GMC's verdict on his family media coverage
BBC News - 25.08.2007
transcrit par Nigel Moore
transcrit par Nigel Moore
Nick Higham : Gerry McCann, why did you want
to come here, to a conference of television executives?
Gerald MC :
I think the first thing
to say, Nick, is that when I actually agreed to do it, errr... we hadn't
predicted what was going
to happen to,
errr... the degree of coverage, and really the reason I'm here was
primarily to... to tell people
that Madeleine is still
missing and we're still looking for her, and particularly to touch an
international, errr... audience,
errr... what I didn't
expect was there to be such intense coverage of the news story for such a
long time. (8)
NH : Why do you think that is?
GMC : I think,
errr... that there is
undoubtedly a huge desire for people to: One, want to find Madeleine,
but to know what's happening,
errm... but there
clearly is a lot of pressure on people to write things just now, because
they're in Portugal, when there's
not actually very much
happening. (9)
NH : Do
you feel in some ways that you've
unleashed a monster? In
the very early stages you were desperate for publicity and you,
errr.... courted publicity, very
effectively. Now do you
feel it's run away from you?
GMC : I... I think
... I think that's far
too simplistic. There was a huge media presence in Praia da Luz on Day
One before we really had
done anything. All we
did was to make a conscious decision to interact with the media and,
errr... to raise awareness
of Madeleine's
disappearance and, errm... I never, ever expected and, errr... don't
think it's necessarily beneficial
to have constant
coverage, errr... what we just want is - given the huge saturation
particularly in the UK and also in Portugal
- what we really just
want to do... I mean we hope it never gets there, but if Madeleine is
still missing we just want
to remind people, from
time to time, infrequently now, that she is still missing and we're
still looking. (10)
NH : From the outside, it appears that you've been running, candidly,
crudely, a very professional
campaign with a lot of
very experienced public relations professionals and so on; I mean
clearly that is accidental but how
did that come about?
GMC : Well it... it's not at all, you know, we're just, errm... happen
to be a fairly ordinary
family, errr... some of whom were quite good at, errr... speaking on
television. Of course, we
had advice at the
beginning, errr... from the PR people brought in by Mark Warner, Alex
Woolfall, who gave us some excellent
advice, you know, "What
are your objectives and how's it going to help your search for
Madeleine?", and then the... due
to the massive media
demand going on us, not the other way round, not us asking for
media, errr... we were advised that,
errm... we should have
a... a family spokesperson and we asked the Foreign Office to provide
that, errr... and they
did support us and that
was very, very important to protect us from the media and what has been
incredibly difficult emotional
circumstances. And then
we... we of course did decide that we needed someone to help advise
us, errr.... longer term
for our campaign, and,
errr... with Madeleine's Fund we decided to appoint a campaign manager,
and I have to say, we appointed
somebody to plan our
strategy sort of medium and long term, if it was needed, but actually
her job has been full-time handling
the media. (11)
NH : Would you like the media then now to go away? What do you
want to happen over the
coming weeks and months apart obviously from getting Madeleine back?
GMC : I think the key thing is
that, errm... what we would ask is that this... this story, Madeleine's
disappearance and investigation,
is reported responsibly,
and only newsworthy material being reported.
NH : So you would like much less coverage?
GMC : Absolutely, because, you know,
there has been huge amounts written with no substance.
NH : How stressful
have you found it and has Kate found it?
GMC : Madeleine
being missing has been
incredibly stressful, errm... being under a media spotlight, errr... has
added to that and
at times, leading up to
the 100 days that did reach fever pitch and we felt very much,
errr... badgered and, errr...
unfairly I suppose as
well, errr... and probably something that we were prepared for in the
first week or two, which didn't
actually happen, to
have, errr... as it approached the 100 days we... we weren't prepared
for, but things have gone back
to a degree of normality
again and some calmness has, errr... settled in, largely as a result of
the Portuguese police
official spokesperson,
and that's what I would ask people to look at, is what is being said
officially: That we
are not suspects, that
there is no evidence that we are involved in Madeleine's disappearance,
and, if there was, that the
police would have to
declare us as suspects. That's Portuguese law. And compare that to
what's actually being written and
covered. The two do not
bear comparison.(12)
(8) Le journaliste demande
pourquoi Gerald MC a voulu assister à une conférence de directeurs de
chaînes TV et Gerald répond qu'il a accepté d'y assister.. Spontanément
invité ou invité sur sollicitation, les démarches datent de début juin
(là encore, Gerald semble avoir su lire dans le Grand Livre). La
conférence des directeurs exécutifs de chaînes TV était-il le lieu
adéquat pour faire savoir que Madeleine continuait disparue ?
(9) Le mal est que, lorsque rien n'arrive, il faut faire advenir quelque chose, la presse a horreur du vide.
(10) Gerald MC a-t-il joué les apprentis sorciers ? Autrement dit, son contrôle des médias est-il en train de vaciller ? Une fois de plus Gerald se défend d'être à l'origine du cirque médiatique. Et pourtant la presse à sensation britannique se serait-elle déplacée à Praia da Luz si, au lieu de persiennes et fenêtre forcées et d'une enfant enlevée de son lit, ils avaient su que des parents avaient laissé leurs petits enfants sans surveillance et sans fermer la porte pendant qu'ils dînaient au restaurant ?
(11) Ils
n'ont fait que répondre à une demande massive et ils l'ont fait dans
l'intérêt de Madeleine. Où on apprend qu'on (Alex Woolfall ?) leur a
conseillé d'avoir un porte-parole pour se protéger des médias et qu'ils
en ont demandé un au FO, qui a obtempéré immédiatement (Sheree Dodd est
arrivée le 6 mai).
(12) Trêve de sous-entendus
(ils se sont sentis harcelés, ils n'y étaient pas préparés), le
porte-parole de la police portugaise l'a dit, ils ne sont pas suspects,
rien n'indique qu'ils soient impliqués dans la disparition de
Madeleine. Voir note (4).
Réactions médiatiques à la disparition de MMC
Kirsty Wark - Ariel (BBC magazine) - 21.08.2007
It has become the picture that nobody tears down, Madeleine McCann's angelic face on posters downloaded and printed by people all over the world and stuck up in supermarkets, train stations, on airport jetties and in cinema foyers. The picture is emblazoned across Jonny Wilkinson's jersey, on Premier League team strips, and on Ewan MacGregor's bike. Madeleine McCann is everywhere, and nowhere.
I can't think of any other story, so prominent for so long, where there are so few facts.TV reporters have done thousands of pieces to camera eeking out the few reliable details, newspapers have contained screeds about the McCanns whose faces are as well known as many celebrities. The last time I typed their daughter's name on Google it offered up more than two million pages.
Sustaining interest
I can't think of any other story, so prominent for so long, where there are so few facts.TV reporters have done thousands of pieces to camera eeking out the few reliable details, newspapers have contained screeds about the McCanns whose faces are as well known as many celebrities. The last time I typed their daughter's name on Google it offered up more than two million pages.
Sustaining interest
The McCann campaign has been unprecedented and we, the media, have been willing participants. If you were in the McCanns' position I am sure you too would do everything in your power, and seize every opportunity to keep the story on the screen, online and on 24 hour TV.
But how did they achieve such blanket - and on TV at least - such uncritical coverage when hundreds of children disappear every year? Was it because the family and their close circle of friends knew how to create massive and sustained interest that had a fleet of satellite trucks racing to the Algarve, or was there something about this little girl's disappearance that triggered a kind of collective sensation akin to the death of Princess Diana, and an international conversation point on blogs and chatrooms? Or perhaps both?
There is also the fact that the McCanns are telegenic and articulate - and are doctors, and therefore regarded as respectable members of society.
The broadcasters did not keep their distance. The BBC helped to organise the original televised statement which was pooled to British and Portuguese television stations, probably in the absence of any input from the Portuguese police whose rules and operational methods are different from what we are used to. And early on, on 10 May, the controller of News 24, Kevin Bakhurst, wrote in his blog:
"We will continue to try to provide the high volume of coverage and updates that the audience wants while respecting the family's privacy and needs and while striving to separate real developments from rumour."
But how did they achieve such blanket - and on TV at least - such uncritical coverage when hundreds of children disappear every year? Was it because the family and their close circle of friends knew how to create massive and sustained interest that had a fleet of satellite trucks racing to the Algarve, or was there something about this little girl's disappearance that triggered a kind of collective sensation akin to the death of Princess Diana, and an international conversation point on blogs and chatrooms? Or perhaps both?
There is also the fact that the McCanns are telegenic and articulate - and are doctors, and therefore regarded as respectable members of society.
The broadcasters did not keep their distance. The BBC helped to organise the original televised statement which was pooled to British and Portuguese television stations, probably in the absence of any input from the Portuguese police whose rules and operational methods are different from what we are used to. And early on, on 10 May, the controller of News 24, Kevin Bakhurst, wrote in his blog:
"We will continue to try to provide the high volume of coverage and updates that the audience wants while respecting the family's privacy and needs and while striving to separate real developments from rumour."
Media 'events'
Since then there have been few real developments, so the McCanns in partnership with the media have staged a number of "events," the most famous being their meeting with the Pope. There have been regular photo opportunities, high profile supporters and recently a series of interviews.
Even when the coverage has not gone their way I suspect that they will consider it of little importance in comparison with the importance of keeping Madeleine's face on the front page. They are incredibly well plugged into the media, and have a campaign organiser, a media advisor who is the godparent of one of their children and a former lecturer in new media, and a roster of loyal friends who give their time, energy and expertise. They all think laterally about how to produce a new angle on the story. In that way they remind me of the producers on Newsnight, and it's been that way from the beginning.
Even when the coverage has not gone their way I suspect that they will consider it of little importance in comparison with the importance of keeping Madeleine's face on the front page. They are incredibly well plugged into the media, and have a campaign organiser, a media advisor who is the godparent of one of their children and a former lecturer in new media, and a roster of loyal friends who give their time, energy and expertise. They all think laterally about how to produce a new angle on the story. In that way they remind me of the producers on Newsnight, and it's been that way from the beginning.
Direct action
The morning after Madeleine's disappearance I was on my way to London to the programme, and at home in Glasgow, a neighbour whom we'd never met rang the bell. She was one of Kate McCann's closest friends and she was very upset. She told my husband that Madeleine had disappeared and Kate and Gerry were frantic because the police had been slow off the mark.
They were desperate to get the story out and could I help? In fact the disappearance soon began running on all the outlets.
That kind of direct action has been a hallmark of the campaign. Creating a publicity engine and keeping the momentum up has given the McCanns a positive focus, and was achieved by them and their family and friends through an enormous amount of self discipline.
Has this tragic story created a "blueprint" for families who find themselves in similar terrible situations, or was there something unique to the McCanns?
We in the media should ask ourselves whether we would react the same way again, and again because the sad truth is that it will happen sooner rather than later.
They were desperate to get the story out and could I help? In fact the disappearance soon began running on all the outlets.
That kind of direct action has been a hallmark of the campaign. Creating a publicity engine and keeping the momentum up has given the McCanns a positive focus, and was achieved by them and their family and friends through an enormous amount of self discipline.
Has this tragic story created a "blueprint" for families who find themselves in similar terrible situations, or was there something unique to the McCanns?
We in the media should ask ourselves whether we would react the same way again, and again because the sad truth is that it will happen sooner rather than later.
C'est devenu la photo que personne ne déchire, le visage angélique de Madeleine McCann sur des posters téléchargés et imprimés par des gens du monde entier et collés dans les supermarchés, les gares, sur les jetées des aéroports et dans les foyers des cinémas.
La photo figure sur le maillot de Jonny Wilkinson, sur les bandes des équipes de Premier League et sur le vélo d'Ewan MacGregor. Madeleine McCann est partout, et nulle part.
Je ne vois pas d'autre histoire, si importante pendant si longtemps, où il y a si peu de faits.
Les journalistes de la télévision ont fait des milliers de reportages devant une caméra pour trouver les quelques détails fiables, les journaux ont publié des articles sur les McCann dont les visages sont aussi connus que ceux de nombreuses célébrités.
La dernière fois que j'ai tapé le nom de leur fille sur Google, plus de deux millions de pages sont apparues.
Un intérêt soutenu
La campagne McCann a été sans précédent et nous, les médias, avons été des participants volontaires. Si vous étiez à la place des McCann, je suis sûr que vous feriez vous aussi tout ce qui est en votre pouvoir, et que vous saisiriez chaque occasion de maintenir l'histoire à l'écran, en ligne et à la télévision 24 heures sur 24.
Mais comment ont-ils réussi à obtenir une couverture aussi large - et à la télévision en tout cas - aussi peu critique alors que des centaines d'enfants disparaissent chaque année ?
Était-ce parce que la famille et son cercle d'amis proches savaient comment susciter un intérêt massif et soutenu qui a fait courir une flotte de camions satellites vers l'Algarve, ou bien la disparition de cette petite fille a-t-elle déclenché une sorte de sensation collective semblable à celle de la mort de la princesse Diana, et un sujet de conversation international sur les blogs et les chats ? Ou peut-être les deux ?
Il y a aussi le fait que les McCann sont télégéniques et éloquents - et qu'ils sont médecins, et donc considérés comme des membres respectables de la société.
Les radiodiffuseurs n'ont pas gardé leurs distances. La BBC a contribué à l'organisation de la déclaration télévisée originale, qui a été diffusée par les chaînes de télévision britanniques et portugaises, probablement en l'absence de toute contribution de la police portugaise, dont les règles et les méthodes opérationnelles sont différentes de celles auxquelles nous sommes habitués.
Et très tôt, le 10 mai, le contrôleur de News 24, Kevin Bakhurst, a écrit dans son blog :
"Nous continuerons à essayer de fournir le volume élevé de couverture et de mises à jour que le public souhaite, tout en respectant la vie privée et les besoins de la famille et en nous efforçant de séparer les développements réels des rumeurs."
Les "événements" médiatiques
Depuis lors, il n'y a eu que peu de développements réels, de sorte que les McCanns, en partenariat avec les médias, ont organisé un certain nombre d'"événements", le plus célèbre étant leur rencontre avec le pape.
Il y a eu régulièrement des séances de photos, des soutiens de premier plan et, récemment, une série d'interviews.
Même lorsque la couverture médiatique n'a pas été à leur avantage, je soupçonne qu'ils considèrent que cela n'a que peu d'importance par rapport à l'importance de garder le visage de Madeleine en première page.
Ils sont incroyablement bien branchés sur les médias et disposent d'un organisateur de campagne, d'un conseiller en médias qui est le parrain de l'un de leurs enfants et un ancien professeur de nouveaux médias, ainsi que d'une liste d'amis fidèles qui donnent leur temps, leur énergie et leur expertise.
Ils réfléchissent tous latéralement à la manière de produire un nouvel angle sur l'histoire. En ce sens, ils me rappellent les producteurs de Newsnight, et il en a été ainsi depuis le début.
Action directe
Le matin suivant la disparition de Madeleine, je me rendais à Londres pour l'émission, et chez moi, à Glasgow, une voisine que nous n'avions jamais rencontrée a sonné.
C'était l'une des amies les plus proches de Kate McCann et elle était très bouleversée. Elle a dit à mon mari que Madeleine avait disparu et que Kate et Gerry étaient affolés parce que la police avait été lente à réagir.
Ils voulaient absolument que l'histoire sorte et je pouvais les aider ? En fait, la disparition a rapidement commencé à être diffusée par tous les médias.
Ce type d'action directe a été la marque de fabrique de la campagne. La création d'un moteur de publicité et le maintien de l'élan ont donné aux McCanns une orientation positive, et ils y sont parvenus, ainsi que leur famille et leurs amis, grâce à une énorme discipline personnelle.
Cette histoire tragique a-t-elle créé un "modèle" pour les familles qui se trouvent dans des situations terribles similaires, ou bien les McCann ont-ils eu quelque chose d'unique ?
Les médias devraient se demander s'ils réagiraient de la même manière, encore et encore, car la triste vérité est que cela arrivera tôt ou tard.
GMC répond à Kirsty Wark
All media - 25.08.2007
transcrit par Nigel Moore
Kirsty Wark : Okay, raise the lights now, and we'll take, errm... Gerry's
agreed to take, errr.. some questions, which I think is important in this...
Q. : Do you dread the day that the media interest and the public interest
does disappear?
Gerald MC :
It... It's not dread, errm... I... errr... as
I said, even in week
three or four, and what happened, errm... in about the middle of June,
after about five or six weeks,
things were going really
very, very quiet and I was actually, errm... quite glad of that and I
thought we would start
to get back to a sort of
more normal existence and a... a quieter form of campaigning, errm...
you know, using the
internet, viral...
raising, errm... broadening the issues, the political issues, which have
been highlighted to us and I saw
that as the long term
focus and, as I have already alluded to, I don't think necessarily
having newspaper headlines of the
image of Madeleine,
errr... being thrust to people every single day actually may help, so
not particularly. What we dread
is the worst news that,
you know, Madeleine is not alive.
Gerald MC : C'est... Ce n'est pas redoutable, errm... Je... err... comme je l'ai dit, même pendant la troisième ou quatrième semaine, et ce qui s'est passé, errm... à la mi-juin, après cinq ou six semaines, les choses sont devenues vraiment très, très calmes et j'étais en fait, errm... assez content de cela et je pensais que nous allions commencer à revenir à une sorte d'existence plus normale et à une... une forme plus calme de campagne, errm.... vous savez, en utilisant l'internet, le viral... en soulevant, errm... en élargissant les questions, les questions politiques, qui ont été mises en évidence pour nous et j'ai vu cela comme l'objectif à long terme et, comme je l'ai déjà fait allusion, je ne pense pas que le fait d'avoir des titres de journaux avec l'image de Madeleine, err... poussée aux gens chaque jour puisse aider, donc pas particulièrement. Ce que nous redoutons, c'est la pire des nouvelles, à savoir que Madeleine n'est pas vivante.
STV News - 25.08.2007
transcrit par Nigel Moore
David Cowan :
Well, Gerry McCann has just arrived in Edinburgh for the International
Television Festival.
It's the first time he's been back in Scotland since Madeleine
disappeared in May and he's here to talk
about the publicity that
has surrounded her disappearance and the campaign to try and find her.
Errm... Gerry, can I ask you first of all, at... at the start, the decision to go for publicity must have been a
very conscious one on your and your wife's behalf.
Gerald MC : It was but I think we were faced, errr... you know, on day one that, errr... there was 150 journalists outside the apartment, when we got back from the police station, so we had to make a very quick decision; either we didn't interact with them or we did, and, errr... there's two reasons: One, we thought it would help, errr... in the search for Madeleine, that was the key one, and the second thing is that, errr... to be honest, we thought it would be easier on us as well to interact and, errr... work with them rather than, errm... go away and hide. (1)
Gerald MC : It was but I think we were faced, errr... you know, on day one that, errr... there was 150 journalists outside the apartment, when we got back from the police station, so we had to make a very quick decision; either we didn't interact with them or we did, and, errr... there's two reasons: One, we thought it would help, errr... in the search for Madeleine, that was the key one, and the second thing is that, errr... to be honest, we thought it would be easier on us as well to interact and, errr... work with them rather than, errm... go away and hide. (1)
DC : Was it keeping you going as well - you were doing something?
GMC : After the first... I would say the first two weeks we... we did very little media; we did a few statements, errr... to try and get information into the inquiry or, errm... I wouldn't say pacify, but, errr... dampen down some of the criticism that was going on which I just didn't think was helpful to the situation, and our focus has always been on Madeleine and trying to find her and doing whatever we thought was best.
Errr... There's no doubt that in the first few weeks, errr... in the first few days in particular we felt particularly helpless and then, by doing things which you had some control over, and influencing the search, made us feel better and what we... we've said many times is that in... at six months, we don't want to be looking back saying 'I wish we had done such and such', you know. We have done everything that we think will have an effect on the outcome, or potentially could have an effect. Of course, we know that all of this may have no effect whatsoever, but ultimately we don't know who's taken Madeleine, we don't know what the motive is, and we don't know where she is. (2)
GMC : After the first... I would say the first two weeks we... we did very little media; we did a few statements, errr... to try and get information into the inquiry or, errm... I wouldn't say pacify, but, errr... dampen down some of the criticism that was going on which I just didn't think was helpful to the situation, and our focus has always been on Madeleine and trying to find her and doing whatever we thought was best.
Errr... There's no doubt that in the first few weeks, errr... in the first few days in particular we felt particularly helpless and then, by doing things which you had some control over, and influencing the search, made us feel better and what we... we've said many times is that in... at six months, we don't want to be looking back saying 'I wish we had done such and such', you know. We have done everything that we think will have an effect on the outcome, or potentially could have an effect. Of course, we know that all of this may have no effect whatsoever, but ultimately we don't know who's taken Madeleine, we don't know what the motive is, and we don't know where she is. (2)
DC : What effect is the publicity now having on you because it's changed, hasn't it? There's this constant drip, drip, drip of... of claims and reports and rumours from unnamed sources and... and the fingers been pointed at you and your wife again. I mean, how... how has all this been for you now?
GMC : I think even on day... day one and day two, errm... speculation
didn't help us, I
mean, as, errr... parents it didn't help us and I have to say that our
immediate reaction, errr...
we could only imagine
the worst possible scenario, that someone had taken her, abused her and
killed her, errr... but seeing
that that wasn't the
only scenario and there was no evidence of that being the case, it
actually lifted us and... and gave
us strength and hope,
errr... but when the coverage continued and there was 24 hour news
channels etc having to fill their
time, there was a huge
amount of speculation, most of which was ended in a very negative way,
and we quickly realised that
a lot of what was being
said, errr... was either untrue or half true, and we switched off
and, to be honest,
we stopped reading the
newspapers. (3)
The current level of activity, you know, I think you're absolutely right, there is a huge amount of innuendo which is being presented in various ways, suggesting that there may be evidence or facts behind it and there are none, and our opinion of what happened that night has not changed. We know certain facts, unfortunately because of the criminal investigation, we can't divulge them, and I want to make it absolutely clear, the reasons why we're not divulging the information; we will not make it easier for the perpetrator to cover their tracks. The police have all the information and we have bared our soul to them, and we'll continue to assist them in any way possible, but, you know, we have to keep silent. (4)
The current level of activity, you know, I think you're absolutely right, there is a huge amount of innuendo which is being presented in various ways, suggesting that there may be evidence or facts behind it and there are none, and our opinion of what happened that night has not changed. We know certain facts, unfortunately because of the criminal investigation, we can't divulge them, and I want to make it absolutely clear, the reasons why we're not divulging the information; we will not make it easier for the perpetrator to cover their tracks. The police have all the information and we have bared our soul to them, and we'll continue to assist them in any way possible, but, you know, we have to keep silent. (4)
And, in fact, one
of the slight positives in... in all of this is that there is so much
rumour about what
did and didn't happen,
it's actually very difficult, if you're reading the newspapers, watching
TV, to know what is true
and what's not. (5)
DC : Will there be a time when you'll come home from Portugal? Have you thought about when that might happen?
GMC : I... we've always, errr... thought we would come home, that the
difficulty we've got is
emotionally coming home as a family of four, as a... and coming out as a
family of five. Errm... What
we need to do is to
weigh up what is in the interests of the search for Madeleine, that's
the first thing, and then our secondary
consideration is our
own, errr... wellbeing, and particularly the twins, and, errr... you
know, we... we will look
towards long term
stability for them as well. Errm... We haven't made any definite
decisions just now, but these are the factors
that we're considering. (6)
DC : Will there be a time when you'll draw... withdraw altogether from
the...
if there isn't any news
about your daughter, will... will you withdraw altogether from the
public gaze?
GMC : Well, from our perspective, and this goes back to day one and day two, we could not avoid the publicity; we never asked for it, we never wished we were in this situation. What we've done is to try and use it, errm... in a positive way to affect the... the outcome. In terms of the campaign, you know, we said 60 or 70 days ago that we would be stepping back from it, and we have done very, very little, errr... offensive media in terms of us coming out to campaign for Madeleine; we want Madeleine's image to be the face of the campaign, errr... but the situation's changed now, it's about the news story; errr... what Kate and I do feel is that we will have some role in the future, errr... whether that's public or private, but we will continue to, errr... champion the cause of child welfare issues. (7)
GMC : Well, from our perspective, and this goes back to day one and day two, we could not avoid the publicity; we never asked for it, we never wished we were in this situation. What we've done is to try and use it, errm... in a positive way to affect the... the outcome. In terms of the campaign, you know, we said 60 or 70 days ago that we would be stepping back from it, and we have done very, very little, errr... offensive media in terms of us coming out to campaign for Madeleine; we want Madeleine's image to be the face of the campaign, errr... but the situation's changed now, it's about the news story; errr... what Kate and I do feel is that we will have some role in the future, errr... whether that's public or private, but we will continue to, errr... champion the cause of child welfare issues. (7)
DC : Okay, Gerry McCann, thanks very much.
GMC : Thanks, Dave.
(1)
La réponse de Gerald MC dément ce qu'il y avait dans la question (la
décision de publiciter l'affaire a dû exiger d'être très conscient de ce
qui était en jeu). Comment auraient-ils pu réfléchir si, en arrivant à
PDL, une telle horde médiatique se pressait à leur porte ? Ils avaient
été mis en garde contre les médias, dans l'intérêt de leur fille qu'ils
prétendaient et que la police croyait enlevée. Et ils font tout le contraire
! La seule partie de la réponse qui soit convaincante est l'aveu
d'attrait pour l'idée qu'on allait parler d'eux au grand jour.
(2)
Gerald MC ne répond pas immédiatement à la (bonne) question, comme si
c'était lui qui menait l'entretien. Il faut d'abord courcircuiter la
police en brandissant le bouclier "concentration sur Madeleine, la
trouver, faire ce qu'ils trouvent le mieux". Il s'agit moins
d'être efficaces que de s'éviter des regrets futurs. Ils savent ce qu'il
faut faire pour obtenir un résultat et savent même que ce qu'ils font
peut ne servir à rien, mais paradoxalement ne savent pas qui a pris
Madeleine ni pourquoi ni où elle se trouve.
(3)
C'est ce que sont censées faire les autruches quand ce qui se présente
ne leur convient pas, elles plongent la tête dans le sable, cessent de
voir et ont dans une certaine mesure résolu un problème.
(4)
Saint-secret de l'instruction !
Gerald MC laisse entendre qu'ils détiennent personnellement certaines
informations, mais qu'ils ne divulgueront pas pour ne pas aider le
ravisseur à effacer ses traces. Entre la police et les MC tout a l'air
de baigner dans l'huile. Pourtant, deux semaines et demie plus tôt rien
n'allait plus : Hors de la salle (du DIC de Portimão), je priais, je
suppliais. Je commençais à être dans une impasse. Mais si je pensais que
la police en avait fini avec moi, je me trompais. Ils ne tardèrent pas à
me rappeler dans la salle pour une troisième round, avec Gerry. Une
fois de plus Gerry voulut savoir si l'affaire était devenue une enquête
d'homicide. Ils (Luis Neves et Guilhermino Encarnação) lui répondirent
indirectement : "vous pouvez probablement le deviner à travers notre
manque de réponse". D'une façon légèrement menaçante, Luis demanda
pourquoi je ne le regardais pas droit dans les yeux... ("Madeleine").
(5)
Saisissant résumé de la situation : il y a tellement de rumeurs
contradictoires qu'il est très difficile de démêler le vrai du faux. Est-ce une plaie, est-ce une aubaine ?
(6) Il est curieux que le retour au Royaume-Uni ne soit pas évoqué et qu'aucune décision définitive n'ait été prise,
car lorsqu'ils partiront, deux semaines et demie plus tard, après être
devenus témoins assistés, ils diront que leur intention datait d'avant
les fameux interrogatoires des 6 et 7 septembre.
(7)
Gerald MC semble irrité par la question, qui donne à entendre une
certaine complaisance à être sous le feu des projecteurs. Il n'est plus
question de choix entre répondre ou non aux sollicitations médiatique,
il
prétend qu'ils ne pouvaient éviter la publicité qui leur est tombée
dessus sans qu'ils n'aient rien fait pour. Ils ont donc essayé d'en
tirer le meilleur parti dans l'intérêt de Madeleine. Comme ils l'ont
annoncé deux mois auparavant ils ont diminué leurs "offensives"
médiatiques en matière de campagne. Maintenant, ce qu'ils veulent, c'est
avoir un rôle dans l'avenir, public ou privé, ils veulent continuer à
se battre pour la cause de la protection de l'enfance.
 | ||
| Pendant qu'ils dormaient, l'ennemi vint | et sema de l'ivraie... | Qui est l'ennemi ? |
Gerry McCann parle des médias
Sky News - 25.08.2007
transcrit par Nigel Moore
Gerald MC :
Clearly there has been, I think, errm... a line crossed in
many quarters where,
errr... there is wild speculation being reported, irresponsibly.
Chris Roberts : Well, I have to ask you this, I mean, I think it's fair to say that the vast majority of the media in Britain have been overwhelmingly sympathetic to your plight but that hasn't been the case in some sections of the Portuguese media, they're writing the most terrible things about you. Why?
GMC :
That's a difficult question, errm... I think there are, errr... there
is a lot of speculation,
innuendo, there's clearly some absolute outright smears and, errm... it
may be a backlash against,
errr... Portugal, in
terms of some of the criticism, which has really been unhelpful, I
think, also, errm... in terms of the
search for Madeleine and
we always looked forward and felt that the criticism is not helpful,
errr... and our... our focus
is always on the search
for Madeleine and what can still be done. Errm... I think, errm...
culturally there is a lot of differences,
errm... but I... I don't
really understand, errr... some of it but, you know, these sort of
sensationalist stories probably
sell newspapers. (13)
CR : I mean, Gerry, I was reading this piece in... in the Portuguese media earlier this week which was specifically suggesting that you and your wife had... had killed Madeleine with some kind of overdose of sleeping tablets. I mean, where does this stuff come from?
GMC : That's a very good question. What I would like to direct all of your
viewers to are the
official statements from the Portuguese police, which bear no
resemblance to the wild speculation and,
you know, the police
yesterday made it very clear. First of all, we are not suspects; two,
that there is no evidence to suggest
that we are involved in
Madeleine's disappearance and, if there was, they are obliged by
Portuguese law to make us official
suspects. So, you know,
they just... they do not bear resemblance and Kate and I learned, very
early on, only to listen to
information that's
coming through official channels. (14)
(13) Rétrospectivement, eu égard à ce qui se passa le 8 août au DIC de Portimão (voir note 4), ce discours hâché évoquant des différences culturelles et le sensationalisme qui fait vendre les journaux est une tentative d'escamotage.
(14) Il est amusant que la propre PJ soit invoquée comme bouclier. Mais Gerald MC ne dit pas la vérité : il sait bien, depuis le 8 août, qu'ils sont suspects. Essayer de dire que s'ils l'étaient, ils auraient été arrêtés est une tentative de démonstration par l'absurde.. absurde.
(13) Rétrospectivement, eu égard à ce qui se passa le 8 août au DIC de Portimão (voir note 4), ce discours hâché évoquant des différences culturelles et le sensationalisme qui fait vendre les journaux est une tentative d'escamotage.
(14) Il est amusant que la propre PJ soit invoquée comme bouclier. Mais Gerald MC ne dit pas la vérité : il sait bien, depuis le 8 août, qu'ils sont suspects. Essayer de dire que s'ils l'étaient, ils auraient été arrêtés est une tentative de démonstration par l'absurde.. absurde.
