Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Gerry McCann has appeared before the Culture, Media and Sport select committee to discuss the Press coverage in the wake of the disappearance of his daughter Madeleine. As well as attacking the way the Press turned her into a 'commodity' from which there were 'profits to be made', he also laid into the contributors of many internet forums, and online newspaper comment columns.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7935156.stm


There were some pretty choice comments from some posters on here, as I remember. I wonder whether the McCanns, or anyone connected with the family, saw them.

Discuss ...

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Well instead of going out for a drink he should have spent his time looking after his daughter

As far as if he read this forum and comments here lets hope so he and his wife should suffer every day for what they did ,they are ultimately responsible for whatever happened to Maddie

Oh and I spose this all means an extra pay packet for him?(attempt to get more media coverage)

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

..and if people hadn't bothered to read papers, post in forums, chat in chatrooms about his missing daughter, she'd have been forgotten the very next day. Sometimes people should not bite the hand that feeds them. He and his wife rode the media wave in the hope that this would help in the search for their daughter, he should be prepared for the odd thing he didn't like being posted/written.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

This is a high indexing site, and we have had people involved with the stories discussed finding the related topic and commenting on it. At least twice as far as I know. Especially a forum such as this which scores high on Google. There have been occasions I have come across this site purely organically in searching for news items.

People should be aware your only vaguely anonymous on the web, and even if they don't you know you personally, your comments can be read by the people involved. We (as members) and the owners of the site are also bound by the rules on libel.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

I'd say a huge libel action settled out of court with a fat payment from several newspapers and prominent apologies indicates there was more than the 'odd thing' he didn't like, Charlie.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Exactly,

The McCann's were encouraging the media to keep it in the headlines, you've got to take the good with the bad if you're going to use the media for your own purposes.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

I never libeled them. They did go for a drink (and a meal)they did leave their kids unattended they are ultimately to blame

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

my opinion -the mccann's left there children unattended while they went off to the boozer/eatery ,they are totally to blame ,i have been in similar circumstances with my x -and kids we always took them with us or took it shifts to baby sit while the other was at the pub /eatery never was there a time when they were alone .
the mccann's actions were not the actions of responsible parents in my opinion, i still believe they should be prosecuted ..

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

I was talking about the odd comment written in forums and chatrooms. I am well aware that several of the tabloids have made payouts to him and to the guy in Portugal that they tried to frame. They should be treated differently in the context of this thread from people expressing opinions in forums/chatrooms.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

My comment wasn't directed at you, Sorry.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Well said mate.

Recently a woman left a child alone in her home. The child was tragically killed in a fire. She was given 6 years for that. The McCanns left a child alone in their home. The child was tragically taken, and probably killed. They are treated as victims. It ain't right.

I also find it a bit rich that they are complaining about the media circus surrounding the case when they stoked most of it up themselves.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

I know dude :) I remember I had a lot to say in the other thread it was quite an emotive topic

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Well, I`ve got to agree with every word. Trying to lay blame on others when he & his wife are fully responsible for the whole mess. I don't remember them showing much remorse for that poor child.


Added:: Sorry Chris, posted at the same time as yours.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Let's hope Gerry comes across this thread and reads whats been said. Totally agree with Zing, Punky and Papa. They should have been prosecuted for leaving their kids alone in the apartment. The think that peeved me off even more was when their friends/family members and other supporters were coming on the media insisting they had done nothing wrong by leaving their kids alone in the apartment. I even heard some say that most parents would do the same. Then there was all the stuff about the apartment being in full view, "we could see it from where we were" blah blah blah.

They are lucky that he is a heart surgeon and not living on a council estate. Otherwise I could see them both being given a far harsher time from the authorities than the easy ride they have had in that they have got away with being such irresponsible parents.

Remeber we aren't talking about parents who took their eyes off their kids for a few moments. Or who slipped their grip off the kid's hands, or got distracted for a few seconds whilst their kid has been abducted. We are talking about a couple who left 3 kids under the age of 4 asleep in a room which wasn't even in view, to enjoy a night of food and drinks with their chums. Disgusting if you ask me.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

IMO I feel he is on the make again. I could be wrong and I am not accusing him its purely conjecture. Without media coverage as said this would have lasted a couple of weeks . At least the coverage kept it at the front of peoples minds for a long which gave the authorities a better chance of a lead. It is a damn shame Maddie was never found and I hope she is alive and relatively happy somewhere. As for the judgements Gerry has made on people like me then they are less damning than mine on him

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Did Gerry not use the Maddy fund to make payments on his mortgage? If thats not profiteering from her disappearance I don't tknow what is.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

If gerry mc'can isn't happy with internet forum users then perhaps he should remember that it was an act of parental negligence that allowed his little daughter to be abducted. Sorry i have well and truly had enough of them they court the press when it suits them and then turn on them when it isn't what they want or what they want to hear.

People have a right to their own opinions when something comes into the public domain and as long as it is stated as a personal opnion you don't have to like it but you do have to take it on the chin. For the record my feelings on this matter and the mc'cans are purely my personal opinion not stating it as fact or anything else.

Gerry go and moan somewhere else because maybe some of us do have more time then you like but then you didn't have time for something that you should have done and many of us do make the time to ensure, swings and roundabouts m8.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Sorry Chris I can't see any libellous comments here, unless you have deleted some :)

Sounds a little like wishfull thinking :D

Seriously, Gerry Mcann can hardly pass Judgement that forum debates are wrong because he doesn't like the way they turn out. I am a father of two and suspect many here are also parents. How is it possible to get past the abandonment issue when no authority will deal with it? Further we are expected not only to get past it but to accept his statements with a semblence of credibility.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

I thought the press did a sterling job in keeping her on the front pages and offering a reward for her return. I know he and his wife went through hell when they were suspects but they got £500,000 for their troubles. At the end of the day the press needs to sell newspapers and we all know they'll stoop to anything when it comes to sales.

I'm with Zing when he mentions that he should have been looking after his daughter, you don't go abroad and leave your child in the apartment while you are wining and dining with your mates.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

I can't help thinking that the inverse is also true, Gerry clearly had too much to do in his life. Yes I admit I have time on my hands to post here, I am at home whilst my children sleep. Is this a bad thing?

Then again.......... Right I'm off to the pub now, wife has gone to work (she works nights) I'm pretty sure the children won't wake and go anywhere. Eldest can easily open the front door though.... they'll be fine!. What's the worst that can happen, pub is only at the end of the road.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

I think glass houses and stones comes to mind re his moans.

The fact is they have probably suffered enough cos they have lost their child (partly through their own stupidity). But dont go moaning about people on forums who express their views cos a lot of what has been said was true.

very very sad they have lost their daughter but please keep a low profile now and dont moan about the press or forums (ie. public opinion) because it just makes you look daft.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Blogging and forums have become the scapegoat of the media, when they get caught doing something naughty it was the bad bad non profit blogs.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

If there had been some official action taken against them because of the neglect i don't think they would have had half the stuff on the net they did but the fact that they have got away with the neglect has left a very bitter taste in the mouths of many. Moaning like this is not going to change a damn thing and i can't help feeling it is yet one more push to try and get the fact that it was negligence in the first place that caused all this pushed right back into the background and bringing more of the "were victims" to the front. .

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

It's a cruel world this, the fact that she is missing , i never paid much attention into it when the story came out. Not to be nasty, people go missing everyday, horrible things happen to children but as Parents, it was their responsibility to look after madeleine, I'm sure when they left the house to go out for a drink they knew that madeiline was left in the house on her own. It was of GOD's doing and sometimes you just have to grief and accept the punishment. It was them that accepted the media attention. About what happened to madeliene, we don't know but they know alot, alot more than we do or even the press. The truth is hidden, I only feel for and my heart goes out to madeilene. I only have little sympathy for the parents.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

It certainly wasn't Gods doing, 'he' didn't make the parents go out for dinner or make some freak break in and snatch her, if there is a God and he had any part in all this I hope it was/is that she didn't/isn't suffering

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

I don't really see that there's anything to be gained by taking action against the McCanns. I totally agree they were extremely irresponsible in leaving three toddlers alone in a holiday apartment but surely they have received the harshest penalty losing their beautiful little daughter. The punishment is ongoing since they have to live with it everyday.

Some parts of the press did do a job in keeping Maddie in the spotlight but the reporting and fabrication at times was unforgivable, Express group again to the fore. I hope something positive comes out of this press committee review because the self-policing of the tabloids isn't working.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Are we saying that all parents who lose their kids due to their negligence shouldn't be punished. What if they are extremely good actors, couldn't give a damn about their lost/dead kids and just hamming it up for the cams. I'm not saying that this is the case with the Mccanns but where do you draw the line? There is a clear cut case of negligence here, no black and white area. they left 3 under 4's alone for a night out. They could have been doing it throughout the holiday for all we know. It's not like they turned around for one minute and Maddie was snatched is it?

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

I was talking only about the McCanns. I am not defending their actions in neglecting their toddlers. Indeed in the original thread I expressed how I found it inconceivable that intelligent people could think it was OK to leave children of that age unsupervised in those circumstances. I am saying I don't see that there is anything to be gained by persuing any further action.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Can we even take any action? People comparing what the parents did with what some one did on a council estate seem to be forgetting that the little girl disappeared in a foreign country, surely any further action would have to be instigated by Portugal's authorities and when you consider how they handled the case, well it'd be good for it all to come out.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

if they are not punished they certainly should nto be rewarded. The McCanns had a lot of money going through their fingers now I am not going it say they spent any of it on themselves but there was a lot of media exposure. I hope there are not going to be magazine articles or the like starting afresh for which they get paid for as I think that is wrong. If this is simply just an enquiry and not a cash cow thats fine but if there is any form of compo after or payouts for stories then I deffo do not approve

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

The Portuguese authorities certainly didn't cover themselves in glory. They make the Keystone cops appear highly efficient and organised.:rolleyes:

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Ahem.....Post 13

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

I totally agree with previous posts in this thread - they should be prosectuted for neglect. Is it cos they is posh they're getting away with it? I haven't a clue. Maybe a case is building, somewhere.

As for people having too much time on their hands - you can't have it both ways. Does he want people to talk about them and keep the case alive, or not? If you want fame/attention then there are of course negative sides to that. Or maybe as a heart surgeon he's just used to people lavishing praise on him & nothing else...

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

As far as I recall it's not the portuguese cops who left her alone in a room whilst they went wining and dining.

Yes they weren't great, but here was another scapegoat for the McCanns to blame and discredit. Throughout the coverage all they seemed to be doing was pointing the finger at everyone else for the situation they were in.

If Gerry is annoyed at the comments he received back then then the best thing he could have done now was shut up about it because he's going to get a lot more of the same thing.

---------- Post added at 10:11 ---------- Previous post was at 10:09 ----------

I have a few questions that I'd love to ask Gerry. One being how did an audience with the pope, no doubt paid for by the Maddie Fund, help in finding his daughter? I bet most people who paid into that fund were not happy at how it was being spent. It's not even like they were skint.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

I got that, I thought the wink would have conveyed I was engaging in a slight leg pull. Sometimes communicating in forums doesn't conveythe message you're trying to get across. :)

I don't quite understand how McCann had a go at forum posters when the enquiry is supposed to be about Media, and in particular newspaper, standards. I think forums only convey what we chattering classes would be saying in the cafes, bars and street corners in our offline lives.

While I disagree with a lot of posts in many threads I have read little that approaches the morally substandard and often libellous pages in the tabloid newspapers. Often posters on forums are responding to newspaper articles as if they were fact. Apart from the day and date on the front page I would question most things that appear in tabloids.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

That was not very clever mischievious. :nono:

The next person who I see on this forum - give backchat, argue back with a team member over a decision or request, will be kicked off this forum for an indeterminate amount of time, it could be a week, month or it could even be indefinitely.

Arguing with a team member over an action or decision is a serious breach of our sites terms of use and I have very little if at all any tolerance for it.

If any member has any issues or questions with a moderator request or action:: USE THE CORRECT PROCEDURE!

Once again I find myself reminding some of you of a specific clause in our sites terms of use:-

And before one or two of you think you are getting smart by saying 'I didn't agree to those terms.'

Here is the important bit:

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

If I had just lost a child in the circumstances that the McCanns did I would probably not see visiting Internet forums as high on my list of priorities. But then again i would probably not see flying round the world visiting the Pope and giving TV interviews as high on my list of priorities either.So who knows.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Fine whatever yes we do have free speech and we are free to have an opinion on any matter that enters the public domain and as such if Gerry Mc'can is not happy tough.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Free speech doesn't entitle people to say what ever they please about people, some of the things people said on here didn't have a grain of truth to them and this site is quite tame! I notice you weren't quite so keen on free speech in the Jade Goody thread either.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Glad it wasn't just me then noticing the double standards. ;)

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Perhaps it should be called constrained speech instead. ;)

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Perhaps it should be called "say what you want, but expect the consequences of shouting "Fire!" in a crowded cinema just for fun" speech. ;)

Free speech should not include slander, libel, making things up to sell papers, etc etc.

It's amazing (imho) that some of the people who think that anyone should be allowed to say anything against the McCanns are sometimes the ones who also think that the a-holes who protested against the Anglians should be silenced - go figure.......

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Some of the comments on the jade goody thread have been nastiness for the sake of it and with absolutely no basis in fact just complete personal dislike of her. Most of the comments regarding the mc'cans have come from the fact that they neglected their kids in the first place which allowed one to be abducted and then the way they came across to many people which wasn't very good. Also the complete lack of acceptance on their part certainly early on in all this also got them a lot of hostility and got tempers rising the two are not comparable.

I am not saying i found some of the comments about the mc'cans on certain sites very acceptable and some were out and out wrong but at the end of the day the mc'cans played a part in creating the atomosphere that other issues havn't and that has to be remembered and taken into account. For many who see gerry mc'can as the "blame everyone but myself" sort of person that he has at times come across as this latest statement about internet users has got the old tempers going again.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

What are you suggesting?

I have never! err, no wait there was that time in Abbey National with the fire extinguisher :D

I agree totally!

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Big issues amongst believers n non believers, "the parents go out for dinner or make some freak break in and snatch her - of all things that went wrong u managed to fit in a freak." somthing against ur comment, the way u phrased it. are you a scientologist?

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Are you trying to say that the person that took her was in some way normal then?

Not that it has anything to do with this topic but I am not a scientologist, I am pretty much Godless, although I do find myself defending religion on a regular basis on this forum.........

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

yay! we hit religion... now where's this gonna go??? lol.... "prepare the fires!!!"

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

The scientologist thing was all just a joke, even i call my self religious but i am hardly in church. I pray to GOD in the manner of believing that he does exist and that's coz av been brought up in that manner. Regarding the disappearance there doesn't seem to be sufficient evidence that she was taken by some one.

Re: Gerry McCann: some forum posters "have too much time on their hands"
 

Stop Now EVERYBODY.

---------- Post added at 21:08 ---------- Previous post was at 19:52 ----------

Given an apparent inability of a number of people to head the requests of the Team, and the fact that I honestly don't believe we're going to make it through another day without more infrractions having to be issued, I'm going to close this now.