I'm probably going to be terribly unpopular for posting this, but it's what I believe so here goes...
I've been reading lots of the posts on here for the past few days and it's a terrible story, but I do feel I've got to stand up for the media a bit. As someone who's worked in television news for 15 years I am sorry that people are so distressed about the news coverage.
This type of media blitz on these terrible stories is usually driven by the police, rather than a ghoulish media. It's a well recognised police tactic in this country to flood all media outlets with information as soon as possible in these situations. It's a sad truth that most of these types of abductions end in tragedy within the first few hours, and the police recognise the importance of the involvement of the public in working as their eyes and ears in these crucial hours.
Another distressing thing for us to watch is frantic terrified parents at a press conference begging for the return of their child. This isn't done for the benefit of the media, it's usually set up by the police as psychologists recognise the importance of humanising the missing child in the eyes of the abductor. It's terribly important to appeal to the tiny remaining bit of humanity in these bastards who do this sort of thing, and so as distressing as it may seem to us, the spectacle of weeping parents begging for their child back is an important part of the investigation.
This case of course is slightly different in that it's taking place in a different country, however I think the media coverage is justified as much of the information police have received has come from British expats in the area who have been watching British news and reading British papers.
As someone who's been involved in unfortunately far too many of these kinds of story, I can tell you, no one in the media relishes these stories. I felt as uncomfortable as anyone at the media storm surrounding for example the abduction and murder of Holly and Jessica in 2002, but it was a crucial part of the police investigation, and although in that case it did end in tragedy, the coverage may have speeded up the discovery of the children's bodies and the arrest of Ian Huntley. Obviously for the parents, nothing can ever make up for a lost child, but in the midst of such tragedy, anything that can help put away the evil people that do these kinds of things has be considered, as distressing as it may be for those of us watching.
I sincerely hope this case ends well, but I am sure the police liaison officers working with the family will have explained the importance of their participation in the media coverage, and they will feel as I'm sure most of us would in the same situation, that anything to speed the happy resolution of this terrible story must be considered.