Man behind the McCanns: Clarence Mitchell

Tim Hoang attended Clarence Mitchell’s seminar at Leeds Town Hall about crisis communications yesterday, where Mitchell discussed how the Madeleine McCann campaign has been handled.

Mitchell has handled both the negative publicity surrounding the McCann’s case and dealt with press intrusion and accusations lobbied at himself. But there can be no doubt of his affection for the McCann family and his drive to see Madeline returned.

He ridiculed elements within the national press that had written unsubstantiated stories such as claims that Gerry McCann is not the biological father of Maddie and orgy claims. These are ridiculous in the cold light of day, yet rumours still continue online and in the print media.

The 24/7 nature and global reach of the Internet has clearly had a positive effect on the campaign. Tim asked how Mitchell had dealt with the apparent contradiction that while the internet had helped rapidly spread the word of Maddie’s disappearance it was also a platform for rumour and hearsay.

Mitchell said that it was an unfortunate characteristic of the web and while he kept an eye on unsavoury discussions he only responded if the forum or website rumour gained momentum or was reported on a mainstream media channel.

A key tenet of social media is engagement. But in cases with such a high profile and rumour mongering there’s clearly an argument that engagement only validates negative comments.

Also posted on www.rainierpr.co.uk