The Carter Ruck official blog - Isobel Hudson on the McCanns
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The Carter Ruck official blog - Isobel Hudson on the McCanns
The Leveson Inquiry – victims of the media turn the tables on the press
Posted on November 27, 2011 by Isabel Hudson
The Leveson Inquiry has been making headline news on an almost daily basis since it began to hear the evidence of a number of victims of the media. While the Inquiry was largely prompted by the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, it is considering evidence on far wider issues of press conduct, of which the testimony of Kate and Gerry McCann has proven a powerful example.
After their daughter Madeleine was abducted in the Algarve, the McCanns were the subject of an unprecedented number of highly defamatory and utterly baseless articles. These ranged from allegations that the couple had killed their daughter and disposed of her body, to the equally abhorrent suggestion that they had sold Madeleine into white slavery in order to pay off debts. Yet due to Portuguese laws of judicial secrecy, the McCanns were forbidden from speaking out. “We were being tried by the media and unable to defend ourselves” Gerry McCann told the Inquiry.
The McCanns explained that they were ultimately able to obtain some redress through the libel complaints which Carter-Ruck brought on their behalves, and which led to front page apologies in a number of newspapers as well as donations of substantial damages to the Find Madeleine fund.
The couple explained to the Inquiry, however, that their victimisation by the press went much further than this. They had repeatedly been ‘doorstepped’ and harassed by photographers who had caused considerable distress to their younger daughter and son, while a journalist had also managed to deceive Mr McCann’s mother into handing over a private photograph of the family.
For Kate McCann, the worst moment came in 2008 when lengthy extracts of her personal diary were splashed over the front page of the News of the World, without any warning. The diary had been seized by Portuguese police who subsequently handed it back. Mrs McCann told the Inquiry:
“I felt totally violated. I had written these words at the most desperate time of my life, and it was my only way of communicating with Madeleine…I just recently read through my diary entries at that point in that week, and I talk about climbing into a hole and not coming out because I just felt so worthless that we had been treated like that.”
The Inquiry is expected ultimately to make recommendations as to how the culture, practice and ethics of the press may be improved and better regulated, and in light of the evidence from the McCanns and the many other media victims it is difficult to see how the Inquiry could conclude that anything short of a full overhaul in press regulation is necessary. In the meantime the Inquiry is clearly providing an important platform for the victims of egregious press behaviour, who have previously struggled to have their voices heard against the might of the media machine.
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6 Responses to The Leveson Inquiry – victims of the media turn the tables on the press
1. Maureen Lang says:
December 1, 2011 at 12:01 pm
It can no longer be argued that no one in The PJ was responsible for these leaks, and often false information.
This was a deliberate attempt to influence Public Opinion against The McCanns in the absence of Evidence.
And I would dearly like to know exactly who was responsible, although I doubt that this information will come as a surprise to anyone.
2. C4 says:
November 30, 2011 at 8:53 pm
Brit, I don’t think you need two guess’s as to who this was.
Someone had a habit of leaving things on desks for journo’s to copy.
BrenR1958 says:
December 1, 2011 at 10:16 am
Yes you got that correct C4, it really doesn’t take a lot of guessing, but the burning question is this.
A judge ordered the copies to be destroyed, yet it seems they were not as Kate’s diary appeared in CdeM on the 28th July 2008.
The McCann family under oath, told the world things that many of us have not heard before of how bad their lives were with press intrusion. And how scared their children were at times.
3. Jen says:
November 30, 2011 at 6:04 pm
The trouble is that no matter how many times the press admit they lied and made up stories in order to increase revenue, those that swallowed the lies are refusing to budge. Either through ignorance or the need to hate someone, they refuse to give up their stalking and harassment. The media cannot undo that damage. Only by regulating the internet and applying harassment and stalking laws more rigorously can the damage be rectified.
BrenR1958 says:
December 1, 2011 at 10:40 am
Jen that is the danger, those lies and made up headlines are still to this day being peddled as fact and people are still believing them. Even e-books are being produced all based on made up headlines and a thesis that has no grounds and still these people refuse to retract what they have written and apologise ,when the proof is shown that their research is flawed.
Nobody wants to see such stringent regulation of the internet but I think maybe it has come to a point that it might be required.
The internet is a powerful tool, but unfortunately in this case, it has been used and abused by some in order to abuse and accuse others.
4. Brit. says:
November 30, 2011 at 1:21 pm
How did these diaries find there way from the Portuguese police into the Portuguese media and later to the NOTW.
This should be investigated and made known.
_______________________________________________
http://www.madeleinefoundation.org.uk/
Follow The Madeleine Foundation on Facebook http://tinyurl.com/2vtmdx8
Re: The Carter Ruck official blog - Isobel Hudson on the McCanns
December 1, 2011 at 12:01 pm
[b]It can no longer be argued that no one in The PJ was responsible for these leaks, and often false information.
This was a deliberate attempt to influence Public Opinion against The McCanns in the absence of Evidence.
And I would dearly like to know exactly who was responsible, although I doubt that this information will come as a surprise to anyone
This is the reaction I find amazing. Could the PJ sue for libel? Using a double negative - hope this isn't a lawyer, but likely to be. Without this it would read:
We can argue that someone in the PJ was responsible for leaks and false information. This was a deliberate attempt to influence public opinion against the McCanns in the absence of evidence.
qui bono?
Not the PJ - what would it profit them if the public opinion turned against the McCanns? In the same breath the absence of evidence is mentioned - well they had plenty of circumstantial evidence and it was enough for Portugese law. There was absolutely no need for the PJ to influence public opinion in any way.
The last line hints at Amaral.
And CR has a blog! Are they on Facebook too, with friends?

tigger- Posts: 2319
Join date: 2011-07-20
Re: The Carter Ruck official blog - Isobel Hudson on the McCanns
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Carter-Ruck/113758141967735

Jean- Posts: 804
Join date: 2011-03-27
Location: Far from the madding crowd
Re: The Carter Ruck official blog - Isobel Hudson on the McCanns
And as for the leveson enquiry what a load of old tosh.

tiny- Posts: 204
Join date: 2010-02-03
Re: The Carter Ruck official blog - Isobel Hudson on the McCanns
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Carter-Ruck/113758141967735[/quote[/url]]Jean wrote:Yes, they are on Facebook!
[url=http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Carter-Ruck/113758141967735
And 16 people "like" them. Surely the T9 could have rustled up more than seven friends between the lot of them.

maebee- Posts: 175
Join date: 2009-12-03
Location: Ireland
Re: The Carter Ruck official blog - Isobel Hudson on the McCanns
Now, how did those 6 comments get onto this blog? They must be genuine comments from the public, but how did they get onto this blog? Am I missing something? There must be some sort of comments box somewhere, can anyone see it?_______________________________________________
http://www.madeleinefoundation.org.uk/
Follow The Madeleine Foundation on Facebook http://tinyurl.com/2vtmdx8
Re: The Carter Ruck official blog - Isobel Hudson on the McCanns

Gillyspot- Posts: 1130
Join date: 2011-06-13
Re: The Carter Ruck official blog - Isobel Hudson on the McCanns
Posted on November 27, 2011 by Isabel Hudson
SNIP After their daughter Madeleine was abducted in the Algarve,
Really ?
Come on Isabel !
Give us a clue.
Tell us how, when, from where, who, why.
Come on. Don't be shy.
Tell the world.
Then perhaps someone, somewhere, can start looking in the right direction.

PeterMac- Researcher
- Posts: 1661
Join date: 2010-12-06
Re: The Carter Ruck official blog - Isobel Hudson on the McCanns
PeterMac wrote:Posted on November 27, 2011 by Isabel Hudson
SNIP After their daughter Madeleine was abducted in the Algarve,
Really ?
Come on Isabel !
Give us a clue.
Tell us how, when, from where, who, why.
Come on. Don't be shy.
Tell the world.
Then perhaps someone, somewhere, can start looking in the right direction.
I wonder how the Law Society would look upon a solicitor putting out this sort of information without any credible evidence to support it.
_______________________________________________
http://www.madeleinefoundation.org.uk/
Follow The Madeleine Foundation on Facebook http://tinyurl.com/2vtmdx8
Re: The Carter Ruck official blog - Isobel Hudson on the McCanns
Jean wrote:Yes, they are on Facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Carter-Ruck/113758141967735
OMG! So this makes it look sooooo bad for C-R, effectively, as they have a Face book account, they committed perjury in that court case when they misled about a certain someone not knowing about accepting friends. They said it was their belief IIRC that you did not have to make a specific acceptance.This bunch of whatnots should be struck off by the Law Society and/or jailed.

Smokeandmirrors- Posts: 267
Join date: 2011-07-31
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