Who is the Libelous?

“Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.”- Joseph Pulitzer

Since Joseph Pulitzer’s time the media has increased in a more pure form; this has aroused from elements in society such as, technological upgrades, public weary and enforced laws. This Western culture, the United States strives for news about everything. For the viewers and readers of the news, the information presented is piled to the sky, from the “War on Terror” to who celebrities are sleeping with. Journalists are in a competition for the exclusive story of their lifetimes. Surprisingly, journalists can be impatient and quickly print information that appears to be phenomenal. All the while, this phenomenal story of the lifetime is screened by an audience. The reaction of the audience may be positive or negative, but undoubtedly somebody is screening for libelous material. In May of 2007, little three years old Madeleine McCann went missing in Portugal.

London newspapers, the Daily Star, and the Daily Express attempted to connect the dots of the missing girl; their skepticism was proven libelous and the McCann parents received 1.2 million dollars and vast apologies in 2008. The story doesn’t end here; one of the lead Portuguese investigators, named Goncalo Amaral was kicked off the case from leaking out information to the media. He then decided to write a book entitled “The Truth of the Lie”. Amaral’s book implies that Madeleine might have died and her parents may have tried to cover it up. Currently, Amaral is accused of creating libels and an injunction has been placed upon him (Goodman, Al. 1/11/2010).

It appears as though Goncalo Amaral thought this was the phenomenal story of his life but it could ruin him. In the perspective of the McCann family, they’ve lost a child and they’ve suffered incredibly from the media, Amaral, and the people trying to create a scene involving the parents as suspects.

REFERENCES

Goodman, Al. (2010, January 11). McCann’s parents to attend libel case against police officer. CNN World. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/01/11/portugal.britain.madeleine.mccann/index.html?iref=allsearch

Joseph Pulitzer Quotes. Retrieved from http://thinkexist.com/quotes/joseph_pulitzer/