Express "hits" ...EXCLUSIVE: ‘McCanns will lose £1m libel trial’ Judge’s initial findings go against couple

Thetruth wrote:IIRC it's shorter and quicker to write.

IMHO.    

Sorry etc...

Idke (I didn't know either)  

Worth keeping for posterity, thanks sergei - from twitter.........


sergei ‏@sergeimirkat 10 mins10 minutes ago
For the record @Daily_Express #McCann











Talk about cock up

A monumental one at that.

Just shows the state of MSM today. Heads should roll

It is the great British Press. The envy of the world !

Do you think they actually employ reporters who write copy any more ?

Or are rags like the Express really just a room with half a dozen copy and paste monkeys ?

I think everyone is so scared now of being sued and editors keep such tight control - its all about finance now - rather than news.
Investigative journalism has been pushed out of MSM. I no longer pick up a newspaper and expect the truth of what is happening. I expect to see heavily censored stories or spin. (Maybe they were always like that - they probably were - but I was more naive before this case). I prefer now to get news from several different sources on the internet. I get The Times at home but I know its all about Rupert - there's a slant on everything

The same with education - schools are all about performance statistics and headmaster's CVs.
The same with NHS - nurses have to have degrees

Thetruth wrote:It is the great British Press. The envy of the world !

Do you think they actually employ reporters who write copy any more ?

Or are rags like the Express really just a room with half a dozen copy and paste monkeys ?

Britain's main stream media have been asleep at the wheel for at least fifty years.

This is well worth a watch.

@Helenmeg

I agree, newspapers are all about making money rather than reporting news (and possibly always have been) which is going to make things very interesting as the potential gains to be made from exposing the McCanns start to exceed the risks.

great vid. Love Rich D Hall

Poe wrote:@Helenmeg

I agree, newspapers are all about making money rather than reporting news (and possibly always have been) which is going to make things very interesting as the potential gains to be made from exposing the McCanns start to exceed the risks.

What I look for is newspapers, or news channels, that make money by reporting the news.

I do not read the UK rags therefore, and I include the BBC in that.

Thetruth wrote:

Poe wrote:@Helenmeg

I agree, newspapers are all about making money rather than reporting news (and possibly always have been) which is going to make things very interesting as the potential gains to be made from exposing the McCanns start to exceed the risks.

What I look for is newspapers, or news channels, that make money by reporting the news.

I do not read the UK rags therefore, and I include the BBC in that.

Thats good - but can you be sure they are not biased ? How do they make money by reporting the news - sorry not quite sure what you mean.... can you give an example?

Thetruth wrote:It is the great British Press. The envy of the world !

Do you think they actually employ reporters who write copy any more ?

Or are rags like the Express really just a room with half a dozen copy and paste monkeys ?

Journalism used to be a trade rather than a profession, and so attracted bright, ambitious and resourceful people who tended not to be of the establishment (their children tended to go to university and enter real professions). Over the past 40 years or so, journalism and TV presenting have become a great career option for the less-talented children of the well connected. Giles Coren, India Knight, Claudia Winkleman and William Sitwell spring to mind but there are lots more. Hardly surprising that with journalists like this in position, there's little appetite for questioning the establishment and rocking the boat.

Great video of Richard Hall. Love the discussion where only two viewpoints are presented to hide the 3rd one.  The GDP/turnover has always puzzled me too. Why? Like always having to have a bigger house or a more upmarket car.

That Brezyinski quote is horrendous!

From Daily Star today............




McCann cop claims couple will lose £1m libel case against him


THE former Portuguese cop who accused Madeleine McCann’s parents of covering up her death said he expects them to lose their £1million libel battle against him.




By Jerry Lawton / Published 26th January 2015



LEGAL BATTLE: Kate and Gerry McCann allege that Mr Amaral's book is libellous [AP]

Goncalo Amaral, 57, said early rulings by the judge in the case suggested her verdict may be 'favourable' to him.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, both 46, claim the ex-cop's controversial book about the then-three-year-old's disappearance in 2007 left them devastated.

In his book and a follow-up TV documentary Mr Amaral said he suspected the youngster had died in the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz and accused the couple of hiding the tragedy.

“She said it was not proven they would suffer 'permanent anguish, insomnia, lack of appetite and an indefinable fear'”

Kate spent 55 minutes detailing to the court in Portugal's capital Lisbon the distress she said his claims had caused.

But the couple's chances of pocketing a big pay-out appear to be dashed after the judge gave a crushing preliminary ruling.

Judge Maria Emilia Melo e Castro said she did not find the couple had been 'completely destroyed' from a 'moral, ethical and family point of view' as a result of the book.

She said it was not proven they would suffer 'permanent anguish, insomnia, lack of appetite and an indefinable fear'.

The judge said this psychological state existed before the publication of Mr Amaral's The Truth Of The Lie.

She said it was normal for the couple to be affected by the book and they would have 'felt badly' over allegations by Mr Amaral that they hid their daughter's body.

But she said it was not possible to determine what most people would have thought after reading Mr Amaral's theories.

The McCanns have claimed Mr Amaral's assertion their daughter is dead stopped people looking for her.

ACCUSED: Goncalo Amaral says the McCanns will lose their £1m libel claim [Tim Clarke / Express Newspapers]  

The judge said she was satisfied some facts in the book came from official Portuguese police files - though others did not.

She is due to give her final ruling next month.

Mr Amaral, who is now retired, told Portuguese TV her indications so far led him to believe he would win the case.

He said he wrote the book to defend the initial police probe into Madeleine's disappearance which he led for four months before being axed after accusing Brit detectives of siding with the McCanns.
       
The McCanns' lawyer Isabel Duarte was unavailable for comment on the judge's initial findings.

Scotland Yard detectives are conducting a £10m investigation in a bid to find out what happened to Madeleine.

They have cleared the McCanns of any involvement and suspect she was killed in a botched burglary.



http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/421998/Former-cop-who-accused-McCanns-of-covering-up-Maddie-death-says-they-will-lose-libel-case

Thetruth wrote:

susible wrote:If they had just walked away in 2008 after the archiving and gone to ground, none of this would have happened, the world would have forgotten about the McCanns, but no, they had to keep pushing and pushing, they desperately wanted to be "officially declared innocent" and of course had got used to being celebs, raking in the cash, and I think that it is that arrogance and greed which will ultimately be their downfall IMO

It could be that they took a deal from tptb ?

Once you are officially declared innocent, then you get all that you wish for and all that we can provide, director of children's chariddee, member of parliament, b level luvviedom status, own sofa show.

If you don't get declared snowy white, well you are on your own.

Imo

The McCanns however, didn't just want to be declared innocent, they wanted it written into the statutes with the full force of civil and criminal law to be used against anyone with the audacity to suggest they might be telling fibs.

What they really wanted:

No man, woman, child (the demands extend to the twins' school), newspaper or any other media outlet, shall caste doubt on the abduction story according to Kate and Gerry McCann and their friends and family who are also innocent.

Anyone questioning the McCann family on twitter or any other social network should go straight to jail without passing Go or collecting £200.

Should any newspaper or broadcaster deviate in any way from official Team McCann press releases, or publish any item that has not had the explicit approval of Clarence Mitchell, a 6 figure sum must be paid immediately into the Madeleine Fund.

The public must accept and support Kate's role as Ambassador to Missing People and future parenting advisor without question, anyone can lose a child on holiday.

The abolition of the #McCann twitter hashtag and all forums and facebook pages that discuss the case of missing Madeleine unless approved by a Government appointed Witchfinder General Director of the Internet and dedicated team of vigilantes/morally righteous/santimonious volunteers who will watch and govern the internet 24/7.




I started this hours ago, it turned into a blog.

I just read it. Well done.

Châtelaine wrote:I just read it. Well done.

Looking at that photograph above - must be as you said - press chooses the photographs to pass on a message. 

Must say Gerry looks quite frightening, those eyes...

Tigger wrote:

Châtelaine wrote:I just read it. Well done.

Looking at that photograph above - must be as you said - press chooses the photographs to pass on a message. 

Must say Gerry looks quite frightening, those eyes...

This is what worries me most. If we've reached the point where the PTB/media, having built them up, are now preparing to knock them down, what does that mean - what is the "wider agenda"?

Tigger wrote:

Châtelaine wrote:I just read it. Well done.

Looking at that photograph above - must be as you said - press chooses the photographs to pass on a message. 

Must say Gerry looks quite frightening, those eyes...

One can tell where a paper`s sympathies lie by the pics they use. These Daily Star pics definitely favour GA IMO

From The Star's photos I know who I'd buy a used car from  (or who I wouldn't!   )

As regards the payout - I can`t see this judge sending the McCanns away empty handed (after all, they have lost a child haven`t they, poor things). The judge would look pretty heartless not to show any favour to such poor, humble, church going parents that the press support, their fans adore, that the Pope himself blessed, a parent who received a police bravery award, a parent who has become an ambassador for a charity, a couple whom Scotland Yard have declared innocent, a couple who continually appear on popular TV programmes to declare their innocence.

Even if the judge has sussed their game, she is up against 8 years of successful PR.

Helenmeg wrote:

Thetruth wrote:

Poe wrote:@Helenmeg

I agree, newspapers are all about making money rather than reporting news (and possibly always have been) which is going to make things very interesting as the potential gains to be made from exposing the McCanns start to exceed the risks.

What I look for is newspapers, or news channels, that make money by reporting the news.

I do not read the UK rags therefore, and I include the BBC in that.

Thats good - but can you be sure they are not biased ? How do they make money by reporting the news - sorry not quite sure what you mean.... can you give an example?

Yes, The Economist for example. Or the Financial Times. Neither pretend to 'make' the news, aka make-up the news. Both would die if their readers did not trust them. The Times was once the newspaper of record, another example, but I would not say that now.
Private Eye also, often has long reports of fact, say about local authority dirty dealing.

The 'rags' that are often quoted here, do not even attempt to report the news for the most part. They just make it up...look at Sky recently with their troll day. So I never read them and I don't watch much TV news.

After everything I've read recently [fora, newspaper articles, comments and the lot] I cannot see how this judge - who has IMO made very intelligent observations - can rule against Dr. Amaral. And even IF she'd award some "compensation" [AFAIK in PT for modest amounts, if ever awarded at all], he will have his life back and his assets unblocked. Let's not forget that: they virtually drained his financial [and thus civil and moral] situation and he's been mainly surviving, as he himself wrote earlier, on the kindness and donations of friends, physical ones and cyber ones - and there are a lot of them! IMO also, he'd then be free to launch a counter suit. I know some think, he shouldn't. I think he should. Like a lot of us, he's been on a mission, which is still ongoing. It's about time it's finally over.

I see what you mean - thanks..

Most media has at least 2 motivations - financial and to promote any bias of the owner. But even the bias of the owner is generally held through a financial greed.
I suppose its best to take them as what they are - next weeks fish and chip paper... nothing more

Châtelaine wrote:After everything I've read recently [fora, newspaper articles, comments and the lot] I cannot see how this judge - who has IMO made very intelligent observations - can rule against Dr. Amaral. And even IF she'd award some "compensation" [AFAIK in PT for modest amounts, if ever awarded at all], he will have his life back and his assets  unblocked. Let's not forget that: they virtually drained his financial [and thus civil and moral] situation and he's been mainly surviving, as he himself wrote earlier, on the kindness and donations of friends, physical ones and cyber ones - and there are a lot of them! IMO also, he'd then be free to launch a counter suit. I know some think, he shouldn't. I think he should. Like a lot of us, he's been on a mission, which is still ongoing. It's about time it's finally over.

I wish him well whatever he decides to do as we all do I think. Not sure if there would be any money to be gained though. Perhaps he may just want to let them know their behaviour towards him was reprehensible.

Well, judging from that article the McCanns' star does appear to be fading.

No 'disgraced cop'. Not even a bungling or a sacked one. No sardine bones in sight.

Instead we have 'Mr Amaral', manic McCann glares and, most tellingly for me:

"But the couple's chances of pocketing a big pay-out appear to be dashed..."

Mercenary Mcs? Never seen that angle in a paper before. Usually expect to see some guff about the compensation for the hurt caused will go towards the fund to pay for the continuing search blah di blah.