Missing Madeline - Anyone else sick of this?

whiskeyman · 12-05-2007 4:04pm #1

Ok, this post is probably going to get a lot of hostile debate, but I feel strongly about this. I guess I could have posted this is News/Media, or humanities, but since it's getting so much coverage, this is probably the best place.

Firstly, I do think it's terrible that a little girl has gone missing, but I think the coverage and how a lot of people are taking to this story is way over the top. She's only one little girl. The media are as guilty in this story, giving us way too much details about her life and her parents. We seem to have an odd facination with stories like this. It's almost a morbid one. I remember listening to a comment of a colleague that she didn't think the mother seemed 'sad enough' during a press conference. How the hell does she know what it's like to have a daughter kidnapped or missing?? The child's first name is being use constantly, as if she's one of our own children or little friends. I just find all the coverage sickening at this stage. Sky News even have a montage during the bulletins and spend the first 20 mins of last nights 10pm news on the story. We're getting TV reports from church servies in Scotland and all sorts of interviews with priests and nannys. I just find it sickening at this stage.
Just wondering if anyone else feels the same? It's not something you can really tell some people, as they'll just think you're a cold hearted b*stard, but their just missing the point completely.

eirebhoy · 12-05-2007 4:06pm

The parents want to keep her in the media. They're ringing everyone under the sun.

RuggieBear · 12-05-2007 4:07pm

It's a sad story but it's not worthy of all this media attention.

zAbbo · 12-05-2007 4:08pm

cold hearted bastard to post it in AH to gain more exposure, ironic eh.

WindSock · 12-05-2007 4:10pm

I'm more interested in it then anything else in the news the last week. Probably because many of us can relate to it in some way. I cant relate to anything about the elections or whatever, and the Nurses strike is getting a bit old at this stage.

St Bill · 12-05-2007 4:12pm

Yeah there is a lot of information about Madeleine, count yourself lucky though that you seem to have little to be worried about. Well, little I'm guessing compared to what her parents are going through

Binomate · 12-05-2007 4:14pm

boreds wrote:

I'm more interested in it then anything else in the news the last week. Probably because many of us can relate to it in some way. I cant relate to anything about the elections or whatever, and the Nurses strike is getting a bit old at this stage.

You can relate to a little girl getting kidnapped?

skywalker · 12-05-2007 4:23pm

whiskeyman wrote:

The child's first name is being use constantly, as if she's one of our own children or little friends.

Presumably thats the thing about how they always refer to any kidnap victim by their first name as much as possible to try and force the kidnappers to view them as a person rather than an object.

tallaght01 · 12-05-2007 4:23pm

I made similiar arguments to this during the fallout from 9/11. It made people very annoyed, probably quite rightly. I kept saying that there's effectively "a 9/11" in the developing world every week etc etc and that it was preventable etc etc.
The same could be said about this case. There are children taken from their familes in Africa and India, aswell as other countries around the world every single day. They are often sold on for puropses that would make your stomach turn. We rarely hear about this.
There are children dying every few minutes in places like Darfur of hunger, AIDS, malaria and simple things like diarrhoea.
However, the right time to make these points is not during the "acute phase" of a big story like that of Madeleine. These are points for discussion after she's hopefully found safe and well.
It's not like there would be stories of all the other atrocities happening to kids around the world on the news if she weren't dominating the headlines. Instead we'd just be hearing about Tony Blair's resignation, or some other such nonsense.
So, while I see you point to an extent, I think this is the wrong time to make it. The British public are not accustomed to things like this happening to their citizens, so they are understandably upset.

Endurance Man · 12-05-2007 4:26pm

Its a load of bollox, children are going missing every day, why is this child different?

Zaph · 12-05-2007 4:26pm

skywalker wrote:

Presumably thats the thing about how they always refer to any kidnap victim by their first name as much as possible to try and force the kidnappers to view them as a person rather than an object.

But presumably the kidnappers are in Portugal and aren't watching Sky News. I'd be interested to know how much coverage this story is getting in the Portugese media.

Call Me Jimmy · 12-05-2007 4:31pm

Binomate wrote:

You can relate to a little girl getting kidnapped?

wtf of course, anyone with a daughter or little sister knows what it's like to worry about them and know that if they were in the situation the parents are in they'd be doing the exact same thing.

BigTommyBomb · 12-05-2007 4:32pm

Lots of little boys and girls die in Iraq everyday but I suppose thats not very newsworthy as they aren't british and they are killed and not kidnapped by paedos.

Msfc · 12-05-2007 4:33pm

Dont watch Sky News then if your sick of this story. The only reason the media is giving loads of details about the child is beacuse her parents want everyone to know about her in the hope that somebody might recognise her and theyll get her back.
Id rather watch news about Madeline then watching them politicians.

drdre · 12-05-2007 4:34pm

RuggieBear wrote:

It's a sad story but it's not worthy of all this media attention.

Yes you said it right

Yakuza · 12-05-2007 4:36pm

It's getting decent coverage in Spain; I'm there rignt now.

I've a five-year old daughter (and a 3-day old son!), if (God forbid) anything like that happened to either of them, I'd move heaven and earth to keep awareness up, if that would aid in their recovery.

luckat · 12-05-2007 4:36pm

True enough - hundreds of immigrant children are going missing in the 'care' of the HSE and there isn't this kind of campaign.

Of course there should be a campaign - we should have missing-kids pics on the milk cartons like the Americans - but it shouldn't only be for pretty little blondes with doctor parents. Poor little mite.

6ix · 12-05-2007 4:37pm

zaph wrote:

But presumably the kidnappers are in Portugal and aren't watching Sky News. I'd be interested to know how much coverage this story is getting in the Portugese media.

Here's a Portugese newspaper with Eusebio on the front.

humbert · 12-05-2007 4:37pm

Emotional stuff always gets viewers, even with big disasters the news, sky being one of the worst, focuses on individual cases to get viewers.

Mossy Monk · 12-05-2007 4:42pm

Msfc wrote:

Dont watch Sky News then if your sick of this story

Indeed. I don't see how people can watch that over sensationalist crap.

6ix · 12-05-2007 4:44pm

Mossy Monk wrote:

Indeed. I don't see how people can watch that over sensationalist crap.

Yeah, I don't know one person who watches Sky News tbh. When it was first available, it was a novelty to have rolling news. Now it's just incredibly biased and repetitive tripe like a lot of the media.

jonnybax · 12-05-2007 5:10pm

If it'll help get her back, what's the problem?

A a three-year-old girl being kidnapped and a soldier being killed in Iraq is completely incomparable.

Giblet · 12-05-2007 5:26pm

Ah you're all cynical bastards, just change the channel. It's hardly bothering you that much.

Heisenberg. · 12-05-2007 5:28pm

This post has been deleted.

Tha Gopher · 12-05-2007 5:44pm

tallaght01 wrote:

I made similiar arguments to this during the fallout from 9/11. It made people very annoyed, probably quite rightly. I kept saying that there's effectively "a 9/11" in the developing world every week etc etc and that it was preventable etc etc.

We are well used to natural disasters and famines. What we werent used to was an attack straight out of a film plot. A 4 figure death toll in the worlds most famous city. The shock that they managed to get 4 planes. I actually remember that it was around Christmas 2001 before I had seen a single day of news that didnt show the smouldering wreckage of the towers.

BigTommyBomb · 12-05-2007 5:46pm

I personally couldnt give a **** about anybody elses life unless I know them personally. If you are going to pretend to feel human empathy then it should be equal for all people of the world and for all ages/sex etc.

PinkPrincess26 · 12-05-2007 5:49pm

Whiskeyman is obviously not a parent and hopefully will never become one..... your child is the most precious person in the world. her parents are tryig to keep the littles girls face in everyones mind incase someone somewere spots her or remembers something about the night she went missing...

BigTommyBomb · 12-05-2007 5:52pm

Whiskeyman is obviously not a parent and hopefully will never become one..... your child is the most precious person in the world.

It might be to you but not to the rest of us. A child is just another person in a world of billions. Nothing special at all about them

andrew · 12-05-2007 6:02pm

I think storys regarding kids in the developing world aren't reported for the same reason that the OP is making this thread - hearing about kids for which pretty much nothing can be done just makes people desensitized, and this is whats happened with the 3rd world kidnappings etc.its famine fatigue.

Mr.Nice Guy · 12-05-2007 6:24pm

BigTommyBomb wrote:

It might be to you but not to the rest of us. A child is just another person in a world of billions. Nothing special at all about them

The funny thing is this guy's actually a teacher.

kensutz · 12-05-2007 6:29pm

I wouldn't believe him being a teacher one bit

Missing Madeline - Anyone else sick of this?

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