Leading article: Hype and hysteria

More than three months after she went missing in a Portuguese holiday resort, the fate of Madeleine McCann continues to be a matter of public interest. In a sense, this is inevitable. The fact that no body has been found means that there is no closure. The mystery of what has happened to the four-year-old remains. It is also apparent that Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate, want as much publicity as possible because they feel keeping Madeleine's image in the media is their best chance of getting their child back.

But while there is no sense in which the media are intruding on private grief, the reporting this week has crossed a line. The coverage in both Britain and Portugal has degenerated into innuendo and smears. Huge attention has been given to reports that traces of blood have been found on the wall of the apartment in which the family were staying. Reports that friends of the family are being re-interviewed have been trumpeted. It has been asserted that the Portuguese police have "definitely abandoned" the theory that the child was abducted, despite the absence of any confirmation from the police themselves. The effect has been to cast suspicion on Madeleine's grief-stricken parents and their friends.

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Sections of the media have lashed out in other directions too. A Swiss man suddenly became a prime suspect despite a lack of any evidence that he was involved. And the news that he had committed suicide merely stoked the fires of assumption further. This intemperate coverage has been suffused with xenophobic abuse in this country for the Portuguese police and their handling of the investigation.

It is obvious why this is happening. The media pack is back in the Praia da Luz resort to mark the 100th day since Madeleine's disappearance, which falls on Saturday. And there is pressure on those news organisations with a presence on the ground to report new developments, even when they do not really exist. The result is that insignificant stories have been hyped up and speculation elevated to the status of fact.

The media coverage of the case has generated its own momentum. We saw this effect perfectly encapsulated when the McCann parents, provoked by innuendo within the British media, were forced to deny their guilt. This denial gave a new impetus to the story and provoked yet more dramatic headlines.

Whether the McCanns have begun to regret their strategy of using the media to generate maximum publicity in their quest for their daughter is impossible to say at this point. But one thing seems sure: the cynical way parts of the media have handled this tragic story leaves a deeply unpleasant taste.