and something tells me she is still alive

I completely agree that this coverage has been disproportionate in the importance it has been given.

Britain, please stop holding your breath on this issue and move on. It is very similar to the time when the country lost it's marbles over Diana in 1997, at least that only lasted a fortnight.

I feel the media are slowly trying to distance themselves from this issue and probably all fee a bit silly for the hysteria they whipped up.

The coverage is indeed over the top.

Avoided the obvious statement I will carry on.

People go missing every year and judging by the figures everyday. I find that this is simply due to her being a cute 3/4 year old girl.

Teenagers and adults do not seem to produce the same mass-sympathy reaction that young children do so do not make good news.

The one thing that the McCanns seem to have is a strong faith and regularly pray for their daughters return...I do wonder whether they also ask Our God why he let her get takne in the first place. Possibly due to the fatc that he expects some personal responsibility from people.

I will also say that I find it ironic that you have an Alan Johnston banner at the top of the page who has gone missing while reporting from a dangerous part of the world with great bravery trying to show how the population over there are suffering.

If the media gave him the level of exposure they are giving Madeleine McCann the global pressure might have become large enough to secure a release. But then Alan is a balding middle age bloke.

It's difficult to comprehend the selfish heartlessness of those complaining about the amount of coverage on missing Madelaine McCann. The fact remains, she is still missing and whilst there is any chance that she can be found alive then every effort should be made to maintain a high profile for the story.

Sure a balance must be struck and to this end the decisions taken by the 大象传媒 should be applauded in so far as they resist the gutter media modus operandae and only present 'news' when there is 'news'. As a devout atheist I have no god as such to pray to but I can still hope and employ my positive consciousness towards a favourable resolution and hope Madelaine is found safe and soon.

First, I am from the US and I don't normally even log into the 大象传媒 site, but since little Maddie has been in the news I check your website daily to see if (hopefully) she has been found alive and well. I do not believe you should ever stop airing her story until she is found dead or alive. Children are our most important resource, far more important than any President or other person seeking 15 minutes of fame.

little madeleine is only a baby .snatched from her bed while asleep waking up to find a complete stranger standing over her,how dare people think the coverage should move on,she is still out there,some brainless idiot has stolen her, if it were your'e child would you want the publicity that would hopefully get her back taken away? i think not
what a sick society we must live in if that is what we think.the publicity for madeleine must remain she needs her mummy and daddy for gods sake she is only a baby! and an innocent one!!

News coverage about Maddie must still continue everyday. If people worldwide are not repeatedly informed about the abduction and have their memories refreshed with pictures of Maddie then how is anyone going to find her? We need to broadcast photos and information so the world can keep an eye out and working together we can find her!

Anyone who would complain about too much coverage on the abduction of a 4 year old child, especially as she slept under the guise of safety, must have a heart made of stone. Your mothers certainly would not be very proud of you. If Madeleine's story is not kept alive in the media....what are the chances of her safe recovery??? Make people aware and keep the story alive is of the utmost importance and this is an ongoing awareness....not just for the story of the day. You heartless heart of stones....think if this was your child? I wonder what you would be saying then? Forget that....you probably wouldn't care. How could you when you don't have a heart. How dare you. Shame on all of you. This is a 4 year old child. Think about how heartless you sound.

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

Rae Martin

I think many of those who are complaining about the media coverage for madeleine are overlooking the fact that this child is not simply missing. She did not wander off at the zoo, or disappear with a non-custodial parent. She was taken from her hotel room by a stranger in the night. Stranger abductions are not nearly as common as many of you seem to imply, and in most cases (in Canada anyway) if there is a known child abduction by a stranger, we are inundated with stories as well - and rightfully so!!! While I certainly agree that there are many other children who could benefit from this amount of press coverage, I don't think you should be holding that against Madeleine or her family. If it were your child, wouldn't you want as much air time as you could get?

It seems to me that the main point is
missed, young children should not be left alone. I have discussed this with friends here in France & without
exception all are of the same opinion.
Casting my mind back to many incidents in the past there are many
cases of houses going on fire &
children burnt to death while the
parent(s) are in the pub or such like,
in all these cases all we here is
great outpourings of sympathy, which
is of cource understandable, BUT there
is never any criticism of the parents
for leaving the kid(s) alone.
I think the law in the UK is that
children under the age of 14 shld not
be left alone, is anyone aware of
that ? as its never mentioned perhaps
people are not aware.
I do hope Madelaine is found safe &
well, but someone should put this
sorry situation in perspective.

I was saddened to read that some people, including someone as notable as Simon Jenkins in THE GUARDIAN feels the Madeleine McCann reports are overdone. How anybody (except perhaps somebody who has no children, or even worse, dislikes children, cannot feel deep sorrow at the fate of this innocent little girl is beyond me! PLEASE, please 大象传媒 keep on airing the Madeleine situation for as long as it takes, so that the poor little child is found either alive, or tragically, dead. Anyone who comparres the situation of the missing journalist with Madeleine clearly does not see the difference. He chose to go out to a highly dangerous part of the world, while she was a little, innocent child on holiday who was snatched from her bed. Absolutely NO comparison.

i may only be 16 years old and many people will disgard my comment, for the fact i am a teenager. but seeing maddie on the news has really made me angry. how can anyone do something like this? and typically the media is try to steer away from the subject. well to be honest, i dont think maddie should be taken off untill we find her, whats the point in giving up hope when there is the chance we will find her. if people want to give up then fine, but most of our nation WILL hold their breaths, i will, princess diana is still remembered and the nation still think about her SO DONT STOP THINKING ABOUT MADDIE!!!!

What is the problem with madeleine's dissapearance receiving so much coverage!! Who could begrudge this of any Family in their situation.

Certainly it has raised awareness that there are children suffering at the hands of peodophiles, child abuse and simply deprevation all over the world. Maybe this is not a bad thing. Perhaps more childrens charities will profit due to peoples raised compassion.

Having 2 children myself i cannot bear to imagine the fear that Madeleine and her family have suffered.

God bless them.

Katie. N. Ireland

Everyone recognises that this is a very, very sad situation. The McCann's have the intellect, contacts and financial resources allowing them to promote their cause as effectively as they have and no-one would deny them that. Indeed if my child went missing, I too would want and encourage as much awareness as I could using whatever means available. However, I do feel sorry for those thousands of parent's who have not been as fortunate in receiving so much support and publicity.
I pray for the safe return of Madeline, but I also pray for those other children who are just as precious and deserving but who have not had any media exposure. Personally I feel more even-handed and representative reporting is appropriate.

I think that we should know about Madelaine McCann and I am constantly checking the news about it. having said this I have to agree with others when they say that there are many other children and older people who are missing so why don't we hear about them or atleast hear how they coped with the situation.

Please keep up the good work, please mention Madeleine at least once a day - I won't settle until she is found my heart goes out to her and her family.

Not every individual in these tragic circumstances would welcome all the publicity that Madeleine's family have received, but that's the individual's concern. Times have changed since the other high profile cases, I won't mention names as the families concerned are obviously going through enough painful reminders at the moment, but the more support people show hopefully might act as a deterrent to future kidnappers.

Love & kisses to Madeleine
xxxxxx

What has happened to the McCanns is unfortunate and I really hope she is found, but i find it odd that such media coverage has been given to this one girl who's been missing for 15 days, i'm sure if there was half as much media coverage for people missing in THIS country a good deal of them would have been found. I also question the true intentions of the media with this story, for instance alan johnston has also been missing in a foreign country for more than two months now, is his life worth less?!

"Madeleine's disappearance, the story is still resulting in very high news audiences."

Err Kevin Bakhurst, one of the main reasons it is resulting in high news audiences is because the media, the 大象传媒 included have whipped up this story to such a frenzy in the first place. You may think there are only a handful of people who think the media coverage has been blown way out of proportion in relation to the actual importance of the story, but I can assure you that many many people are atually of the same opinion, you only have to read through the comments here or do a quick Google search to find that out.
Although your competitors Sky and ITV
News have been far worse than the 大象传媒
on their blanket coverage of largely non-news from Portugal and passing it off as the day's top story.
On the day that 25 innocent people were killed in Pakistan by a terrorist bomb, what was your top story(also ITV and SkyNews)?... "No new developments in the Madeleine case," yes lets go live to Portugal to hear from our correspondent about this all important story! What about the fact that 700 children in the UK have been reported missing since Madeleine disappeared? Didn't see any of their cases getting even a fleeting mention let alone a top story slot for the best part of 2 weeks.
I really hope Madeleine is found alive and well soon, but to all the British media, including the 大象传媒.
SNAP OUT OF IT! give me back some REAL news and not this media hysteria that you have managed to get the nation hooked on!

Madeline dissappearence is of course distressing but i do agree at the amount of coverage she is reciving is huge. this is good and bad. good because it might even get her back but bad because why should this child in particular get so much attention and other cases not. also the 'madeline fund' is going to support the parents and finance lawyers. it should be financing huge searches etc. also, why can't people donate money for the suffering cancer patients having to pay 拢3000 every six weeks for drugs to keep them alive?
people need to re think the persepctive even though i and the rest of the world hope madeline returns home safely

Hello I just want to say that i think u should carry on looking for madeline until you find her!!! no matter what the police should not stop looking for the little girl.!! i hope she is found i feel so sorry for her please carry on looking her for please!! thnk you

It is horrid what has happened to this little girl. But we have to keep things in perspective. Many children go missing every day, many children in Irak die every day, why is this little girl different? Where are the wealthy people who give money for the children of the poor?
We should also keep in mind that sometimes the law is actually very wise, if in the UK it is illegal to leave children under a certain age unattended, it's precisely to avoid situations like this.
I wished that the media also informed of the legal consequences of leaving children unattended. What message is the media sending, that it is okay to leave young children on their own? That is very irresponsible.

Kevin Bakhurst - Comment 191

So what do you have to say to the dozens of people who have written in deploring the PRINCIPLE of this coverage? Why do you display, like seemingly the majority of the population, a total incapability of considering something in an abstract way?

If you were to say to us "I don't give a xxxx about the social rights and wrongs of this; my job is to give the public what the majority of them want" that at least would be an honest answer. Or even "I'm doing what's been dictated to me by my bosses". We don't expect you to come out with a socially divisive statement that you have acted against your own instincts, but some acknowledgement that we non-children are making a valid point would be polite, to say the least.

will sir richard branson and the others who donated millions also put a ransom on all the other missing girls who are not as blonde, as attractive, and not as middle class as maddy.

the bbc among other news stations are sick for all this coverage. the bbc especially should rise above what the audience want for morals.

I think this comment from the 大象传媒 article on Missing Children speaks volumes:

"The charity said that since Madeleine's abduction on 3 May there had been 1,200 reports of missing young people."

Apart from Madeleine can anyway name ten of these missing children?

If the same level of coverage was giving to every missing person in Europe then you would need more then 24 hours in the day to cover the story.

I couldn't agree more that the news coverage has been absurdly over the top - incessant and overblown.

Did I not hear on the lunch-time news today the announcement that the parents will be giving an interview on Sky News (sic) this evening.

You say that the audience figures remain high. How on earth can the audience avoid the coverage, unless they keep leaping up and turning the radio or television off each time it comes up.

The tragic thing is that all this hype and hysteria is likely to be counter-productive. If the adductor has got away to some remote location, thinking that to be safe, the massive media coverage would have put paid to that idea. So what then is likely to be the result..鈥�..

I should have read some of the above entries first. A few people are saying that the story should be kept going, presumably even when there is nothing new to report. Could someone say why exactly?

I am deeply curious to know why no one has mentioned the fact that three small children were left ALONE, in a hotel room at NIGHT while their parents enjoyed dinner in an environment where they could not possibly have checked on their children or heard any cries or signs of distress their children may have been in. I pray for this child's safe return but her parents are not blameless. The media seems to be ignoring this OBVIOUS opportunity to show parents that they must be responsible with their children and that it is NEVER ok to leave small sleeping children alone.
There is a lesson in this, if only the media would choose to at least approach the subject as a warning to other parents.

Madeleine should have led all the bulletins, whatever the time.

Tony Blair, Gordon Blair, the Irish Assembly -they can all fend for themselves. So can Jenkins.

Madeleine cannot.

Hebe

I am concerned at the unbalanced reporting of the madelain McCann story. I would be interested to know if leaving your children alone constitutes child neglect under english law and if it does why is this not bein discussed and perhaps even actioned. It seems that the McCann parents and not Madelaine have become the focuse of attention!
Finally I wonder if somone less significant in society would get similar attention?

I think that the mcann family have been strong through the whole experiamce but I would like to suggest one thing why dont they take a phsycic to the sightings of madeline maybe they could pick up some evidence. I know it sounds odd but it has worked before. I just think they should consider. I hope madeline is well and found soon!!

We hope to God Maddy will be found unharmed but, like the vast majority of those expressing unease on this comments board, we are concerned about the PRINCIPLE of blanket coverage for one child when the issue is normally hardly dealt with. I do not think we are going to see the headline "Police thank Huw Edwards for vital role in finding Maddy"

We salute Kevin Bakhurst for raising the issue and inviting feedback. I don't have Sky but I would guess they would never invite criticism or dissent, but his response was slightly patronising in a T.Blair/P.Hewitt "difficult choices" style.

Although it is a side issue for this particular discussion, My wife and I also agree with the sentiment that if the parent(s) had been a couple of fatties with common accents we KNOW for certain the attitude of the tabloids (but I think not the 大象传媒) would have been opprobrium with an undercurrent of "serves you right, you're not fit to have kids anyway"

I cannot believe that the Editor feels there are only one or two people complaining about the amount of coverage this story has had. I have telephoned twice to complain already and Radio 4 news this evening led with the news that the parents are going to meet the Pope. Why are all my friends and family in full agreement that we really don't want to hear any more about this when your Editor seems unaware of general public opinion. I particularly resent the notion that all critisism of this comes from just one person. Critisising the coverage does not mean people don't 'care', it means there are much higher priorities in the world. The 大象传媒 should leave this kind of reporting to the tabloid press.

Reading some of these comments has made me so mad. How can anyone be so insensitive, a 4 year old innocent little girl is missing without her parents and must be feeling so lost and wondering what on earth is going on. Surely people think of that when they see the news not the fact that there is too much coverage. It is down to the sheer determination of the family to bring Maddie back that is keeping this in the public eye. Keep it up there can never be too much coverage.

It is incomprehensible that people are much more fixated on beating up the victims of this atrocious crime, than helping in any way possible to find this little girl. Shame on anyone who can't show compassion for what these people are going through. They have acknowledged their error, and they are paying for it dearly. This blame game has got to stop. When you yourselves are the perfect parents, the world will entertain your garbage, and not a minute sooner.

A child is missing, that in itself is alarming enough to warrant tv coverage
!
Moaning that the story has been overcovered is crazy. Would everyone feel like that if it were there child that had been abducted?

To lose a child in any way - by death, abduction or otherwise - is a tragedy.

However it unfortunately happens more often than we care to acknowledge.

Public awareness campaigns are essential. But:

If, instead of being a cardiologist and a GP, Madeleine's father had been (for example) unemployed, and her mother a supermarket checkout cashier, would they have received the same level of support? The free use of a private jet; hundreds of thousands of pounds offered in rewards; the intervention of Cabinet Ministers; an audience with the Pope; and thousands of hours and pages of headline radio, TV, newspaper and magazine coverage for over a month?

If the answer to all those is yes, then the level of coverage of this case is justified and should be provided for EVERY subsequent case.

As for all the people asking why the McCann family are getting special treatment and more publicity then all the other children in world, shouldn鈥檛 you be thinking great publicity and awareness for all those children that have been abducted and not found!

Hello
I am really sorry to hear that Madeline Mccann is still not to be seen, it is a real upsetting time. It has been a while now and there is still no news about the poor 4 year old girl who had been taken from her own apartment in portugal.

My family and My self are all hoping and keeping our fingers crossed that Madeline does get found and took hope safely.

Sorry about this once again it is a real upsetting moment not just for her family but everybody

All the best in the return of Madeline.

Love Annmarie x x

hello, my friend sarah and i think that it is a good thing that you keep everyone up to date with madeline because everyone is getting worried about her and her family who must be very distressed and personally i think that it isn't taking over the news .. its just the main headline. i personally have never been so addicted to watching the news every night, i usually say to my mum 'how come there is nothing on madeline' and her reply is usally 'because they have no more information'... so its not entirely taking over the news.. its just a VERY important headline!!! and her mum and dad are worried sick and need people to help them through this difficult time...and if anyone knows any information tell the police ... megan and sarah aged 13

I am sorry but if your child went missing, and the medit wanted to focus on it then would you not use it to help. The parents must feel totally useless, not able to help or know how to help.

If the media is used to prompt someone's mind, or help with finding the little girl then surely thats a good thing. I understand that many children go missing everyday without all the media coverage, but it the parents were given the chance I am sure they would use it.

Let us please keep this story going for the sake of little Madeleine who must be found.She is unable to fend or get help for herself.
I have asked the 大象传媒 why they cannot put a picture of Madeleine on their main page website as they have for Alan Johnston the 大象传媒 correspondent. Both are missing persons. The 大象传媒 website reaches ALL countries of the world and would be a constant reminder to viewers that not only is Alan missing but Madeleine to. Both of them deserve our attention and help.

Hope you can help 大象传媒

> The madeleine story should be kept
> at the top of every news story
> while there is still a glimmer
> of hope

That is not what news is supposed to be about. We all have pet subjects or causes we would like to see featured on the news all the time.

I feel that people in this country have an unhealthy obsession with their own and other peoples' children. It's a sign of low aspirations. People live their lives through their kids and seem to have nothing else. The government loves and encourages it because it's a distraction from what they are doing.

The coverage is spreading fear and panic. People talking about having their children micro-chipped! More poor kids who have no freedom to go out and play. There were more child murders in the 1960's.

I am appalled at the snidy remarks made about the McCann family.

Save your criticism for the low life who took Madelaine.

YOU MUST KEEP MADDIE IN THE PAPERS
YOU MUST LET THERE STILL BE HOPE
YOU CANNOT JUST GIVE UP ON THIS LITTLE GIRL
WE WILL FIND HER AND SHE WILL BE WITH HER PARENTS AGAIN SOON
I HAVE SENT FIVE ANGELS TO GUARD MADDIE AND KEEP HER SAFE
LOVE TO THE McCAN FAMILY__OX

Hello

I Hope You Find Lil Maddie , She Is A Sweet *&&* Innocent Lil Girl !!
The Person That Took Must Have Been A Horrible Person Who Is Jealous Because Lil Maddie Is So Cute ! I Wish That You Find Her *&&* I Wish You All The Luck In The World To Finding Her .... And Hope She Is Safe *&&* Sound .. Cyahh x x x x x

I am as sad as everyone else that this little girl has gone missing and I hope I never have to go through what the McCanns are going through right now.

However, they left their children alone - granted it wasn't all night, but they were left unchecked for more than 30 mins.

Had the McCanns not been middle class white people, would the 大象传媒 have placed the same importance on the story.

I realise it is impossible to cover every missing child story, but there is nothing to say about Madeleine at the moment, and we shouldn't have news until we do.

All that said, I really do hope she is found safe and well and returned to her family soon

Perhaps what the 大象传媒 should do, which would be more helpful, is focus on the bigger picture of paedophilia. Everything is commodified and for sale now, including cute 3-year-old Anglo Saxon females. Get 大象传媒 investigative journalists (remember them?) to track follow the money and paedophile rings in Belguim, Austria, UK, Germany, US etc. Analyse the web sites some members of the British police force seem to enjoy ogling at. Do everyone a favour and investigate the commodification and sexualisation of little girls in advertising and media. This goes way beyond Maddy.

So the McCanns are to appear on Crimewatch this evening. Not content with that, the 大象传媒 keep reminding us of the fact on both Television and Radio, taking the opportunity to repeat some old 'footage'.

This shameful debacle that the McCanns insist on is now making me feel mildly repulsed and if all major news channels could now avoid reporting on the fairground style tour they are proceeding on it would be greatly appreciated. Harsh as it is the chances of their daughter being alive are decreasing every day and yes they should keep on searching if that's what they need/want to do. However why the tours to meet the pope, to see Berlin and of course the soon to be trips to Holland & Morocco?! Given the genuine humanitarian disasters going on around the world the devotion (and attention demanded by the McCanns themselves) to this story is saddening and inditement of an insular perspective of what's happening in the world.

Firstly, I think we all should stop and think for a second, it is one month on, and we should put ourselves in the parents shoes. If it YOUR child, and you had the ability, wouldn't you do EVERY thing you possiblty could to find your child. My worry is that although the press coverage has been excellent, I have doubts that this has actually assisted Maddy. Surely now she is so well known, is it good or bad for her to be recognised?, especially with her prominent eye markings. Will this have made her abductors panic? I sincerely hope not, but do worry that all the publicity could have a very negative effect. I also feel for all the other parents who have found themselves in the same situation but have not had the resources available to them to help with their loss such as the case of Ben in Greece all those years ago. However, I hope and pray that Maddy is found and soon, and wish the Mcann family peace and a normal life again.

i still support the mc canns 100%.i just wish to god they would find wee madeline soon,kate is so worn out looking.i check the news very regulary to try and find out if there is any good news about madeline.

i fell sorry for the parents but you shouldnt leave a child on there own but i do feel sorry for the,

Caroline above worries "that all the publicity could have a very negative effect" but also says "the press coverage has been excellent." That just goes to show how mixed up sone people have become under this constant barrage.

We last heard from Kevin Bakhurst, controller of 大象传媒 News 24, on 25 May. What has he to say on the way public opinion is now moving, and his thoughts on any further coverage of the story?

I feel that the coverage is essential to highlight a very important issue and that Madeline situation deserves to be highlighted.

If my child was missing I would do the same. I also hope that the police learn many lessons from this as they seemed to have made a number of vital mistakes.

I myself would be happy if this issue could be given more police resources as it seems to be a growing problem.

So if anyone feels that its been too much coverage - well I'm sorry to say that Madeline is STILL MISSING and needs our help!!

Kevin Bakhurst

So, have you now had a chance to think about the points raised in my post 204, relating to your post 201 (191 at the time I commented)?

What do you have to say about the PRINCIPLE of dominating the news media for several weeks with a sad story, but by no means an unusual one? No comment about Madeleine McCann, please, because my question is not about her, or about this particular coverage, but is about the abstract idea of precisely what, to your mind, are the types of stories that should receive on-going national coverage.

I'm curious to know if your idea of a major news story is one that reports something with life-changing effects on a large number of people. Or is your concern more with presenting as important news those emotional stories that will tug at the heart-strings of the mass of the population?

Maybe you'ld also like to comment on my proposition that it is an unhealthy society where a big majority of the adult population is ignorant of the ability to think and discuss things in a way that is rational and unemotional.

i feel really upset when i watch the news or read the paper to find out about madeline and i have been at school and at home and making a website page and doing loads off posters and presintation about madeline and her family.
I feel really mad with the people who has done this to little inisent madeline.It is making me upset doing this at the moment i am doing loads off stuff about her and making donations. HOPE YOU CAN FIND MADELINE SOON UNTIL IT IS TO LATE :'( PLEASE IF ANYONE KNOWES ANY THING ABOUT HER DON'T HESSITATE TO CONTACT THE POLICE IN ENGLAND OR IN PORTUGAL
LOVE FROM DANIELLE AGE:13

News! News! News!
The police search has revealed...er.. nothing.

i am really upset that madeline hasent been found yet and i give my best reguards to family,I hopefully hope they is going to be some good news will come your way soon good luck x

This is in response to Stephen Stevenson and your attack on Kevin Bakhurst...

I will refrain from attacking you personally, you are clearly well past the point of comprehending such valid insults. I'm not sure how Kevin feels about the PRINCIPLE of this coverage, but as a media teacher myself, the main PRINCIPLES OF MEDIA are to construct realities, i.e, bring to the public the OPPORTUNITY to decifer what is real and what is not; 2- media uses different techniques that will attract us to the story,for instance, this blog; 3- media has a commercial interest, ie, they need to make money; and finally 4- the media sends to us messages of values and morals, to inspire us to be better people.
When I turn on the news and see coverage of the war in Iraq, I turn the channel because I've had enough. When I turn to that next channel, and see news about a Spice Girl getting knocked up by Eddie Murphy, I turn the channel because I've had enough. In the same way as I have had enough of that coverage, you have, for some sick and twisted reason, had enough about the plight of a young innocent girl being abducted on holiday. Here's my suggestion to you Stephen...TURN THE GOD DAMN CHANNEL, and allow the rest of us the right to follow this case until it is closed!
A vast majority of us are devastated by this abduction, and feel that this equates to a crime of pandemic proportions. The plight of all children will be highlighted as a result of this coverage. This is not, as you've suggested, a common occurrence, and we as a society need to send a message to these sick s.o.b's that we will not tolerate this in our world. This indeed is a remarkable example of the power of media, and I pray to God that she is found due to this coverage, if only just to shut you up.

im 14 and whish the best for madeline mccann and hope for a safe return thanx xxxx

today on the 11 o clock news there was something about madeline mcanns body being found under rocks and they have no more information on it is it true and i hope for the sake of madeline and family and also the friends of her she is back safe and sound because i no what it is ike to loose someone and it hurts and i hope and pray to god she is alright and we find her soon you have my regards and wish the best hope she is ok and i hope they get the s.o.b's who have done this and they will go to hell for it and trust me on this one THEY WILL!!! from holly ps i hope the people who have done this are reading these messages because they need to know how insensative and pathetic they really are!!!

What an extraordinary rant by Claire Burke; a media teacher, eh. The war in Iraq, for example, is an ongoing affair, with British and other soldiers getting killed, and everyone looking for a way out. The Madeleine abduction is now over a month old, and there is at the moment very little news, positive or negative, to report. Most people recognise this, and the continued coverage has become a bit of a turn-off. It has instead tended to focus attention on the parents, whose lack of care precipitated the tragic event. It is they who have assiduously cultivated the media, and when one of them recently stepped out of line, as they would see it, and recently published that 鈥榣etter鈥�, they had the nerve to brand it as 'irresponsible'.

This awful tragedy is the ideal opportunity for the 大象传媒 to highlight the problem of child trafficking throughout the world.

Claire Burke - Comment 240

It would have been nice had you managed to get either part of my name correct, but perhaps accuracy is not part of a media teacher's training in how to pass on the ability to construct reality?

You don't seem to understand what an attack is. I have asked Kevin Bakhurst a number of questions, and I'm waiting for a reply. Why do you construe this as an attack?

As everyone is, you're perfectly entitled to flip between channels to find something you want to watch. There are dozens of outlets covering light entertainment and high-emotion human interest stories - both fictional and real. But 大象传媒 News 24 should not, in my opinion at least, be one of these. There must be somewhere an outlet for serious, rational news and comment about affairs that have serious and lasting effects on the human population in general. I'd suggest that the flagship news programme for a major national broadcaster is one such place.

I'm sure just about everyone agrees that the abduction of Madeleine McCann was a heinous act, but, unfortunately, there are some people in the world to whom near-universal disgust at their behaviour means absolutely nothing. You should also bear in mind the possibility that the results of mass coverage may not all be positive ones, and also that coincidence is no proof of causation.

Whilst I hope and pray that Madeleine McCann is found safe and well, the coverage (not just from the 大象传媒) has been too much.
The following points are why I believe this:
1) You very rarely hear coverage of similar disapperances and if you do, there is not the comprehensive coverage of such occurences.
2) There are other stories of the same (if not more) significance, the disapperance and search occured during events such as the UK Local Elections, Conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, Blair announcing his departure, Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, all of which I feel are as important or more important than the McCann case.

I'm 12 and i feel so sorry for Madeline and her family! My Mum has put a yellow ribbon on her car nd bike to raise awareness. Me and my friends are donating money to the madeline appeal! We hope the best for her and hope she is returned safely to her family.

i am 13 years old, and the story of madeline has affected me and my friends greatly! we just keep thinking what type of person would do this to such a lovely little girl!
we wish the safe return of madeline and that she is unhurt.
thankyou xxxxxxx

It breaks my heart every day to think of that little angel and what her family must be going through. It needs keeping in the papers and on the television so we can all keep looking for her.

Best wishes to the Mccann's - really hope she is found soon. x

I can't begin to know what the McCann's are feeling but as a mother of two 5 year olds I can only imagine their horror. No one can say what is right or wrong in this case, it is whatever gets them through the next day that is right for them from one perspective. From another yes, perhaps it has distracted people a bit and we are concentrating on the rights and wrongs of the campaign more now then the awful event that has taken place. They have to have hope and if that means they have to turn the world upside down then so be it for them. Their two other children are very young at the moment so I don't imagine it is too damaging to them yet, and by the time it is if Maddie has not been found I am sure the McCanns will try to get some semblance of normality into those childrens lives.

can u put her bk on the news coz not everi 1 nos about her and missin out on the things plz xx

I would like nothing better than to never hear the name Madeline McCann again! Now before i get torn to shreds for that I mean that I hope she is found safe and sound and soon and returned to her family with no ill effects from what has happened to her and that she then fades into obscurity and leads a normal little girls life.
I can not get this out of my head and everywhere I go I look, just in case, you never know. Someone must know something! People do not just disappear! So to whoever does know ACT ON IT NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE ...ALERT THE AUTHORITIES AND HELP THIS LITTLE GIRL PLEASE!!!!!

OR TO WHOEVER HAS HER, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH RELEASE HER BEFORE YOU ARE CAUGHT UP WITH. LET HER GO BACK TO HER FAMILY!!!!!

"A vast majority of us are devastated by this abduction, and feel that this equates to a crime of pandemic proportions." [Claire Burke]

Hmm..considering you are a media teacher it is rather alarming that you don't appear to know what these words mean, that you have no interest in Iraq, and appear not to be able to spell 'decipher'. Nevertheless it is good to know that News 24 is now catering for people with such a limited sense of perspective and intellect as yourself.

From St Georges Schoool Broadstairs Kent

We Give Best Wishes To Madeleines Family for being so brave We Also Hope that the person who took the little girl will have the guts to bring her back....

best wishes.....

xxxxxxxxx

The early coverage of this event, while understandable, was, well overdone. Live non reports on every bulletin, yet, the major fault in this sad and sorry case has still not been covered by any of the media.
Whether it was right to leave at least 3 children alone in an unlocked apartment for several hours while the parents went out drinking in a bar some 150 metres away.
Was it right to mislead the police over the time delay between checking on the children, and whether a door had, or had not been left open.

You have fallen into the trap of following the lead of a PR operation to find some level of celebrity status for the parents, yet, have NOT attempted to do any investigative work yourselves.

Keep chasing the ratings...

Bedd Gelert....a little lesson in the English language for you...the words 'equates to a crime of pandemic proportions' means that the disease of pedophilia (dictionary definition) "is occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population". So if I need to spell it out for you, which clearly I do, the issue of pedophilia is rampant; it's out of control; it's as serious as it gets. Why don't you take a look at the headline news of the 700 person pedophilia bust that just occurred in the u.k yesterday. Therefore my words are entirely accurature.

Further, you have misquoted me again (another sign of your ignorance) when you accused me of having 'no interest in Iraq'. What I actually said Bert was that "I have had enough of Iraq"; big difference. So the next time you shoot your mouth off about things as trivial as the spelling of the word 'decipher', perhaps you should learn the rudimentary skill of reading comprehension first. Happy learning Bert.

I hope that madeline is ok and not to be said dead becauseshe is a really cute little girl and all the best for her mum and dad.

I have responded to the comments made by Bedd Gellert, but don't see them posted yet!!!! What's the holdup?

Bedd Gelert... Apparently my first response to your comments was not posted, and I was easy on you too! Nonethless...a little lesson for you in the English language..
First: I will spell this out for you, the words "equates to a crime of pandemic proportions" means that the crimes of child abuse, pedophilia, child slavery, or indeed ANY crime against children, is about as serious as it gets and warrants the world's FULL attention. The word PANDEMIC, Bert, means that it is "occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population". Sorry Bert, that's the dictionary definition, not mine.

Secondly, you need to learn how to read and quote people properly, before you shoot your mouth off about nonsense. Specifically, I stated that "When I turn on the news and see coverage of the war in Iraq, I turn the channel because I've had enough". That does not mean, as you've suggested, that I am not interested, but simply that I choose not to listen to it anymore. My choice.

Perhaps, (of course just a friendly suggestion), your time would be better spent learning the rudimentary skill of reading comprehension, rather than teaching me how to properly spell the word decipher. Happy learning Bert!

i hope that maddeline mcann is found, alive, soon and reunited with her family! i give lots of sympathy to mr and mrs mcann x x
from amber age 11

Hope your safe and well madeline bbe n ope u come bak soon to your worried family x

i am only 13 but i pray for little maddie to get taken back to her parents because its not fair that the person has took her x everyone plz pray for maddie x x x

Nobody else seems to have followed up on George's piece above, so I will just say that it is absolutely spot on in every respect. It would have been nice to have seen some response from the 大象传媒.

Has there been anything about her recently? I'm really worried.

I send all my wishes and thoughts to maddy's familys. I'm only 15years old but i have tried my hardest to make a part i raise money at school selling yellow ribbows and sent all money made to the fund.
Best wishes vicky X

Some people who have commented on this site absolutly disgust me, if you put half as much energy into praying for Madeline's safe return as you do arguing with each other then she might be home safe.

As for bad mouthing her parents... they made a mistake one they are being punished for every second of every day she isn't found. What they need is continuing love and support not some snide comments from heartless people.

The newspaper coverage was spot on, it brought out the best in the majority of our compassionate nation. Think.. if it had been your daughter, your mistake, what would you have wanted from the media.. coverage- as much as possible to raise awareness.

To those of us still following the storey united by the hope madeline is found safe, I urge you to keep praying, where there is great love and hope, there are always little miracles.

I just have to say that I am really impressed that the story of Madeline McCann is still foremost in the news. The people who are complaining that there is too much coverage may think rather differently if it were their daughter who was taken from them.

Fair enough, some may blame the McCann's for leaving their 3 children alone that fateful night, but I am sure that they have more than suffered for their terrible mistake and must indeed blame themselves every second of every day. So, because they made this error, should we reduce the coverage of this story? NO! We need to find her as soon as possible which means keeping everyone aware. So well done the 大象传媒 for keeping Madeline and her family in our thoughts and for doing everything possible to help find her. And to all you people who critisise, I really hope that none of you find yourselves in the position that the McCann's are in!

I hope Madeline is soon found soon. PORTUGESE POLICE ARE NOT DOING ENOUGH!

I find the ongoing coverage somewhat obscene, when as many have pointed out above, there are hundreds of more important stories which get little attention.

I was particularly disturbed to see Gatwick Airport liberally plastered with News of the World posters exhorting all travellers to "Find Maddie!"

Where are the posters saying "Stop butchering young Iraqis", "Oppose Chinese organ trading", "Stop collusion between government and big business" or "Cancel third world debt"? All these issues have far more relevance to us in the long term.

(a) Vicky Batley says she is raising money at her school and sending it to the Fund but needs to stop and think for a moment. I am not going into the rights and wrongs of the parents leaving their children alone in the evening. They obviously feel dreadfully guilty about it and appear to be attempting to atone for this by foregoing work and travelling around Europe. Fair enough, by all account they can well afford to. But I think it unforgivable to seek reimbursement from the general public, when there are so many genuine children's charities out there in desperate need of the cash.

(b) Also above, Katrina Howard writes: "So, because they made this error, should we reduce the coverage of this story?" Well, yes, not for this reason but simply because there is now no NEWS, nothing to report.

I think its horrible whats happeneed to madeline! but everyones surporting her fully! shes all over bebo myspace and ollover the news ! hopefully this will help finding her! why was she alone in the first place?? no one should leave there children by ther selves specailly at that age by there own! there capable of anything and they where on holiday!
anyways good luck with finding her
Hamida and kerry
happy birthday kerry tommorow

I cannot believe some of the comments I have just read. An innocent, beautiful little girl, through no fault of her own has been taken away from her mummy and daddy. The thought of her crying out for her mummy and daddy while god knows what is happening to her makes me feel sick to the core. Yes there are other abductions,and awful acts of inhumanity going on,that do deserve coverage,but the McCanns have taken it upon themselves to get the media attention for their little baby. Surely anyone who is put through this hell is allowed to gain as much media interest and attention as they want in the hope someone, somewhere, will provide those key pieces of information. PLEASE keep up with the coverage,this little girl NEEDS to be found.

I'd agree with Pete Terrier's comment (2nd July) that there are many very important world issues being relegated in the news coverage due to the ongoing 'Maddie' story.

Having the issue shown on cinema screens prior to showings of Shrek 3 was probably a mistake, and will have turned many parents, who had tried to control the exposure of the story for their own children, against the campaign.

The best summary of the whole issue, though, was a comment I recently saw that it would have been interesting to see how the media coverage would have differed had the parents not been a pair of doctors, but had instead been unemployed. Probably the kicking would have been merciless.

Are we actually going to have some comment from the 大象传媒 about the principles of what does and what doesn't constitute a major news story?

Or are we confined to accepting the modern, progressive concept that the principle, whatever it is, is always right, and that anything that happens that seems not to be right is an untypical aberration on the part of the instigator who, by the way, is always doing the best he can. So there are never any grounds, ever, to complain about anything. Get it?

i really hope maddie is found soon and is returned home safely to her family. If the media didn't make such a big deal of it ie- broadcasting it then they maybe could have found her easier they are just making the search harder for themselves by doing this.And those sick people who are reporting sightings of maddie in all these different places are horrible how would they feel if something like this happened to them it has being 69 days now lets hope she returns home to her family as soon as possible.my heart goes out to her family and we all hope for that day it will say in the paper madie is found.

i hope madiline mccan get found and hope she is ok .
who ever has got should just let her go as she has been away from her family and friends for a couple of month now and it is reali upsetting . i had even pt a yellow ribbon up in wallsend as i want her to come back fine and not hurt and hopefully she gets found soon .

i feel sorry for madelines parents for having to cope with the pressure. If they would stop having all of these stupid ceromonys, they might find her faster. As they are just basically playing around.
FIND MADELINE BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!

iam so deprresed about what had happened
to madaline mcann

I am absolutley speachless to read that people feel that the 大象传媒 news coverage of Madeline's disappearence is "over the top". I am sure that if it was your child that had been abducted in a foriegn country, you would be pushing for constant coverage! Yes, there are hundreds of missing children in the world, and i am sure that the 大象传媒 gave sufficeint coverage during thier families time of need, hense some children being found and returned home safely. Get real, this is a child life we are talking about here, FIND MADELINE BLESS HER HEART !!

I can't believe some people are complaining about the extra media coverage for poor maddie. Just think if it was your daughter or granddaughter wouldn't you want the extra help. I know I would!! I'm so sorry for the McCann's I hope everything turns out right for them and Maddie is home soon. My prayers are with you and Maddie.

I Hope That Maddy Gets Found Soon... Although I Am Young I Have One Thing On My Mind.. MADDY MCCANN. I Have Sent Out Loads Of Emails About Her And I have Asked Freinds And Family To Keep Passing It On... Hopefully It Will Get Around To People...

Thing Is No Matter Where The People Go They Will Have To Go Back To Other Countries They Have Been To And People Will Find Her And She Will Be Reunited... If The People Who Have Taken Maddy Or If You Know Them You Need To Know... Dont Hurt Her She Is Only 4 And Doesnt Know Where Her Mummy And Daddy Are. She Doesn't Deserve To Not Know Where She Is. Just Bring Her Home Safely. If You then Say but Then I Will Have No One Thats Not True. There Will Be Someone But Not Some One Elses Angel..

I Hope This Has Gotten Through To You All...

I Hope Our Angel Gets Home Soon. I Am Praying xxxx

I read in the paper today that they found traces of her blood. I am so upset by that. Firstly i have no idea why it took the U.K to have traced the blood. There was hope for Madie, and i would still like to think there is. My heart and spirits are crushed. And i hope that the family are making it through this difficult time. My last hope can be the tests they are awaiting for Madie's DNA, off the glass from a diner. I hope it comes out positive so people can continue to pray for this family and the well being of Madie. No parent should have to bury there own child, but too have no idea where in the world she is, and still have people looking. I just hope something comes out of this soon. All the best.

Elly above really needs to get over her single-minded obsession with the Madeleine McCann affair. There are so many missing children all over the world, to say nothing of all the cruelty and poverty around. Perhaps a trip to her nearest children's hospital would help her to get things into perspective.

For those people who want to complain about the media coverage I think your an absolute disgrace! How can you say that there is too much media coverage on such a terrible incident like this! I cant stop thinking about what is going through poor Maddie's head now and what is she thinking, is she thinking wheres her Mummy and Daddy and why cant she see them. I pray to god and will keep praying that she will be brought to her family safely very soon. For those who have written negative feedback you all should be ashamed of yourselves and all I can say is really hope you never have to experience something so horrific as this.
For those people like myself who are supporting this campaign lets keep being positive in order to help all relatives and friends of the McCann family.

If you 'found the door ajar', when checking on your kids, wouldn't you
search the apartment, rather than state that you found it 'rather strange?'
Perhaps he did.

i hope we find madeline i have all my wishes up for it and ill be so pleased when we find her and i hope she is well.

xx

Although my heart and prayers have gone out to Madelaine and her family I now feel it is time the McCanns left Luz. They must allow other families to get on with enjoying their holidays without having to be constantly reminded of what happened that awful night. As a frequent visitor to Luz I feel they are being selfish to other Parents and their children with their prescence. I for one want to enjoy my stay in Luz and this far down the line do not want to have constant reminders and sightings of them around the pool or going to the local church. Let Luz move on, for the sake of the Locals and future holiday makers.

I do hope they find Maddie soon, but time is getting on and the information all seems a bit mixed up!! Just a closure to all this would be good now, for all the families sake.

While I am writing this, I would like to say lets not forget other missing children/adults out there, maybe more coverage needs to be done on theses people aswell?

Maddie I hope your safe and you get back to mummy and daddy soon.

I am a Portuguese citizen and am very shocked about how the British media has dealt with Maddies鈥� case, constantly criticising the performance of the Portuguese police. Well they are trying very hard to find the truth and continue to be thrown in the mud by the British media and always conveyed as very incompetent. Well now that the blood that was found was sent to England because it was guaranteed that results would be handed over to the Portuguese police in 48 hours鈥hings have been strangely going wrong. It鈥檚 almost a month and no results鈥ts very easy to critise procedures when you are not directly involved, isn鈥檛 it? Why aren鈥檛 the British media at the door step of the lab where the blood is being tested demanding answers? Now all of a sudden there is no mention of the referred situation(blood tests) in the British newspaper鈥�.Why is that?

i think that you should keep covering the case of Maddy McCann. i'm thirteen and for ages and ages that was the major talk of my class mates, we were deeply touched by it. we earned alot of money by selling yellow ribbons and generally raising awareness. i think that you should honestly leave Maddies parents alone. Don't you think they've been through enough as it is??? all these horrible hurtful slurs, they should atleast stop until she's found (dead or alive.) HOPEFULLY ALIVE AND UNHURT
come home Maddie

On tonight's 10o'clock news, it was reported that scientists are making a plea for the right to try to create animal-human embryos using cows. I am disgusted and appalled. How can any person have such little regard for human life? In reporting this, a view was given that this proposed experiment could cure diseases. I take exception to being manipulated in this way. Since scientists have not yet carried out this experiment, nobody can know the next steps. Are we to think that any experiment is OK if there is a chance of curing a disease? Do we know what diseases we may be creating by violating human cells? Please do not report scientists dreams but keep to the facts.

I can't believe some of the comments that i just read..
There are ppl who are angry that the madeleine story has taken precedence over other stories and that its over - blown .. Some one has even remarked that just coz the girl was pretty and the parents media-savy is the reason she gets the publicity which they feel she truly does not deserve
I am sure madeleine did not ask for it and I am ashamed to think that just coz there are hundreds of children which go missing, this should not assume importance
Are we even listening to our own words??
These are distraught parents who are seeking thier daughter.. WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH EVERYONE??
all we need is some compassion,if you can't emphathize than show some tolerance at least.
There are huge problems in this world, we have starved children, wars, rapes, natural disasters , diseases, female infanticide , poverty to name a few..
We can't solve all of them but lets try and take a humane approach -
Show some consideration to others..
the truth is that we all can write and post these comments on how much coverage and prime time should be devoted to stories and dwell on this debate because we are the lucky blessed ones and that makes us intolerant of someone else's misery..
Its true , after all we are not missing a child!!
or surely we could be more compassionate
think about it !!

i really hope lil maddie is found as soon as possible my prayers and wishes go out to her and her family

xx bring maddie home tonight xx

Oh dear me,what a mess the Mcanns are in now!! how on earth do we believe what has happenned? how the 2 of them could have left them 3 children alone whilst they went out to eat an evening meal is beyond me! Why havent we heard from the other people who were dining with them on that fatefull evening? It just beggars belief that 2 professional people who are well educated could leave them 3 kids alone and go and eat a meal is beyond me. If it happened next door to me or anywhere around me i would have reported them to the social services,the Mcanns have diverted any questions around the negligence that they done that night,just imagine if a mother and father from a poorer background had left 3 children alone whilst they went out to a pizza parlour on the resort and one of their children had dissapeared?? Oh just imagine the outpour that would have had!!! There aint no smoke without fire. Im sorry to be so cynical but come on,i am worried what the police will fine next????????

Maddie was a pretty little girl and does not deserve this, I hope the people who did this are caught and pay severly!

PLEASE Maddie come home safe.

madeline is such a pretty little girl it's a shame shes missing.
i'm dissapointed in the portugies police have delt with the matter i think they have jump too quickly, i mean it's a great progress but the've made there accusation to quickly. i hope the truth is unravel and that madeline is safe and sound

I dont think your doing enough for madeiline mccan. That poor girl has been abducted and her life is being wasted i feel really sorry for her.

Throughout the time since Madeleine's possible abduction the media coverage has been intensive. Initially it was the "Find Maddy" story and a little carping at the parents for leaving children unsupervised. Later emphasis was placed on "feelings" of the McCann family and a lack of information from the Portuguese police. More recently coverage has moved on to the naming of Gerry and Kate McCann as suspects in a possible accident and disposal of a child. Many reports since have had interviews with relatives and friends of the family who all describe accusations as unfounded and ludicrous.

My observations throughout this time have been that the coverage has been un-balanced due to the need for 24 hour news and the fact that information primarily was only coming from Maddy's family. If the investigation remains silent then is it not fitting that others do also, or run the risk of mis-informing whether accidentally or otherwise.

I have a couple of questions for Kevin Bakhurst. If Madeleine had gone missing in our own country and an investigation was proceeding, would it have been ethically correct to run so many "leads" and "family interviews" at such a time? Would it be legal in this country to do so, or would there be a risk of information being elicited that would be prejudicial to any future criminal proceedings?

It seems to me that the greatest problem lies in the filling of silence from investigators with conjecture and unsubstantiated claims.

I would just like to say that i cannot even start to imagine what Kate and Jerry Mcann are going through. I have a daughter who is 4 years old and if she ever went missing i would not be able to cope. I really rate them for being so strong through this. I pray that maddy is found soon. She is such a beatiful little princess. Many regards to the Mcanns,
Ruby Raichand.x

I am so sorry to hear about abduction of little maddie. it is really sad and i wish you the best of luck in finding her xxxxx from georgia age 14

The remarks made by Clarence Mitchell, in defence of the McCann's ,are quite absurd.How does he know if the McCann's are innocent or not?If this is the calibre of 大象传媒 reporters,or cabinet office employees,then goodness knows what the general public are supposed to believe.As an unbiased observer of the Madeline McCann situation,I am not alone in being sick and tired of the saturation coverage,of what is turning into nothing more than a fiasco.The parents must take the lion's share of the blame for this.Their incessant public appearances are, to put it mildly ,irritating to the point of downright annoying.Whatever the outcome,they have no grounds to complain about and media coverage,as they are the one's who have courted this from the very start.

i do feel sorry that madeline dissaperaence, but i feel that too much media coverage has been given to 1 child. there are children going missing all over the world every second but no one has got as much coverage as madeline, just because they knew people in the press, Im not saying this is wrong but i feel that this much effort should be made too find every child. i dont feel its right that Kate and Gerry are being blamed and I hope they have the courage to fight this battle with a smile. I hope you find your daughter soon, and i hope god blesses madeline and keeps her safe from harm. xxx

i know most people feel that youth in britain is inconsiderate but im only 14 and i really do care for this little girl, and dont just judge us because were young.

it's been too long now since the dissapearance of madeleine mcann. i would just like to say it must be hell for Gerry and kate mcann as there are being accussed of having some involment in killing there own daughter , how can anyone say that abour them just because there are dcotors people straight way say they did it they didn't. but one thing thats strange why take madeliene and not the two thats very strange . but they must be close to finding out who has taken madeliene. who ever has wants locking up and never let out. well one thing lets hope they find her soon as xmas is coming up and it would be nice if madeliene was with her family. god bless to the mcann family xxxxxxxxxxxx

im totally up 4 ppl lukin 4 maddie bt u need to remember there are ova children out there also out there that have been kidnapped.

and these ova ppl that gt kidnapped dnt gt al dis support off ronaldo n ova celebs.

itz unfair.

I am a south American mother of 4 children and I have been very touched with Maddeline麓s disappearance. I can empathize with the Mcann麓s pain; and I feel really sorry for them. I think about them all the time, and how one could help, so I would like to share with them what would I do. At this point, after trying so many resources, I would turn to someone psychical, who could guide them with the mind on where to find Maddie. I am aware that the Mcann are scientific people, so they will not believe in this kind of things. So am I. However, I would resort to this kind of help, given that no real clue has come out form the investigation. In this country (Chile), 4 families (that I know of) looked for help on a well known woman who is a kind of foreteller, who could finally put an end to their pain and tireless search, as she drew a map where to find the children. She was successful on the four cases. There must be people with special mental powers in Europe.

Firstly, to Sian Harrison, Although i understand where you are coming from, it is true that hunderds of people, not only children, go missing everyday. I think the reason why Madelaine has received so much media attention is because of the circumstances in which she went missing. But, out it this way, if she is found - alive- then it was all worth it and if 1 out of the hunderds that go missing is found, then it was all worth it.

As to the recent allegations against Gerry and Kate, it is very hard to think that any parent could harm their own child, but there has been a global alert, surely there would have been a sighting of her by now or at least a lead?

It is apparant though that someone is hiding something. I still find it very hard to get my head round the fact that 3 toddlers were left by themselves, it is extremely irresponsible. Also, the fact that only one out of three children was taken is also strange. Innocent until proven guilty i suppose but there are alot of people working on this case and what really happended will be revealed.

I feel deeply for the Mcann family but wonder whether they would have had as much public support if they had been a family from a council estate who had left their young children alone in a foreign country while they enjoyed a night out.......?

With all the allegations that are flying regarding Madelines parents possible involvement, things seem to be getting a bit distracted, at the end of it all this child is missing still and must be out there somewhere, someone surely knows her whereabouts.
I wish with all my heart that she is found unharmed , along with all the other missing children. It will all, i hope be solved soon!

im i hope she is found soon,it will horrible if shes not back for xmas.portugeese police should keep searching.maddies parents are grieving as it is,without ppl throwing acusations.

age 15

I too pray for Maddie. She is a young innocent child who did not ask to be left alone.

My sense is that we have yet to hear all the story. As other observers write we have not heard from the other diners that night.

Perhaps it is the rule of law in Portugal that requires silence.

From the outside looking in there are so many questions that need answering that until they are openly answered there will be massive speculation and rightly so

If parents in the UK left three children under 5 alone while they went anywhere then social services would get very involved. The same applies in Portugal and yet whilst we see clear grief are we observing accountability?

Prayers and love

Paul

3 years ago my husband, my son of 5; my daughter of 2 and myself went to ibiza for a two weeks holiday. seeing the famliys play to gether by the pool, and beech in a peacefull and safe enviroment was lovely, but as the night progressed half the familes we saw in the day had no children with them. these were parents with babys and todlers. they were left in there rooms, alone.
afew years befor we went for 1 week, and saw this and was shocked then. these things are still going on even today.
kate and gerry will have to live with with this for the rest of there lives, as well as the rest of the family.
people are quick to juge, and blame. a little to quick. serious lesons need to be leared with this, it has already started a re think with the law on a world wide scale. and will i hope bring about changes to the human rights laws of the portuguese polices, the rest of the world.
i am praying that madi will be found safe and well, with all my hart, and while we wait i will send unconditional love to the hole of the maccan family and freinds.

note to the world: stop leaving are children unprotected. if were not waching them, you can garantee someone else will.

arent u all missing the point we should be hoping for her to be found not looking at rumors and lies about the mcann family they didnt kill her.
all they want is there little girl back

My Comment No 277 - July 7th

I suppose I can take it from the deafening silence from the 大象传媒 that the answers to my questions are:-

1. No.

2. Yes.

Thanks 大象传媒.

If you're not willing to discuss your own actions on a universalist basis, what hope is there of you ever examining anything in a way that isn't direct and parochial, having excluded from consideration all the indirect but real consequences? I appreciate that looking at things in this way is intellectually exacting, but isn't it insulting your audiences to treat them as incapable of following a full discussion? And, equally to the point, do you really think it's beneficial to society to give credence to the idea that it's valid to produce powerful arguments from superficial and over-simplified discussion?