Clarence Mitchell: ‘I approached Madeleine McCann disappearance as a major news story’

Former BBC journalist Clarence Mitchell helped keep the story of the disappearance of three-year-old British child Madeleine McCann in the media for eight years. In this Q&A he discusses the challenges of the case, his career as a journalist and the road to launching his own communications consultancy, Clarence Mitchell Communications.

What was the most challenging part of being the spokesman for the McCann family?

There were constant daily challenges. Hourly, in fact. And at times 24/7 – for the first couple of years. Not least having to correct, rebut or balance very rapidly the initial hostile coverage that the family faced, particularly in Portuguese media.

False stories based on anonymous briefings on one day were then simply repeated internationally the next day before being re-repeated in Portugal on the third day.