The McCanns: I heard it in the Daily Mail

How can I fail to comment on the article by David Jones, a graduate of the 'David Dimbleby College of Rule Britannia Journalism' and published by the Daily Mail.

A text book example of "Damage Control Made Bleeding Obvious," the article attempts to pull out every emotional heart-puller to an extent that a reasonably minded audience would question his real agenda. Jones, like so many in the UK media, obviously labours under the common but mistaken belief that the British public are a bunch of half-witted morons.

The poor bugger meant well - he just lacks the skills needed to be effective. He addressed all the issues needed for a damage control exercise, but he addressed them in a way that would gain a Sydney Year 10, Media Studies schoolkid, a B minus. He is so damn obvious, I am surprised he didn't arrange to have violins in the background.

Is this how low British journalism has sunk? At least once a week you will hear the inept British media skills being slammed by Australian journalists and commentators. Jones is a fine example of why he and his colleagues are regarded with such contempt by a media whose standards are rather more professional and proactive than those who are about as effective and charismatic as Tim Henman on valium.

I knew what was in store for me as soon as he contradicted his client Gerry McCann.

"Settling into his sleeper bed in Virgin Upper Class (mindful of the sniping about the £946,000 fund for Madeleine, of which £67,000 has been spent, he bought an economy ticket, but was given a complimentary upgrade, the 39-year-old heart consultant was exhausted."

However, McCann himself had earlier said the ticket had been donated. Either Jones is a liar or McCann is. Whoosh, what was that? That was credibility flying out the window. An unlocked one of course.

Such contradictions and misleading statements have sown the seeds of distrust in the minds of "ordinary" people. It is the reason why the McCanns are disliked and mistrusted. Each day more and more people who were previously neutral, question the motives and actions of Team McCann. At first the public were willing to forgive and to trust. But that benevolence has been betrayed, just as Madeleine was by her parents.

Let's take a look at what else he had to say.

"But onlookers remarked that he appeared buoyant for the first time in the three months since his four-year-old daughter was taken"

Bollocks. He is often seen smiling and joking and he writes with undisguised relish about his dinner parties and meetings with friends.

"Ultimately, of course, the McCanns will measure success and failure solely on whether Madeleine is returned safely."

They have already failed. They failed Madeleine. If they wish to consider their success as parents, they should take in to consideration that they are in this position because they deliberately chose to ignore the boundaries of responsible parenting as defined by the community, the NSPCC and British county councils, and not as defined by the CPS whose true allegiance is also open to question.

"However, according to Justine McGuiness, a Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate who was recently appointed the Find Madeleine campaign manager, Mr McCann felt the venture had gone "extremely well".

She was appointed several weeks ago. Your deliberately misleading statement is intended to make it look as though poor old McCann has been doing all this by himself until recently.

"This is despite the fact Mr McCann had encountered some unexpectedly hostile questions, notably from Chris Cuomo, the Good Morning America breakfast show anchor."

Oh I see. Gerry McCann has a high profile campaign manager, a high ranking media guru, and neither of them felt inclined to insist on the common practice of having questions submitted in advance.

In any case, why on earth would the questions be unexpected? The fact that Maddy was left alone is one of the key aspects in this case and open to valid and legitimate questioning. Unlike the British media, overseas journalists do not lie down like whores for the McCanns. His advisors should have identified and taken measures to negate such foreseeable issues.

The American media were forewarned with an email campaign initiated by those concerned enough about seeking justice for Madeleine. The campaign was conducted with dignity, sincerity and eloquence. Unlike the British national and regional media, I can produce evidence to back up my claims.

From a strategy point of view, do you really think it is a good idea to get up the noses of the world's most powerful media by insulting them for doing their job the way it should be done?
They will now be more inclined to work against you instead of with you.

"And yet, besides highlighting Madeleine's abduction on all four networked TV channels (ABC prefaced its coverage with clips of Britsofthe-moment J. K. Rowling and David Beckham making appeals for information, there were many other pluses."

In other words, it was a dismal failure that left Americans shaking their heads in disbelief at the stupidity of the man.

"He lobbied senior statesmen on Capitol Hill, including U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, who pledged to do all he could. He even met close aides to First Lady Laura Bush."

He met Laura's aids because she snubbed McCann. She had no problem going to Paris for a meeting hosted by Gerry's new benefactors. Even The Wiggles and Bindi Irwin are more admired in the US.

"That said, however, watching him assume his unwanted ambassadorial role with such purpose and vigour, it was impossible to avoid contrasting his demeanour with that of his wife, Kate, who waited - forlorn, as ever - in the blisteringly hot Algarve."

Unwanted? Why didn't he just so "no" in that case. The same way he said no to babysitting services and the offer of a private investigator.

"Each morning, Kate returns to the scene of Madeleine's abduction to drop off her two-year-old twins, Shaun and Amelie, at the creche."

Nothing like spending quality time with children who have lost a sister is there.

"There she sat alone on the rocks, clutching Madeleine's pink Cuddle Cat toy as always, and gazing out at the Atlantic."

Ah good old Cuddle Cat, the most famous toy in history. Travels everywhere with Kate, unlike her daughter. I hope to God she never loses Cuddle Cat, we will never hear the bloody end of it.

"Then she wandered back up the hill to the villa, a wraith among the throngs of cheerful tourists"

Aaw that's simply beautiful. Hallmark want you to give them a call.

"If her husband had manufactured a veneer of durability for the U.S. TV cameras"

Veneer? Is that anything to do with sticky-back-plastic?

"Thinner than ever, she has developed a stoop, as though the emotional burden she carries is strapped across her shoulders."

She ought to see a doctor. I hear there is a tapas bar near by where she can find one. She would not have had an emotional burden if she had practised responsible parenting as defined by the community at large. I will save my sympathy for someone who actually deserves it.

"How was she bearing up, I asked tentatively, shaking her limp hand and wishing her well."

Ah - a limp hand. Is that why there is never any emotion when the photographers instruct the McCanns to hold hands. Now I know.

"She forced a faint smile. "Yeah...well...thanks," were the only words she could summon."

Now I know who you are. You're an Australian country and western lyricist. Glad to see her eminent university taught communication skills. I was led to believe by McCann supporters that doctors were taught how to handle stress.

"When Mr McCann flew to Washington via London last Sunday night, his wife hugged him so tightly at the airport that it seemed she couldn't bear to let him go"

Maybe she thought he'd taken Cuddle Cat with him.

"Reportedly, he phoned constantly from the U.S. to reassure her."

Ah. To "touch base". I would have thought the word "reportedly" would be unnecessary. In most cases it would be taken for granted that a husband would do such a thing.

Why is it than whenever the McCanns act like ordinary parents, or Gerry acts like a normal husband, it's worthy of making the news?

"She's a wee bit lost," said Eileen."

Oh Gawd - not another thing he's lost!

"I know Gerry misses Madeleine terribly and he would be over the moon if he got her back."

Away on another fund raising campaign no doubt.

"How many people have stayed in their back gardens and put their children to bed?" she said."

How many people have put their children to bed, then went to a bar?

"I think Kate is thinking along the same lines as me: that the person planned it carefully and watched what went on."

Now this is rather interesting. In other words, we have it straight from Gerry's mum, that the parents routine was so regular as to be predictable. In other words, the alleged abductors knew the children would be left alone.

"The McCanns believes the chief suspect, Robert Murat, still has a lot of questions to answer. According to a Portuguese magazine yesterday, he has changed his alibi for the night Madeleine disappeared."

And Gerry has changed his version on numerous occasions. Does that make McCann a suspect? Oh no, of course not. Everything points to Murat doesn't it - despite the complete lack of any concrete or credible evidence against him.

"For 12 weeks, Kate has been supported by a rota of visiting relatives. Her sister-in-law Tricia Cameron, a redoubtable nurse who cooks wholesome meals and raises her spirits, has left her only once for a brief visit to Cambridge to see her son, Paul, graduate in medicine. Any day now, though, even Mrs Cameron and her teacher husband, Sandy, must say goodbye. But Kate has arranged for replacements to fly in."

Just your normal, typical grieving family.

"From the moment Madeleine went missing, a small section of the public criticised the McCanns for dining in a tapas bar 50 yards from the room where their children slept. They checked up on them every half-hour rather than make use of the Ocean Club's baby-sitting service.This week, however, what began as reproach became open hostility. It appears to have been whipped up by a series of dubious 'investigative' articles in the new Portuguese weekly newspaper Sol, which have found their way on to the internet."

Those articles appeared weeks ago and only now the mainstream media choose to mention it - and only becasue it suits their not-so-hidden agenda.

I note we are back to every half hour now are we? What happened to the "every hour" version? I wont even mention the 50 yards - that aspect is one of the most contentious issues and any professional journalist embarking on a damage control campaign, would avoid it like a plague - not keep shoving it in people's faces. If your client made the same claim on Australian TV, the first thing the host would do would be to flash up photographs of the area and McCann would end up roaring like a bull.

"Cruelly, and with scant substantiation, the paper portrays the McCann holiday party as more interested in playing tennis, and wining and dining, than looking after their children."

And you can substantiate that the children were checked every half hour can you? If they were not interested in wining and dining, why were they in a tapas bar while their children were left alone - not for the first time I might add.

"As the Portuguese police investigation has been widely criticised, these salacious articles may have been motivated by misplaced nationalistic revenge."

Maybe they were based on finding out the truth. A concept unknown to the spineless British media.

If you believe the articles to be salacious, in that case it would be quite easy for a journalist employed by a national daily, to take apart every claim. Why have you not attempted to do so? Why does Team McCann continuously make claims but never provide valid evidence to back them up. Insults are meaningless unless they can be proved.

Don't give me labels and insults - give me facts.

"But it seems someone at the heart of the inquiry was involved - they contain names and details not previously published."

Normally the names of those involved would have been brandished all over The Sun, from day one.

"Whatever the truth, understandably the McCanns are wounded, particularly Kate, whose mistrust of the media has been bitterly confirmed"

You didn't specify which media. Is her mistrust all embracing or just restricted to those who don't follow the script?

"They have been stung, too, by other accusations which are so callous that their local paper, the Leicester Mercury, was compelled on Wednesday to block its on-line message facility for the couple"

Yet the failing Leicester Mercury, failed to produce any evidence - even when asked.

Instead of the UK media constantly referring to the now discredited Nick Carter and his local rag, why not point to blogs such as this one, where debate is reasoned, eloquent and devoid of the sort of language and tactics so beloved by the organised online team of McCann supporters?

"This week, however, when I spoke to Philomena, she felt compelled to defend her brother and sister-in-law. "People talk about Team McCann - they think it's orchestrated. That's nonsense. It's bits and pieces, and pals pulling together," she said.

Bits and pieces orchestrated by Justine McGuiness, good old Clarence and several communication and media companies.

"There hasn't been any kind of cynical campaign. It's just an amazing coming together. We've winged it and learned as we've gone along."

Two high profile professional media gurus have, "winged it" as they went along. Yes, I can actually believe that judging by the complete disaster the PR campaign has been so far and will continue to be.

After all Jones, that's why you wrote the article - to try to tackle the ever increasing doubt about the parents. Forced to act by the effectiveness of a campaign launched by the new media - the one that is a threat to traditional mainstream media.

"She cited the Find Madeleine website, with its haunting footage, Gerry's daily blog, an on-line store selling yellow bracelets for a £2 donation and a diary of forthcoming events, all set to the Bryan Adams song (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. Remarkably professional looking, it was created by 19-year-old Callum McCrae, one of Philomena's former pupils."

Remarkably professional looking? It's a basic out of the box website!

"It needs only one greedy, unscrupulous character to come forward," said Philomena McCann."

Come on down Gerry.

"So the campaign will go on, whatever anyone says. Those who say we just want to appear on telly should get a life. Can you imagine stopping looking for your daughter?"

Ah, there's the good old "get a life" routine made famous by Team McCann and the keyboard monkeys who are now openly admitting they have been paid to harass those who speak out against the McCanns. Why don't you do a story about that Jones? We have the ball if you are man enough to run with it.

"Already plans are in place for the next big showpiece event, to mark the 100th day of Madeleine's disappearance on August 11."

How caring to look that far ahead.

Gerry's mother: "They are saying that all that matters is the twins until they get Madeleine back."

According to Gerry's mother, that means that once Madeleine is back, the twins will be forced to take a back seat. Is there just one person in that whole family who has any idea of communication skills?

"Every night, before going to sleep, they always say the same thing: Good night, Shaun. Good night, Amelie - and good night, Madeleine"

Oh God, now they have turned in to the Waltons.

"This touching family ritual is something the hate campaigners would do well to remember as they turn on Gerry and Kate McCann - a devoted father and mother, each struggling to survive through every parent's worst nightmare in their own, very individual way."

It would not have been a nightmare if they had not left their children alone night after night. That is something you Jones, should do well to remember.

By repeatedly referring to how the parents handle their grief in their own individual way, you are in fact telling me that Team McCann know there is a problem with the public's perception of the two, and are using people such as yourself to try to address it.

Let me know when you get to Chapter Two of your "Blue Peter How To Be A Journalist" text book.

The title of this post is a reference to Tom Paxton's "Daily News"

Daily News, daily blues
Pick up a copy any time you choose
Seven little pennies in the newsboy's hand
And you ride right along to never, never land