Networked Knowledge - Media Reports

[This edited version of the report has been prepared by Dr Robert N Moles]

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On 19 March 2008 the Daily Express reported “McCanns welcome papers' apology” See the Defamation homepage

On 15 October 2008 Martin Brunt of Sky News reported “Madeleine: 'Tapas 7' Win Payout”

He said The Tapas 7, friends of Kate and Gerry McCann - those who were on holiday with them in Portugal last year - are to receive apologies in the High Court on Thursday morning from Express Newspapers, and they will share a payout of £375,000. "I'm told an apology will be read out in the court and then there'll be statements from the McCanns and the 'Tapas 7' lawyers. "There will also be apologies in the Daily Express and Daily Star newspapers and we can expect something similar in the Sunday Express." "I understand the money will go into the Madeleine Fund.

"The friends had complained about around two dozen articles in which they claimed they were libelled; accusations that they had covered up the truth of what had happened to Madeleine, allegations that they had obstructed the authorities and even allegations that one of them had been involved in Madeleine's disappearance," said Brunt. The seven are couples Jane Tanner and Russell O'Brien, Rachael and Matthew Oldfield, Fiona and David Payne, and Mrs Payne's mother, Dianne Webster. With the McCanns, they made up the party staying in Praia da Luz in the Algarve in May last year when Madeleine disappeared, just days before her fourth birthday.

The nickname for the group comes from the tapas restaurant where all nine adults were dining when Madeleine went missing from her family's holiday apartment nearby. Brunt added: "This is the third time this year newspapers have agreed a settlement. "The first was against Express Newspapers - they were forced to pay out just over £500,000 to Kate and Gerry McCann for more than 100 defamatory articles. "In July, a number of newspaper groups were involved in an even bigger payout - around £600,000 - to Robert Murat, the first suspect in the case, who was subsequently cleared of suspicion by the Portuguese authorities."

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