Duarte Levy: “Ten Reasons You Should Hire a Journalist”

It’s true that the behaviour of the majority of my English colleagues in the McCann case – and I underline McCann – may not be the best example of their professional qualities. Like many other professionals, namely policemen and diplomats, who were in direct or indirect contact with the couple, they were equally victims of a power that surpassed them.

I’m not even able to count the number of articles and reports that were censored or were simply never published. As an example – a fine example – I remember an interview that was carried out in Lisbon on the day that Gonçalo Amaral’s book, “Maddie – The Truth of the Lie”, was published.

Gonçalo Amaral, the former head of the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, gave an interview to an English colleague. An excellent interview in which the former policeman spoke openly about the case, explaining his convictions in a detailed manner.

This interview was never published. It wasn’t the case that the colleague didn’t do her job… She was professional and competent. “We can only publish stuff that ruins Amaral’s image. Stuff where we can call him a… Not this! This is bad for the McCanns”, the editor of the English paper justified at that time, a paper that is far from being a tabloid.

That’s why I leave you with “ Ten Reasons Why You Should Hire a Journalist” by Jill Geisler.

Duarte Levy
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