Emotional appeals for information about missing University chef Claudia Lawrence have been re-issued by her father.
Mr Lawrence’s latest appeal comes after a message, believed to be a fake, appeared on facebook supposedly from missing Claudia claiming that she was safe.
The message, which has now been removed, was left on the facebook group “Claudia Lawrence Investigation” on November 9th and said: “Hi everyone just let you be aware that I am ok and I am safe and sound. Speak to you all soon. Claudia xxx.”
Police are now investigating the message to see if its origins can help in the hunt for Claudia, an investigation which is now being treated as a murder inquiry.
Claudia’s family have dismissed the message as a fake, while condemning the person who left the message as ‘sick’. Martin Dales spokesman for Claudia’s father said, “It seems as though this is a sad, sick prank from someone who is not aware of the effect this has on both Claudia’s family and the police investigation.”
This is remarkably similar to an article posted by Nouse recently, which, I believe, was alleged to have been taken from the York Press… Instead of copying and pasting, why don’t you ask the family or friends for an interview? I’m sure they’d be glad of the continued publicity.
Colm- We all get the same information so i imagine the stories may be quite similar. As for asking for an interview with the family… do you not feel the press would be being slightly insensitive and irresponsible if every publication was constantly badgering the family for quotes about a clearly tragic and traumatic event?
Well as long as you know recycling news isn’t going to win you any awards for investigative journalism. I didn’t mean an interview about the Facebook thing, just a general interview. I don’t think it would be insensitive as long as you did it responsibly, I mean, she did work at the university and this is one of the university newspapers. On the contrary, from watching local news quite frequently (and living in the area when not at uni) I get the impression that the family are actively trying to keep the case in the public eye.
Colm- nobody said this was a piece of investigative journalism- it is what it is- a news piece, as Joe explained, and the information we receive (being, hard facts) is pretty much the same. Since Claudia’s mysterious, and tragic, disappearance, Vision have run many stories on the subject. If we, and other campus media, contacted Claudia’s family every time we ran a story about her, we would run the risk of harassing them. Press intrusion is neither helpful, nor sensitive- if the family wanted an interview, or wanted to up the publicity with campus media, they would easily be able to contact us.
Maybe you don’t need to run non-stories like this – there isn’t much to qualify it as news, which the length of the article attests to. ‘New Claudia Case Twist’ might as well have read ‘New Minor Detail In Claudia Case’; it’s hardly a twist at this point and it’s verging on gossip. Even so, shouldn’t there be a quote from Peter Lawrence if it’s going to be reported that he’s reissued a plea for information?
Erm Colm, in that case, I’m not sure what your problem is? That we didn’t run a massive investigative feature, or that we shouldn’t run it at all? Seems from your first post you are concerned about the family, and that the case doesn’t get enough attention, and in the second, that it’s a non-story and we are giving it any attention at all.
Also, if you read the story, you will see a quote from Claudia’s family, and from Peter Lawrence issued via PRESS RELEASE THROUGH HIS SPOKESMAN which means that as THE PRESS we are entitled to use it, and Claudia’s family are allowed to get on with their lives in peace without student journos hammering down the door every five minutes.
As for calling it gossip, I think you’ll find if that’s the case, then you must also think that Look North, the York Press, the Yorkshire and many other local and national (and campus) news outlets, are nothing more gossiping old women? If that’s the case, why are you reading it at all?
Either you think this is news that needs more attention (a valid point, which you could, if you wanted, make well), or you think it’s trashy gossip. Make up your mind, quite whining, and have done.
And try reading articles properly before you comment on them.
I did read the article properly, how could I not have done? There’s hardly anything of it. I don’t think it’s difficult to distinguish between very light stories like this which are essentially gossip and more substantive news which you might find if you really tried. I’m clear what I want – responsible coverage of any important developments in the case, which this is not, in either sense. As a matter of fact I do think that the local and national press pays too much attention to stories like this, and yet I still read your paper because I know it’s not all crap. The article intially speaks of an emotional appeal reissued by Peter Lawrence and only later on says it was given by a spokesman. There should be no need to capitalise sections of your writing, Kelly, unless you aren’t able to get your point across otherwise. I daresay you wouldn’t do it in an essay. Finally, if you don’t like people commenting, get rid of the comment feature.
Colm, nobody here’s agreeing with you… This is the first of the articles to make it into the campus newspapers and the majority of students don’t continually read The Press or Nouse’s website so it’s perfectly fine to put the article out there and in fact it would have been silly not to have. Just a small piece to let the average York student know what has happened in the case. It’s not a four-page spread that has been stolen from elsewhere but just a little update – and it’s perfectly fine!
Colm, unfortunately, there is no italicise function on the comment feature, or I would have used that, as you obviously find it difficult to pick put key pieces of information.
I appreciate that you don’t think that Vision is all crap, as you so delicately put it, but I get the funny feeling you’re one of those people who are never going to be satisfied with any response, so I’ll just say ‘thankyou for your feedback- every reader’s opinion is valuable to us’, and leave it there.