Monday 11 April 2016

THE PRESS AT WORK


Daily Express

Sunday June 3, 2007
By Jason Groves

ROCK legend Sir Elton John is being lined up to front a global pop concert, to carry the message of missing Madeleine McCann’s plight to every corner of the earth.


It is hoped the singer will headline a huge series of worldwide events to mark a special Madeleine Day that her distraught parents are planning in the effort to find the vanished four-year-old. Sir Elton’s popular appeal is guaranteed to attract a swarm of other film and music superstars keen to offer support to parents Gerry and Kate McCann.


The couple, having promised not to return home until they are reunited with Madeleine, are now planning a series of visits to European and North African cities, to distribute posters and widen the appeal for information.


Sir Elton has played an emotional DVD of Madeline at his concerts, but now believes a larger effort would do more to raise awareness of her predicament.


Gerry McCann, 38, said: “One of the ideas is maybe getting all the people who have publicly supported us to come together. I don’t just mean from the UK but from different parts of the world. We want a big event to raise awareness that she is still missing.


“We would look at high-profile people who have already pledged support. It will be some sort of focus around an anniversary, to tell people that Madeleine ’s still missing. I think it would be later this year, once media attention has dropped, to bring it back up, hopefully, for a short period.
It wouldn’t be a one-year anniversary, it will be sooner than that. What we’re doing at the minute has its role but doing that down the line in a few months won’t have anything like the same impact. We might have a sporting event, something arts, something music.


"We’ve had backing from sporting people up to now. We have had backing from certain musical celebrities as well. We’ve got some other musical contacts that we are exploring, who are happy to offer support.


“We’re not saying it would necessarily be one big concert, it might be that on a certain day they are playing her DVD.


“What we want at the current time is maximum message out there now, about her disappearance but then just events to bring it back up occasionally just to remind people, if she’s not found.”
A month after the sleeping Madeleine was snatched from her bed, Gerry and Kate McCann have betrayed the first signs that their hopes of finding her alive are starting to fade.


The couple confessed that they are haunted by the harrowing thought of her being held captive by a pervert. Still desperately clinging to Madeleine ’s pink Cuddle Cat, 38-year-old Kate said: “We don’t know where she is. We’d like to think she’s still in Portugal, she might still be in Portugal.


“But we know there’s a possibility she’s gone over the border – or several borders. We know there are bad people out there, but we know there are also a lot of sad people. We hope it’s the latter.”
Gerry added: “Of course we believe Madeleine is still alive but you would be incredible if you hadn’t considered the worst scenario, that she’s dead.


Kate and I discuss it – not a lot, but we talk about hope, and that while there’s some we will not give up. At the minute, there’s loads of hope.”
unquote



This article (long since whooshed) is full of information. Sir Elton appears to have been assigned  the leading role in the projected festivities  although it isn’t at all clear whether he was aware that he was to be the star of the anniversary celebrations,  he is not quoted anywhere. There are no comments from Sir Elton nor from his management team. The article neatly conveys a close contact between the rock star and Team McCann, particularly by discussing what Sir Elton believes that larger efforts are needed. However,  it all seems to have gone out like a candle in the wind', that handy stand-by of Sir Elton which with a small change of text can be dedicated to the cause of the moment.


A mere month after the disappearance the McCanns admit  that Maddie being held captive by a pervert haunts them. Although they have considered the possibility that she might be dead, they do believe she is alive and  as Gerry’s favourite mantra is that she must be alive because there is no evidence that she has come to any harm  – a statement that defies logic -  – this implies that even if she was taken by a pervert they think it very possible that she will not be harmed.


Many sightings tend to coincide with high or low points in the lives of the McCanns.  Some of these are regurgitated on appropriate occasions, close to the anniversary of the disappearance. Other sightings served to distract from other Madeleine related news such as negative reports from the court in Lisbon.

Below a short list of headlines preceding the 3rd of May:


April 10 2008:  McCanns launch child alert   - The Sun

April 10 2009:  Madeleine cash to dry up by end of year  -  Daily Mirror

April 10 2010:  Maddie perv dies with his secrets  - The Sun ( four months after Hewlet died)

April 10 2011:  JK Rowling helps Kate McCann write book on Maddy’s disappearance in bid to raise £ m to find her  - Daily Mail

April 8 2012:  Yard: We can solve Maddie Mystery  - Sunday Express

April 10 2013:  Suspect who ‘tried to kidnap a British girl, 3 after luring her away from her father in a shop in Lanzarote’  - Daily Mail  (story was more than 14 months old)

11 April 2014:  Maddie lookalike taken from family home in copycat snatch -  Daily Star
29 April 2015:  Detective did lie about Maddie cover-up claim -  Daily Express 29 April 2015

10 March 2016:  Investigator who claimed Madeleine McCann was in Paraguay ‘made grave error’ and could have alerted the kidnapper  - Daily Mirror


As can be seen from the list above, most of  these headlines tend to appear some 3 weeks before the ‘anniversary’  providing advance publicity – priming the public one might say -  for the inevitable 3rd of May headlines in the tabloids and  interviews or soundbites from the doctors McCann.
And here is the one we were waiting for:
18th April 2016:  We hope to find Maddie ALIVE....

3 comments:

  1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1568300/Prayers-for-Madeleine-McCann-six-months-on.html

    "The restrained nature of last night's service signalled a shift away from the high-profile approach previously favoured by the McCanns and their media advisers. Plans for a global "Madeleine Day", featuring the likes of Elton John, JK Rowling and the former American president Bill Clinton, appear to have been quietly shelved, along with plans for further public appearances by the couple.
    Three days ago, Gerry returned to his job as a heart specialist at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester. Kate, a part-time GP in nearby Melton Mowbray, was reported last week to be looking for a new job in the field of child welfare."

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  2. There never was any confirmation from Elton John or any of the others short-listed to star in the McCann's 'global Madeleine day' . David Beckham for one, never repeated his appeal and Gerry dismisses the sporting people in favour of 'arts and music' plus an ex- president of the US.

    The mention of no further public appearances only makes one wonder what on earth the purpose was of the ones to Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid and Morocco.
    Giving the PJ. All information on Madeleine they asked for, such as her health records which were denied, would have been a better idea.

    I love the last paragraph, Gerry back to saving lives and Kate specialising in child welfare.

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  3. Interestingly Elton John is listed as a client of Carter Ruck - another one of those classic coincidences (makes you wonder when Ed Smethurst appeared) - as is Cat Stevens. Bryan Adams is the only artist I've heard of that supported them initially. Perhaps after Kate plugging "Doncha" she thought Pussycat Dolls might offer support or the Rolling Stones with their No Stone Unturned album. Also curious that Bono of U2 who was a friend of Sir Clement and who has something to say about everything remained curiously silent on the subject of Madeleine.

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