Just talking re: Shannon Matthews disappearance on ONE Show

[No1ErmaBombeckfan]

All down to class apparently....

'fraid so

and prettiness

sorry but true innit

AND I should add

totally horrifying and depressing

I have just caught the tail end of this discussion, very frank and a discussion that needs to take place.

It is a hard conclusion to accept ...

Can you summarise, twinsetandpearls please?

Was it along the lines of 'why did Madeline McCann's disappearance get SO MUCH media attention and yet this poor wee girl's isn't'?

Got it in one...

isn't it just the most depressing indication of societies fascination with aesthetics that even the disapearance of a young girl is given lesser billing because of looks.

the media should hang their heads in mass shame

the step dad worries me tho. why would the family say he had hurt her? Which he denies. There is more to it, well of course there is.

absolutely mamazon. She isn't as newsworthy, cos she isn't 'attractive', she is too 'normal'.

Its very sad.

yes I think so I literally caught the last few minutes and they were saying that the Mc Canns reflect the people who control the media. He also said that it is hard to imagine that the Mccanns were to blame , which I did not agree with as they have a lot of blame hurled at them.

The female journalist also said prettiness comes into it.

The male journalist said that we also make assumptions that as a single mother the mum of Shannon Matthews must have been lacking in some way.

I wondered about starting a thread to that end but decided against it. We know why and we know it's farkin wrong. I think the class thing is huge but the 'thrill' isn't there for the media because the parents didn't do anything 'wrong' like the McCann's are perceived to have.
At the end of the day another family has lost a child. Another tragedy

It's the tabloids that have kept this story alive though - this is not a mass desertion of the media. Front page of the Mirror today, plus a page inside; it's been in the Sun equally prominently.

Of course there's a class element, but it's not just that. The McCann case was pretty clear cut case of stranger abduction (and despite wobbles, still appears so). There was no possibility that a three-year-old as she then was would 'run away'. As soon as you get to age 8 or 9 or 10, the run away theory is at least a possibility. Mostly, when kids run away, they are found again or come home.

In addition, the complicated family life of the Matthews clan muddies the waters even more - when a story is as unclear as this, it's hard for papers to keep up the interest.

Yes, the 'thrill' factor had the edge, it was abroad, their system v ours, middle class mums on wine whilst child abducted.

I agree with tiktok. It's a different story for more than just class reasons.

Although the Times certainly seemed to make it their angle

I was surprised to see a 12 year old girl has turned up safe and well having been missing for 3 days. Did anyone know about her?

i think that its sad that this case hasn't been as widely publicatised as the MM case. this is a child, and the media shoul helping in any way

there's a 14 year old girl missing here, bet no-one knows about her, only people in the area

Agree with TikTok