next on the entertainment channel : madeleine the search

i understand the public interest in this story, but i serously doubt the intentions of the media in its 24/7 reporting and style.

a decade or two ago, we would have had an hourly update on the radio news, but the majority of the news would be the 6pm or 9pm main story and the morning papers.

now we have the news is entertainment format news. 24/7 news stations all fighting for ratings.

and that means step up the minute by minute search for controversy. they analyse the police every move, taking up their valuable time and resourses. i bet the police have had to employ for each officer searching and investigating, 2 to deal with all the media requests.

and then there is the reward money. why does that seem to increasingly make the news like formula 1? now we have a tv audience friendly picture of a small blonde girl smiling in still pictures, an angel for the silly viewers who i expect also cry watching corrie or eastenders when a storyline turns sad... and the virtual logos all around her from the £2.5m of concerned "groups" offering money for info leading to the safe return etc...

i am very sad for the parents, who forgot they owed more care to their child than they gave at the time (sadly times have changed from the days when people believed they could get away with what they did)

but i am even more sad for the state of the media, and the state of the people who demand it