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The parents of Madeline McCann will step up and speak out in
court as victims of the recent phone hacking scandal alongside Chris
Jeffries,
the former landlord of Jo Yeates. This recent exposure of the News of
the
World’s phone hacking antics confirms the need for an investigation
into UK
media conduct. The UK media and The News of the World in particular
seized hold
of these cases and provided the public with detailed coverage. In the
upcoming
case, Lord Justice Leveson will scrutinize the methods used by these
newspapers
to obtain information about the investigations but not the motives
behind
running such extensive coverage on these particular girls in the first
place.
The media functions to keep the world connected and although
it is incredible that the privacy of vulnerable people is abused for a
business
initiative we are reminded through this that media is still a business.
The
disappearances of Madeline McCann and Jo Yeates created a lot of
revenue for
Rupert Murdoch – although the reader is morally obliged not to
interpret media
coverage of a young girl’s disappearance in terms of financial gain.
When Madeline McCann disappeared in 2007, Murdoch’s The News
of the World hogged the media spotlight with an exclusive announcing a
£1.5
million reward for Madeline’s safe return – the paper even donated a
lavish
£250,000 to the cause. It is a shame to think that all this effort fell
to waste.
Before the figure was finalised a “mistaken” text message was sent to
thousands
of people confirming the reward total; the phone number provided to
call with
information was that of News of the World, not Scotland Yard. The News
of the
World may have bought a good reputation, but like all material things,
that
reputation has now perished.
Cases such as those of Madeline McCann and Jo Yeates are
sadistically sweet to the media because they qualify as newsworthy in
every way
imaginable. Girls at the centre of such cases share similar case
studies and
are typically vulnerable, middle class and beautiful – in a young,
blonde,
Caucasian sort of way. There is a term for this discrimination: Missing
White
Woman Syndrome.
A paper published in 2007 by Sarah Stillman discusses this
media trend: “These messages are powerful: they position certain
sub-groups of
women – often white, wealthy and conventionally attractive – as
deserving of
our collective resources, while making the marginalisation of other
groups of
women, such as low-income women of colour, seem natural.”
Discrimination
becomes a frightening issue when the attitude of the media toward a
missing
girl directly impacts upon her fate.
Days before Jo Yeates’ disappearance on 17 December 2010, 14
year old Serena Beakhurst was also reported missing. Media interest in
Jo
Yeates was fierce, and subsequently there was a frighteningly pathetic
level of
police involvement in Serena’s case. Her family and friends were forced
to take
matters into their own hands, using social networking sites such as
Facebook
and Twitter to find Serena themselves. We can only speculate on the
police and
media motives for favouring Jo Yeates but to an onlooker the only
distinction
between the girls is that whilst Jo was a white, blonde, University
graduate,
Serena is a mixed race girl from South East London.
Four years on and awareness of Madeline McCann gushes into the realms of
the retail world where an online shop boasts t-shirts, vests, bracelets,
stickers and luggage tags under the new brand name “find Madeleine”.
Kate McCann’s new book is also available in any supermarket. The Sun
remains on the case as the voice of Madeline and her parents, pleading
to the nation: “Never Give Up”. The notoriety of Madeleine’s
disappearance has sparked Prime Minister David Cameron into action as he
insists the case be re-opened, a flicker of hope for the parents of
Madeleine. With enough effort and time from the police, the public and
the government, their daughter may one day come home.
Hundreds of children are reported missing every day, the power of media
discrimination is terrifying. |
