“We have nothing to hide” Clarence Mitchell
Posted on October 19, 2007 - Filed Under Coventry Conversations, Journalism, Media |
Clarence Mitchell photographed here being interviewed by the press & our MC students
The spokesperson for Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of Madeleine who went missing in Portugal aged three in May, reiterated today at Coventry University that he believed in their innocence.
“We have nothing to hide,” Clarence Mitchell told a largely student audience as part of the ‘Coventry Conversations’, saying the McCanns are always willing to cooperate with Portuguese Police.
His talk was centred on the on-going campaign to find Madeleine, with one of the most dramatic developments being the naming of the parents as official suspects by Portuguese police early last month. Mitchell reiterated his firm belief that the couple will be fully exonerated in due course.
He discussed the media’s role in the day-to-day effort to publicise the case and said that “the McCanns welcome any (media) coverage; as long as it is objective”. The former BBC journalist spoke for an hour to students, local residents and local press at a packed lecture hall as he described the intense media scrutiny that has followed his role as official spokesperson for the McCann family.
He claimed that the vast media coverage should be attributed to the fact that it is “a human interest story of the greatest magnitude” and that so-called middle class status of the McCanns has nothing to do with his involvement.
On whether he would have been so willing to offer his assistance if the McCanns were of a working class background, he firmly said: “The British consulate would offer exactly the same assistance to any British citizen, and my role was on behalf of the consulate.”
Turning to the criticism that the McCanns had received due to their apparent lack of emotion, he claimed that “they are just as emotional as you and I…they simply have a reserved nature”.
Asked about the forthcoming six-month ‘anniversary’ of the disappearance of Madeleine, he declared that the McCanns “are not interested in anniversaries” and that their efforts are being focused on finding their daughter and eventually clearing their names.
The talk, organised by Coventry University lecturer John Mair, came ahead of today’s ‘Dispatches’ programme on British TV Channel 4 which looks at the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine.
Daniel Berry
2nd Year Journalism & English student
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