For Madeleine's sake, beware the juggernaut of publicity

I don't necessarily agree with everything which is said in this piece written in the Daily Mail, but there is a valid point to be made. The media wagon is now in full flight and will be very difficult to slow down .... what will the long terms effects be of this snowball now careering down the hillside at a ever increasing speed? I totally admire the McCanns for trying to move heaven and earth in their attempt to find their daughter -- who wouldn't in their shoes? Come on, if you had the resources the McCanns have been able to muster ... who wouldn't do the same? I, you, we all would be focussed on one thing, and one thing only -- finding our abducted child. At all cost. Within the bubble of emotions we just wouldn't stop and think of the consequences? Now would we? Adrenalin would be coursing through our veins -- we'd be tearful, scared, frightened and desperate. We'd all do the same wouldn't we?

Amanda Platell of The UK Daily Mail, says,
It is an almost unutterable message to Kate and Gerry McCann, but I feel I must say it before it is too late: "Please, please, for your own sake and the sake of your missing daughter Madeleine, step off this speeding juggernaut of publicity for just a second. Be still for one moment and think about what you are doing, about where you go next."

What mother or father in their situation could think of anything but getting their child back? Who could pause when every second might make the difference? But hear me out.

Like millions of people, each night my first prayer is for Madeleine’s safe return. My second is for Kate and Gerry McCann, to give them the strength to endure the horror that has befallen them.

Any parent would move heaven and earth to try to find their missing child. If that means shouting Madeleine’s name in every corner of the globe, then the McCanns have made it plain they will do so. To that end, they have helped orchestrate a publicity campaign to keep their daughter’s face in the forefront of the public’s mind, to maximise public support.

But I do feel that the McCanns’ sustained public agony is so intense it is becoming almost unwatchable — thereby destroying its very purpose. None of us can imagine the full extent of the torment they are going through, day after day, as hope grows dimmer and desperation fades toward grief.

But this I do know: the McCanns cannot be in a fit state to make rational judgements about what they are being asked to do. If someone told them that cutting off their arms would bring Madeleine back, they’d do it.

And I do wonder about the people who are advising them

Surely they need to take stock, to preserve their sanity, if not for their own sakes then for the sake of two adorable children who remain their most precious hope of happiness in these dark and desperate weeks.