Clarence Mitchell describes Madeleine McCann story as a 'daily soap opera' at Communications Conference in Australia - speaks of receiving bids for exclusives for 10th anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance

canada12 wrote:How do they know Madeleine will still be missing on the 10th anniversary?
This is just the same as Gerry coming up with his plans for future anniversaries when Madeleine first disappeared.
To do this just proves they know she's not coming back.

Clarence Mitchell speaks

Madeleine McCann family PR advisor said he had to ‘think like a journalist’ to keep the story in press for nine years
The man who has kept the disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann in the news for the past nine years said he managed to do so by looking at the case through the eyes of a journalist.

Speaking on the challenges of dealing with what became one of the biggest news stories in the world at the time, Clarence Mitchell revealed to the CommsCon Conference in Sydney, it was “the first big missing child case of the internet age”.
Explaining how he handled the initial issues posed by a press pack of 3-400 international reporters, former BBC reporter Mitchell explained: “I had to look at it as a journalist would – pose the questions a journalist would ask. If you’re half-way to answering those questions you are half-way to getting good coverage.”
After the four-year-old was snatched from her hotel room at a Portuguese resort while her parents dined at a nearby restaurant, Mitchell said it became “like a daily soap opera” as it was “a story that shocked the world and continues to shock”, leading the media to bay for more headlines to feed public interest in the case.
He explained how turf wars developed between local and international press, and how he had had reporters in tears begging for extra information otherwise they ‘would be fired’, leading to stories containing “wild allegations” in the media against parents Kate and Jerry McCann.
Mitchell said the family were initially reluctant to go legal for fear of getting the press offside, but have ultimately taken action against several papers in the UK and Portugal, which Mitchell said: “Did set a marker, we were reluctant to go legal, and the British media calmed down and they have been a lot more responsible since then.”

The family has had more than 550,000 pounds in damages paid out to the foundation, which helps to fund the ongoing search for Madeleine.
Ultimately Mitchell said his job was to try and bring reporters back to the central message – the hunt for Madeleine – and “not the wider family soap opera which was developing around it”.
Asked how he had kept the story, which has had thousands of front page articles around the world, in the public attention, he explained: “We were aware early on there could be a boredom threshold with members of the public – as awful as that sounds.
“News desks did start to say they need something different, and that’s where the age-progressed images were important and gave us new hooks to create more interest in it.”
He said he avoided exclusivity with papers as “that would have backfired spectacularly” saying they key was to get as much publicity as possible.
“Later on, as the appetite began to wane on a daily basis we had to be a bit more imaginative”, pointing to a segment on the second anniversary on the Oprah Winfrey show which showed how they produce the age-progressed images of Madeleine. He added they also insist on campaign materials being used in every story about Madeleine.
“For something that’s running as an ongoing issue you need everyone on board,” he added.



Mitchell insists campaign materials are included in every news story about Madeleine

Explaining how he approached working with journalists, he explained: “A legitimate tier-one journalist, if they have a good relationship with you, will hear you out, it doesn’t mean they will change their story, but they will give you a fair hearing.”
He also explained how “there’s too little investigative journalism” as “a lot of news desks have turned into cut-and-paste because of the constant monster of the internet”.



“If I knew the journalists and they knew me and I could say here’s the truth of the situation then they’d give me a fair hearing.”
But he warned: “There’s no such thing as ‘off the record’ any more. If you don’t want to see it in print and on the air, don’t say it.
“I would ask understanding as to why we couldn’t get into that today, but it will become clear. Or I’d say ‘if you don’t print that today, I’m promising you you will have something better on Friday’.
“That worked with media I knew. With the Portuguese media I didn’t know from Adam I had to be more careful.”

melisande wrote:"He also explained how “there’s too little investigative journalism” as “a lot of news desks have turned into cut-and-paste because of the constant monster of the internet”." 


Ain't that the truth!  Actually, that whole final paragraph speaks volumes. 

Google.Gaspar.Statements wrote:

• 0:00 Introduction by Miranda Ward
  
• 4:00 Clarence Mitchell takes the stage
  
• 5:15 The case of Madeleine McCann: An exceptional story in a multi-platform environment
  
• 10:30 Public perception
  
• 11:44 The big picture: international police, international media, official leaks, the parents, friends, the governments
  
• 14:00 Information leaks: the deal, the damage
  
• 15:00 Blogging – in the wrong hands and with an agenda can do enormous damage
  
• 16:00 Question everything, no matter what, as a journalist would
  
• 17:00 A ‘pool’ is not just something you swim in: sharing information
  
• 19:26 The newsroom and the tidal wave of content
  
• 20:55 Lack of relationships between competing media: 200 to 300 media on-site and more in the UK
  
• 22:30 Going legal: defeating misinformation, lies and gross defamation
  
• 23:20 Keeping the focus on the search not the parents
  
• 26:40 Keeping the British press in line
  
• 28:00 The media pool: A daily soap opera with few checks or balances
  
• 29:00 Journalists pressured to produce stories resulted in false sighting reports
  
• 31:00 Calling on the government for help: Operation Grange, the Scotland Yard inquiry
  
• 33:00 More than 100 articles deemed “grossly defamatory”; the front page apologies, payouts and trust fund
  
• 35:00 Be straight with the media
  
• 39:00 Meeting the Pope
  
• 40:00 Kate McCann’s role for missing children organisations in Britain
  
• 42:00 Media calls for 2017’s 10 year anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance
  
• 44:00 The battle for hope: cases of women being held against their will
  
• 45:00 Miranda Ward takes stage with Clarence for one-on-one Q&A
  
• 49:00 Audience questions
  
• 1:02:15 Presentation concludes
  

Keitei wrote:CommsCon 2016: Clarence Mitchell – The Hunt for Madeleine McCann (keynote) 


http://mumbrella.com.au/commscon-2016-clarence-mitchell-madeleine-mccann-359344



CommsCon 2016: Clarence Mitchell – The Hunt for Madeleine McCann (keynote)
In a series of highlights from this year’s CommsCon event, we look at how public relations professional Clarence Mitchell kept the Madeleine McCann story in the news for 8 years in this keynote presentation.

Clarence Mitchell, the man who kept the story of the disappearance of three-year-old British child Madeleine McCann in the media for eight years, opened CommsCon 2016. The former BBC reporter discusses how he worked with the McCann family, international police forces, British government and international media to keep the story of Madeleine’s disappearance in the news – and what he did to fight defamation, handle daily requests from upward of 300 journalists and manage overwhelming expectation from all angles.

Moderator: Miranda Ward, public relations and publishing editor, Mumbrella.



Timeline:

• 0:00 Introduction by Miranda Ward
  
• 4:00 Clarence Mitchell takes the stage
  
• 5:15 The case of Madeleine McCann: An exceptional story in a multi-platform environment
  
• 10:30 Public perception
  
• 11:44 The big picture: international police, international media, official leaks, the parents, friends, the governments
  
• 14:00 Information leaks: the deal, the damage
  
• 15:00 Blogging – in the wrong hands and with an agenda can do enormous damage
  
• 16:00 Question everything, no matter what, as a journalist would
  
• 17:00 A ‘pool’ is not just something you swim in: sharing information
  
• 19:26 The newsroom and the tidal wave of content
  
• 20:55 Lack of relationships between competing media: 200 to 300 media on-site and more in the UK
  
• 22:30 Going legal: defeating misinformation, lies and gross defamation
  
• 23:20 Keeping the focus on the search not the parents
  
• 26:40 Keeping the British press in line
  
• 28:00 The media pool: A daily soap opera with few checks or balances
  
• 29:00 Journalists pressured to produce stories resulted in false sighting reports
  
• 31:00 Calling on the government for help: Operation Grange, the Scotland Yard inquiry
  
• 33:00 More than 100 articles deemed “grossly defamatory”; the front page apologies, payouts and trust fund
  
• 35:00 Be straight with the media
  
• 39:00 Meeting the Pope
  
• 40:00 Kate McCann’s role for missing children organisations in Britain
  
• 42:00 Media calls for 2017’s 10 year anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance
  
• 44:00 The battle for hope: cases of women being held against their will
  
• 45:00 Miranda Ward takes stage with Clarence for one-on-one Q&A
  
• 49:00 Audience questions
  
• 1:02:15 Presentation concludes
  

Sponsored by media intelligence company iSentia, CommsCon helps PR and communications professionals better understand their discipline and the issues the ever-changing industry is facing.

Ladyinred wrote:Yes, there's probably a TM planning group already discussing the 10th anniversary.  Bids?  It's morally disgusting, just like the circus surrounding this case.  Millions of pounds are being spent by the police in the UK on the investigation into MBM's disappearance while the parents exploit any opportunity to fill their own pockets.  Why are they allowed to profit from a crime? They should hand over all money from their bogus fund for a non-existent search to the Home Office.  What a cess-pit they all inhabit.

I feel outraged reading smug Mitchell's comments.  Poor Madeleine.