Madeleine McCann's Parent Urges Stricter Media Regulation Following Accounts of Media "Monstering".

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has urged for more robust oversight for the UK media, describing how intense press coverage made him feel like he was being "drowning under the pressure".

A Family Subjected to Press "Abuses"

According to Gerry McCann, his family was tormented by press "abuses" and that the media had "consistently hampered" the investigation into his daughter's 2007 disappearance.

He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "heavy burden" on his family. "We faced ongoing coverage and inaccurate reports for many months that forced us to take legal action to stop it," he explained.

"We are lucky. We got through it. We received tremendous support. Yet, I must tell you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning, and it was the media, primarily, not the situation we were in," he stated.

A Call to Revive Leveson Inquiry

The McCanns are among dozens of individuals who have signed a letter asking the government to revive the second phase of the Leveson investigation, which was due to examine the links between the media and the police.

He expressed that it was unacceptable that after more than a year, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He said that his family had been endured "relentless targeting" by sections of the media and that the press was "posted" outside his home for months after Madeleine went missing.

Describing the Intrusion

Detailing the events, he said: "Media at our doorstep, cameras being shoved their cameras against our car window, when we had young twin children in the back who were scared, and how upsetting that is for you as a parent."

"It's the misleading narratives. It's the making up of stories to drive a headline, rather than reality, which destroys people's lives," he stated.

The Need for Tougher Oversight and Redress

He said the conduct highlighted why there needed to be more robust press regulation. "We'd be getting ready for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be major reports about ourselves and unverified claims," he described.

"That feeling is overwhelming, and you can see how people are broken by it and think they can't get out of it. It's so damaging, and we need that protection. People deserve recourse. And at the minute, for most of these mainstream media, there is little accountability," he asserted.

Official Position and Changing Media Landscape

The Culture Secretary said that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been discounted and that the media landscape was now profoundly changed.

"Our position aligns that the landscape has transformed significantly from the time the Leveson's second phase was proposed: the public is now more likely to get their news from the internet, which has presented new and different challenges," they explained.

They added that balancing the needs of those affected with the need for a free press was a "complex balance to get right," but conceded that "reform is required in this area".

A Continued Search for Answers

Madeleine McCann disappeared from a family vacation apartment in 2007 when she was three years old. Her father expressed that it was "deeply disturbing" how the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation.

"Leaked information which was meant for police only... This meant a potential culprit, you knew far more than you should have done," he said.

Regarding the ongoing search, he said the hope he would find his daughter was "faint yet persistent". "We hope to find her alive, but we need to establish the facts and hold the perpetrator, and people are at risk while that perpetrator is free," he stated.