The McCann family Father Urges Tougher Press Regulation Following Accounts of Press "Monstering".

The father of Madeleine McCann has demanded increased oversight for the UK media, detailing how sustained media attention made him feel like he was being "drowning under the pressure".

The McCanns Subjected to Press "Abuses"

Gerry McCann stated that his family was deeply affected by press "excesses" and that the media had "repeatedly interfered with" the search for answers regarding his daughter's 2007 disappearance.

He noted that the intrusion took a "significant emotional cost" on his family. "We faced ongoing coverage and misleading headlines for many months that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he explained.

"We are lucky. We got through it. We received tremendous support. But I can promise you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning, and it was the media, mostly, not the situation we were in," he stated.

A Call to Revive Leveson Inquiry

The McCanns are among more than 30 people who have signed a letter asking the government to restart the second part of the Leveson inquiry, which was due to examine the links between the media and the police.

He expressed that it was unacceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "off the agenda". He described how his family had been subjected to "monstering" by sections of the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for an extended period after the disappearance.

Recounting the Harassment

Describing the intrusion, he said: "Media at our doorstep, photographers pushing their cameras against our car window, when we had two-year-old twins in the back who were frightened, and how traumatic that is for you as a parent."

"It's the half-truths. It's the fabrication of stories to drive a headline, rather than the truth, which destroys people's lives," he added.

The Need for Tougher Oversight and Accountability

He argued this behavior demonstrated why there needed to be more robust press regulation. "In the evenings, we'd put on the news, and there'd be splash stories about ourselves and alleged events," he said.

"That can drag you down, and you can see how people succumb to it and think they can't get out of it. The impact is devastating, and we need that protection. There has to be redress. And at the minute, for most of the major publishers, there is no effective recourse," he asserted.

Government Response and Changing News Environment

The Culture Secretary commented that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been discounted and that the news environment was now drastically altered.

"We agree that the context has evolved profoundly since the Leveson's second phase was proposed: people now are more likely to get their news from diverse digital platforms, which has thrown up new and different challenges," they stated.

It was also noted that balancing the rights of victims with the need for a free press was a "really difficult thing to get right," but recognized that "action is needed in this area".

A Continued Search for Closure

The child went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 as a three-year-old. It was stated that it was "deeply disturbing" how the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation.

"Published material which was meant for police only... Consequently, anyone involved, you knew a lot more than you should have done," he noted.

Speaking about hope, he said the chance he would find his daughter was "slim but it's not extinguished". "I'd love to find her alive, but we need to discover the truth and hold the perpetrator, and people are at risk while that perpetrator is free," he stated.