media guardian story

The parents of Madeleine McCann are in discussions with ITV about appearing in a documentary about missing children.
MediaGuardian.co.uk has learnt that discussions have been held between representatives of Kate and Gerry McCann and the commercial broadcaster about a long-form documentary.
It is thought that while the film would feature the McCann's own experience, it would have a greater focus on how different countries treat missing children. The documentary would examine initiatives such as Project Amber in the US, which sees alerts posted on electronic roadside billboards as soon as a child is reported missing.
The McCanns had been in discussions with Channel 4 and independent production company Darlow Smithson, the company behind Touching the Void that is part of the IMG Group, about an observational documentary about Madeleine, but this is now not going ahead.
Clarence Mitchell, the McCann's spokesman, confirmed discussions had taken place with ITV.
"We have talked to one or two companies and have a number of proposals and we are moving forward with those proposals," he said.
"It more than likely it would be with ITV at this stage, but I am not at liberty to go into details."
Mitchell added that the McCanns were keen to highlight different initiatives that help look for missing children.
"We are looking at a long form documentary surrounding some of the wider issues Kate and Gerry want to highlight like the creation of an Amber alert system in Europe," he said.
"There is nothing like it in Europe. Each country has its own systems but they don't talk to each other.
"Kate and Gerry are keen to discuss that part of improvement with [non government organisations] and we may well do a documentary looking at that aspect."
Mitchell added that the McCanns did not want to do another film about how they felt about the disappearance of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portugese holiday apartment in May last year.
"They don't want to do anything about 'woe is us a year on'," Mitchell added. "That is what the tabloids would like but we are not following their agenda, we are following our own agenda."
He said the McCann's would not profit from any new film themselves.
An ITV spokesman declined to comment.
The McCann's have previously worked with the BBC on a controversial Panorama special.
The Panorama programme, which pulled in 5.3 million viewers in November on BBC1, was hit by controversy after its original producer David Mills walked out, claiming criticism of the media and Portugese police was toned down for the version eventually transmitted.
Last week, it was confirmed the McCanns had made formal complaints to Express Newspapers over a series of what Mitchell claimed were "wildly and grossly defamatory" articles in the group's titles' coverage of Madeleine and were considering taking legal action.
They have instructed London law firm Carter Ruck, which specialises in high profile libel cases, to push for a settlement.

THIS MEDIA GUARDIAN STORY IS ABOUT THE MCCANN REPORT AND THEY HAVE NOW DECIDED TO JOIN AN ITV DOCUMENTARY IN WHICH WILL LOOK IN TO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES AND HOW THEY DEAL WITH MISSING CHILDREN IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. THIS IS IMPORTANT AS A CASE OF A MISSING CHILD HAS NOW EXPANDED THROUGH THE USE OF THE DIFFERENT MEDIA