The cases of Madeleine McCann and Shannon Matthews.

Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003) disappeared on the evening of 3 May 2007 from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, a resort in the Algarve region of Portugal, sparking what one newspaper called "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history". Her whereabouts remain unknown. The theory seems to have been that the two doctors killed their daughter by accident, possibly by giving her too much sedative in the hope that she would sleep while they went out to dine with friends at a tapas restaurant 50 yards away.

Shannon was a nine year old girl who went missing for 24 days in 2008, it was later discovered that 

On December 4 2008, mum-of-seven Karen and Donovan were found guilty of kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.Both were sentenced at  Leeds Crown Court to eight years behind bars.

It has been claimed Karen wrote "dirty letters" to pen pals from prison.

And her friend Julie, the woman who organised the search for Shannon, since said she believes Karen was trying to get away from Meehan, was pressured into calling the police and reporting her daughter missing, and was then tied to the lie.

Meehan was jailed for 20 weeks after unrelated child sex abuse material was discovered on his computer.

(1.) Find examples of language used in each of the pieces to describe the parents of both children: "

In the article of Madeleine, it says "The McCanns described how they plan to use some of the £300,000" which suggests that they're quite a wealthy family who have a lot of money, which would mean they'd be able to make the disappearance of their daughter more important. Throughout the article, we see a series of adjectives such as; "traumatised", "terrifying", "tearfully" whilst also being described as "totally protective parents" which portray the horror that the McCann family went through when Madeleine had went missing, and that they're in distraught. Further, in corroboration to the support of them being wealthy, is that the McCanns also had a spokesperson to emphasise the importance of the case; "personal psychologist" and "a source close to the McCann family." However, in Shannon's article, the differences between the two is wide. For example, the article portrays rather a negative view on the parents; "Miss Matthews, who has seven children to five fathers" clearly states that she is a stereotypical mother who is on benefits due to having seven children, it also portrays that she is a mess, as she was having an affair with the main who kidnapped her daughter. Further, we can see that the dysfunction of Shannon's family and mother is showed through a comparison to a "Channel 4 drama series Shameless, shown in the month before the nine year old vanished" which describes how the daughter of a character in the series, fakes a kidnap of the character's youngest son in order to gain money.
Overall, the two families show quite a contrast to each other as they both come from two different social classes. The McCann family is definitely from an upper and wealthy class, whereas the Matthews, came from the middle-working class. Both have stereotypes demonstrated, such as the wealthy family having more support due to a sufficient amount of money, whereas the middle and working class are seen to struggle and be put on benefits.

(2.) The comparison between the two pictures is unique. The colours are also contrasted. For example, for Madeleine, she is looking quite oblivious as if she didn't know the picture was taken, and this could be because she was distracted and was having fun. However, more importantly, in the mis-en-scene, her hair is seen to be neatly brushed, which says something about her character and background; she comes from a wealthy and organised family, and by the choice of colour she is wearing; pink, demonstrates that her parents treat her quite well, and they may want her to adapt to a female stereotype of having to wear pink. But, the pink can also connote that she is located somewhere relaxed, in this case, Algarve, given by the short sleeves, she is somewhere warm, which again, signifies that her family is from a wealthy background, as they have enough money to travel around and go on holidays. In contrast to this, the mis-en-scene in Shannon's picture is quite dull looking as it all contains blue and navy blue. She is seen wearing a school uniform, which is the opposite to Madeleine, she is in more of a relaxed scenery, whereas Shannon is in a school environment. Her hair is also messy, which connotes that she may be a tacky character, and her having to wear a school uniform could signify that she is of a stereotypical, working-class family background. Both shots are portrait, with no significant backgrounds. However, Shannon looks aware of the picture and is even smiling, whereas Madeleine doesn't. It could suggest that maybe Shannon preferred to stay in at school rather than go home.


(3 and 4 in one) News coverage can be hierarchical, for example, in Madeleine's case, the Telegraph intended to make the audience feel sorry for the disappearance of Madeleine, however in my opinion, as a reader, I'm opposed because I don't feel sorry for the family, due to the fact of my belief that parents should never leave their children alone, especially if they are as young as Madeleine. Further, since the McCann family is quite healthy, people who have money, have social power, so they can manipulate attitudes and make the audience feel sorry for them. However, the Telegraph has a different connotation towards the Matthews, because as they are a middle-working class with benefits, they are portrayed as people who struggle with their life and resort to doing any types of things in order to gain money. The Telegraph has clearly intended to make the audience feel hate and negativity towards the mother, and this is due to how she was being described. In my opinion, using the Reception theory, I'm clearly an opposed reader and that's because I think both are very much guilty, especially the Matthews, as she fake kidnapped her daughter in order to get money, and for the McCanns, they should have never left their child alone, especially since they were very young and should have been under supervision.