The McCann family Parent Demands Tougher Media Regulation Following Accounts of Media "Hounding".

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has issued a call for greater scrutiny of the UK media, recounting how being "monstered" by the press made him feel that he was being "suffocated and buried".

The McCanns Subjected to Press "Abuses"

According to Gerry McCann, his family was deeply affected by press "intrusions" and that the media had "consistently hampered" the search for answers regarding his daughter's going missing in 2007.

He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "heavy burden" on his family. "We had sustained interest and sensationalized stories for over a year that led us to take legal action to stop it," he reportedly said.

"We were fortunate. We survived. We received incredible backing. Yet, I must tell you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning, and it was the media, mostly, not the situation we were in," he reflected.

A Call to Restart Leveson Inquiry

McCann and his wife, Kate, are among more than 30 people who have endorsed a letter asking ministers to reopen the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was due to examine the relationship between the media and the police.

He expressed that it was unacceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He said that his family had been victims of "monstering" by sections of the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for months after the disappearance.

Describing the Harassment

Recalling the harassment, he said: "Journalists coming to the house, photographers literally ramming their cameras against our car window, when we had our toddler twins in the back who were scared, and how distressing that is for you as a parent."

"It's the inaccuracies. It's the making up of stories to fit the agenda, rather than the truth, which destroys people's lives," he stated.

A Demand for Stronger Oversight and Redress

He argued this behavior 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 front-page headlines about ourselves and unverified claims," he described.

"That almost pulls you under, and you can see how people are broken by it and think they can't get out of it. The harm is profound, and we need that protection. There must be accountability. And at the minute, for most of the major publishers, there is little accountability," he asserted.

Government Response and Changing News Environment

A government minister stated that a second phase of the inquiry had been discounted and that the news environment was now drastically altered.

"We share the view that the landscape has transformed dramatically from the time the second part of Leveson was proposed: people now are more likely to get their news from the internet, which has thrown up new and different challenges," they explained.

The minister further stated that balancing the needs of those affected with the need for a free press was a "challenging task to get right," but acknowledged that "action is needed in this area".

A Continued Search for Closure

The child went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 when she was three years old. Gerry McCann said that it was "profoundly disappointing" how the press had frequently obstructed with the investigation.

"Published material which ought to have remained private... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew far more than you should have done," he noted.

Regarding the ongoing search, he said the hope he would find his daughter was "slim but it's not extinguished". "We hope to find her alive, but we need to discover the truth and bring whoever's responsible, and people are at risk while that person is free," he stated.