• Issue 2

Her picture is everywhere and her story has dominated the news since 3 May. No forms of media have been exempt from the ongoing coverage of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann, who has captured the hearts of millions.

Yet the story reveals unprecedented aspects of the media as the ideas and views of bloggers come directly into the mainstream media.

"The UK coverage was very emotional, but then so was the public response," said Charlie Beckett, director of Polis Media research centre. "The media and the establishment in this country were slow to realise how moved the British public was when Diana died."

Yet what is it about the Maddie story that has captured the British public's mind for a month?

Stewart Purvis, media professor at London's City University points out that this story capitvated the public becuase: "This nightmare scenario can happen to any British family, anywhere, in Britain, Portugal or elsewhere."

In the journalism world, it appeared in all media outlets because "the story works for the tabloids, but also for the Guardian and for the Times," Purvis added.

Over the past three weeks, the campaign and media coverage around Maddie has continued to seize the public's imagination unlike any other issue. "The story was more interesting than politics," said Beckett who explained how its importance exceeded the appeal of many key domestic stories.

Yet Purvis said the momentum of the story sped up as it got the support of national celebrities. "In other words, there are two elements, the celebrities the British found an interest in and the human element of a story which cut the social boundaries of an ordinary crime."

The progress revealed striking dichotomies that have never been shown before in media. The less progress the police investigation made the more coverage it has attracted.

"Much of the reporting lacked facts, but in a 24-hour news world the public wants to be kept updated about major stories even if little has moved," Beckett said.

Over the past four weeks, the reactions to the disappearance have gone far beyond personal feelings and sypmapty.

Mainstream media and bloggers started to accuse the Portuguese authorities' investigation style of being too old or outdated, so they wrote news based on speculation and anonymous emails.

The British media has become so frantic in its coverage of the Maddie story that it has spawned a Portuguese website devoted to correcting their excesses.

Paulo Reis, the website's creator, is furious at the allegations that the Portuguese police have been lazy or incompetent. He describes the UK media in the Algarve and Sky News' Martin Brunt in particular as "howling, blood-thirsty British tabloid journalists, willing to kill - or let someone be killed - to have a story. That's OK with me, as long as you keep this low form of life inside your country and don't export it to Portugal."

Meanwhile Martin Belam, a British ex-pat in Greece, said on his blog: "I have been following the way this story has been developing in the UK - it looks from here like you are really having another Diana moment".

Yet he thought the measures taken will not make much difference and are distracting people from more pressing matters. "Videos at the F.A. Cup Final? Appeal funds raising money that could inoculate hundreds of thousands of children in Africa yet will do nothing to help find the girl in question? It all looks very odd from over here - it hasn't made the news in Greece at all."
 

picture by malias