[danielf]

Originally Posted by Chris T

I seem to recall the parents looking for help publicising their daughter's disappearance in order to help get her back, not asking for wall-to-wall coverage of every spit and cough of every 'insider' remotely attached to the case.

The parents are only as responsible for this as I would be responsible for the trashing of my house as a result of me inviting people to a party at which alcohol was served.

The Press is not above responsibility, no matter how often it may trot out the usual craven excuses about the public interest.

It is true that the press are not above responsibility, but to seek press attention in the way the McCanns did, and not expect this outcome would be highly naive. That's not to say they wanted this outcome obviously, but you can't go and seek attention and then expect to control what is printed.