Madeleine McCann. How the public perception shifted

If there is one story that the whole world must have heard of by now in the last 6 months, it is the story of little Madeleine McCann and her disappearance in Portugal.



And little Madeleine couldn't have had a pair of more media-savvy parents than the McCanns. Within a few days, she was the number one story all over the world. There were pictures of her all over the place. Do you remember the few days that Google had that special McCann logo? The one where the "oo" in Google was made to look like the eyes of Madeleine, complete with the identifying mark on her iris?





But slowly, the public perception has shifted. I was talking to a friend who watched the first police appeal on TV and he said that as soon as he watched it he knew that "the parents killed her, man. It's obvious. Where [are] the tears? Huh? Why ain't they upset? Because they done her, man" Which I thought was a little strong, even for my heartless friend. But little by little, more information is leaking from the police into the hands of the media. And none of it makes for particularly pleasant reading.

Personally speaking, if I was in charge of the investigation, the first thing that I would do is make sure that there are no leaks. At all. Once this case is over, no matter what the verdict, nobody is going to come out of it with their reputation the same way it was, before the case. The portuguese police in particular. I mean, if you don't want to be outed in the press as a potential accidental child-killer, using information to speculate that is confidential, and should not be viewed by anyone but the police, don't go to Portugal. Just, don't do it.

But the McCann's haven't done themselves any favours. As soon as I heard the initial story, I thought it was quite the double standard. Middle class, well-to-do family, leave their 3 year-old, alone in their holiday apartment, which is unlocked, to have dinner with friends somewhere else. No matter which way you look at it, that is irresponsible parenting. I mean, I am not a parent, but I know a fair few young parents, and without exception, they tailor their life around the kids and all their various eating, sleeping and playing patterns. One of my friends who is a single-parent even said that "if that was me, a single parent from Brixton, on holiday, with my child at the hotel/holiday home whilst I was in a restaurant, the pope would not have been praying for me". Which I suppose is true.

It would have been social services investigating whether she was a fit mother. Or even worse, her other kids being taken into care.
But the McCann's have enjoyed a fairly lengthy favourable relationship with the press. But slowly, things are getting worse.



They are now being treated as suspects by the portuguese police. And doubts are coming in from all corners. I suppose the best way to illustrate the shift in public opinion is this. Edinburgh had a fringe festival, a few weeks ago. Edinburgh being the McCanns' home town. And a comedian made a completely tasteless McCann joke. And was booed off. I told the same joke in Glasgow on friday in a pub, the joke went around the pub and the whole pub laughed.

(There is a new hatchback car on the market. It has space for one child in the front, one in the back and one in the boot. It is called the Renault McCann). If you laugh at this joke, you're evil.

I suppose, the only thing that remains to be said, that no matter how improbable, I hope that that little girl is found alive and well.

yes me to i mean it is probably hurting them not knowing but ive never seen none of the mc canns cry yet wich that somes something up dosent it i mean they did hire a car 25 days later the dissapearence and there was maadeys blood in it how did it get maddies blood in it when she hired it 25 days later.