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Original Source:
TELEGRAPH: 26 AUGUST 2007
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By
Chris Hastings, Arts and Media Editor, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:42am BST 26/08/2007 |
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The father of Madeleine McCann yesterday appealed to the media to end its
obsession with his daughter's disappearance.
Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Gerry McCann said
that, despite the family's concerted effort to publicise the hunt for the
four-year-old, the continuing scrutiny had been far greater than he could ever
have imagined.
Mr McCann, 39, said that, because of the need for the media campaign to
continue in "a pretty low-key format", he and his wife Kate were now
considering returning home to Rothley, Leics.
"I personally do not think it is necessary to bombard people with
Madeleine's image on a daily basis," Mr McCann said. "Initially,
without a doubt, we wanted a lot of coverage, but the coverage has been 10
times greater than we imagined."
Mr McCann said that, in an effort to provide coverage of the hunt, some
journalists had been tempted into presenting harmful speculation as fact. He
added that he had now stopped looking at newspaper and television coverage of
the case.
Last week, Mr McCann condemned a report in a Portuguese newspaper which claimed
that he and his wife had accidentally killed Madeleine with an overdose of
drugs.
The McCanns have denied any involvement in their daughter's disappearance and
police have confirmed that they are not suspects.
"A huge amount of speculation is being presented as fact because people
are under a huge amount of pressure to come up with stories," Mr McCann
said. "In the last six weeks there really has been nothing to report.
Staying in Portugal
may be counterproductive because of the media attention on Kate and I which
generates pressure on people to write things.
"The sticking point is the knowledge that we will be leaving Portugal as a
family of four when we arrived as a family of five."
He also admitted that his feelings of guilt over Madeleine's disappearance
would never leave him and his wife. |
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