Missing Madeline - Anyone else sick of this?

simu

I haven't seen much about that story myself. But I don't watch Sky... mind-numbing and repetitive channel that it is.

LadyJ

I guess the more hype there is, the more nervous the kidnappers might get. However, it is a bit mad that they're spending hours just repeating the same information.

I do agree that there is not enough time spent on reporting all of the horrors taking place in the East though. They just flash by at the bottom of the screen. "80 people killed in explosion in Iraq" etc. I mean I know that it's a different situation and all that but as soon as anything terrible happens in the West it's headline news.

StephenC_IRL

im just plain sick of this, theres even a bebo theme, its really unfortunate she got kidnapped but at the same time will they just leave us alone, i bet the portugese media doesnt have a single news post about this, and thats where she got kidnapped, whats the use of posting it in irish media

drdre

Mairt wrote:

The person who finds this little girl will hardly be a "pleb".

And yes, €1.5m could save alot of lives in Africa (spent wisely). But it also gets far more killed.

The reward is nearly 2.6 million pound now.Lets go over and try find the girl.

Pigman II

drdre wrote:

The reward is nearly 2.6 million pound now.Lets go over and try find the girl.

Nah. I'm treating it like the lotto. I'm not going to play until it hits at least 5million.

drdre

Pigman II wrote:

Nah. I'm treating it like the lotto. I'm not going to play until it hits at least 5million.

hehhe Do you play every friday its usually over 5 million

seastar

StephenC_IRL wrote:

im just plain sick of this, theres even a bebo theme, its really unfortunate she got kidnapped but at the same time will they just leave us alone, i bet the portugese media doesnt have a single news post about this, and thats where she got kidnapped, whats the use of posting it in irish media

Apparently the Portugese media are giving it just as much attention. Fair enough if it doesn't mean anything to you, then don't watch it. It has definitely touched my heart and I check the net every few hours to see if she has been found. Guess it's because she reminds me of my niece

Zillah

Mordeth wrote:

al jazeera english and france 24 are both very good, sky digital has chinese, russian and indian 24 hour stations too that are well worth a gander every now and again.

and of course there's always fox.

*Tips his hat to Al Jazeera English*
Great news chanel.

*Gives the finger to Fox*
Awful shambles of a Conservative mess.

Mossy Monk

Zillah wrote:

*Tips his hat to Al Jazeera English*
Great news chanel.

*Gives the finger to Fox*
Awful shambles of a Conservative mess.

Agreed on both counts.

StephenC_IRL

seastar wrote:

Apparently the Portugese media are giving it just as much attention. Fair enough if it doesn't mean anything to you, then don't watch it. It has definitely touched my heart and I check the net every few hours to see if she has been found. Guess it's because she reminds me of my niece

thats the problem, i agree its sad and all but i think far far too much of the media is being dedicated to it, until shes found, or they give up digg and boards will be my only source of news

wyndham

The Scientist wrote:

I heard some business man has offered a million squid for anyone that finds her...
Cant help but think that guy has an alternative motive...

Indeed. It is usually the case in instances such as these that the reward available for the safe return of the child increases in a manner that is inversely proportional to the chance of a safe return. ie On day 1-3, the reward offered was 10,000stg (Family/Friends), day 4-6 reward was 100,000stg (Tabloid), day 7; 1-2mStg. Day 1-3 was obviously when the odds of a safe return was greatest.

Gingervitis

Looks like another case of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_white_woman_syndrome
maybe a bit unfeeling, but worth noting...

Capt'n Midnight

luckat wrote:

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.

not so sure about the milk cartons - that would just terrify kids, maybe beer bottles or cigarette packets

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

or the back of porn dvds

I have to agree with the OP. It's not exactly news any more. Maybe when they find her they could give five minutes coverage but this constant coverage is just annoying.

Sure it's a tragedy, but it's one which could have easily been avoided. Her parents are to blame, through their own stupidity and neglect.

We may be cold, cynical, bast*rds but lets face it, thousands of children go missing every year, why should her story be any more important than the ones we hear nothing about?

Nephew

Sky were doing a live feed with relatives up in Scotland yesterday, it must have been recorded outside Celtic Park because the whole family were decked out in Celtic hats, shirts and tracksuits holding up copies of The Sun.

I just thought it was funny more than anything.

Wisheress

Gingervitis wrote:

Looks like another case of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_white_woman_syndrome
maybe a bit unfeeling, but worth noting...

Brilliant

Fighting Irish

whiskeyman wrote:

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.

Its not long since she was taken, so there best bet is to have the story everywhere incase someone remembers something etc etc

crosstownk

Everbody, anywhere that gives a fúck is doing their utmost to play their part in finding little Madeline. Fair play to them I say. If you don't want to hear/see the coverage then change the channel and STFU. If my 3 year old daughter went missing I'd be hoping for the same coverage.

source

Yeah and what about all the other people in Ireland and the UK who's children, husbands, wives, sisters and brothers have gone missing, and didn't recieve this much attention in the media????? I wonder how they feel when they see all this publicity for one missing person, even if it is for a missing child.

I bet they feel like **** when they turn on sky news and see the little girls face plastered all over it....I mean don't get me wrong, it is a f*cked up situation and one that girl or her parents should never have had to go through and I definately hope that family get their little girl back, but stop parading her all over the news unless you're gonna do the same for the hundereds of other families in a similar situation.

stepbar

4 years olds dont just go missing everyday. Christ, the attidute of some people round here is sick. People giving out about the coverage in the media when there's a family out there missing their child, god knows what they are going through. Some of ye need to grow up.

bug

foinse wrote:

Yeah and what about all the other people in Ireland and the UK who's children, husbands, wives, sisters and brothers have gone missing, and didn't recieve this much attention in the media????? I wonder how they feel when they see all this publicity for one missing person, even if it is for a missing child.

I bet they feel like **** when they turn on sky news and see the little girls face plastered all over it....I mean don't get me wrong, it is a f*cked up situation and one that girl or her parents should never have had to go through and I definately hope that family get their little girl back, but stop parading her all over the news unless you're gonna do the same for the hundereds of other families in a similar situation.

funny that you should say that, for whatever reason the other night I visited the irish missing persons site and trawled through all the photos, after watching the news about the little girl.
Something I would never do.

I thought of all the people missing and that this particular case highlighted the pain of all families where an individual goes missing, and had a quick look over the faces.

My point being that the media coverage of this case may be beneficial to all missing persons.
Funny that the original poster didn't think beyond his/her little box in that respect.

On an individual level we cant really control pestilence, famine or war unless we want to throw our pennies at the matter or go and volunteer, protest etc.
This case presents something we, the daily joe soap, can do, which is help other families by looking over photos and for those in the countries where she might be, keep a close eye out.
I personally think this has highlighted the plight of all families with missing persons or children, and fuk, if it puts away a possible paedophile ring I'll watch sky news do what they do best, repeat information to get it to the masses.

To be honest it also highlights something very important to most people, which is protection of the family, and awareness of the importance of keeping children safe, which is beneficial for society IMO.

Go and watch another news channel, you have the freedom of choice. When the cricket or the football is on constantly that's what I do, I don't whinge about it on boards.

Savman

Obviously time is of the essence here, but I regret to say I have never been in Portugal so sending me emails with this little girl's picture and a phone number will do nothing except make me feel guilty for pressing delete.
Of course I care about missing kids and I genuinely hope she surfaces alive and well, but I can also understand the sentiments expressed by people so far.
There does seem to be an air of band-wagon jumping, which itself is as disrespectful as apathy.

I've nothing against high profile cases getting airtime on Sky or whatever, but I just feel that the same media opportunities aren't open to the many other such tragedies that happen daily.

rannerap

I work in a shop and almost every front page over the last week or two has been the same over and over its starting to get annoying,i know its terrible and all but come on

strychnine

Zillah wrote:

*Tips his hat to Al Jazeera English*
Great news chanel.

*Gives the finger to Fox*
Awful shambles of a Conservative mess.

This debate about sky news versus the rest is pointless, the people who watch sky news want to hear about this little girl, sky news is there to make money so they play what the audience wants to watch. Same applies to fox, its the free world, they can cover whatever they want.

Also remember, we dont live in africa or the middle east, we live in the west. How much coverage is this story getting in Somalia right now? Probably none.

smemon

the question is - when do the media pull the plug on the story? It can't go on for ever. If she's not found, eventually sky will have to pull out of portugal and drop the story..

can't see that being done for a few months yet though.. it does get annoying (all the coverage) but then again, it annoys me for what - 5 seconds? - if that 5 seconds can potentially rescue an innocent child, then i'll gladly surrender those 5 seconds

i'm sure most people here don't mean to come across so heartless.. we just have an over honest way of putting things

strychnine

Sky will pull the plug on it when they feel people are tiring of it or if there are no new results in the next few days. Definitily by friday they will have wrapped this up, whether shes found or not. It sounds cruel, but thats the reality of commercially driven news coverage.

Obvioulsy everyone wants a happy ending for this, and if sky or any other tabloids can bring that about then all the better.

Overlord

I'm amazed people feel so strongly about the media trying hard to get a little girl freed. To be honest it shows how many people have f**k all to do each day than complain about the media perhaps doing something out of the ordinary that might help a young child. She's probably sold or dead. I for one am glad to see that the media can make at least a show of caring beyond the usual.

Hagar

Not altogether in touch with all the events...

When I heard that the kid had been left with siblings I thought at first that there were older brothers or sisters involved and that they must have been devastated that the little girl was kdnapped while they were minding here. Then I find out yesterday that she was left with her 2 yr old twin sister's :eek: . Who in the name of God would leave 3 children under 4 alone anywhere never mind a foreign country? I'd say when all the hype blows over these people will have a few questions to answer from the UK Social Services.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Hagar wrote:

Not altogether in touch with all the events...

When I heard that the kid had been left with siblings I thought at first that there were older brothers or sisters involved and that they must have been devastated that the little girl was kdnapped while they were minding here. Then I find out yesterday that she was left with her 2 yr old twin sister's :eek: . Who in the name of God would leave 3 children under 4 alone anywhere never mind a foreign country? I'd say when all the hype blows over these people will have a few questions to answer from the UK Social Services.

That may well be the case. But in the mean time there's a little girl missing, and god only know's her faith at this stage.

The attitude of some of the people in this discussion is pretty sad, but the worse one is probably the member who wants missing childrens photos put on the back of his porn DVD's, god only know's why.

Like I said in an earlier post. I can only presume most of the negative comments in this thread are made by teenagers or very immature males with little or no 'real life experiences' ouside of college and off mammy's teaties.