Madeleine McCann's Father Demands Stricter Media Regulation Following Accounts of Press "Tormenting".

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has demanded increased scrutiny of the UK media, detailing how intense press coverage made him feel as if he was being "suffocated and buried".

The McCanns Tormented by Media Intrusion

Gerry McCann stated that his family was subjected to press "excesses" and that the media had "repeatedly interfered with" the investigation into his daughter's disappearance in 2007.

He emphasized that the intrusion took a "huge toll" on his family. "We endured sustained interest and misleading headlines for over a year that led us to take legal action to stop it," he commented.

"We were fortunate. We got through it. We had incredible backing. But I can promise you, there were times where I felt like I was overwhelmed, and it was the media, primarily, not the situation we were in," he recounted.

A Call to Restart Leveson Inquiry

The McCanns are among more than 30 people who have signed a letter urging the government to reopen the second phase of the Leveson investigation, which was set up to look into the links between the media and the police.

He expressed that it was not acceptable that more than a year on, press regulation was "not being prioritized". He said that his family had been victims of "relentless targeting" by parts of the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for an extended period after the disappearance.

Recounting the Intrusion

Describing the intrusion, he said: "Media at our doorstep, photographers literally ramming their cameras against our car window, when we had our toddler twins in the back who were scared, and how traumatic that is for you as a parent."

"It's the misleading narratives. It's the making up of stories to suit a narrative, rather than the truth, which ruins lives," he added.

A Demand for Stronger Regulation and Redress

He said the conduct highlighted why there needed to be stricter press regulation. "In the evenings, we'd put on the news, and there'd be front-page headlines about ourselves and alleged events," he described.

"That almost pulls you under, and you can see how people succumb to it and think they can't get out of it. The harm is profound, and we need that protection. People deserve recourse. And at the minute, for most of the large media outlets, there is no effective recourse," he argued.

Government Position and Evolving Media Landscape

The Culture Secretary said that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been ruled out and that the media landscape was now drastically altered.

"Our position aligns that the situation has changed dramatically from the time the second part of Leveson was recommended: the public is now more likely to get their news online from a whole variety of sources, which has created new and different challenges," they stated.

It was also noted that balancing the needs of those affected with the principle of press freedom was a "really difficult thing to get right," but conceded that "reform is required in this area".

A Continued Search for Closure

Madeleine McCann disappeared from a family vacation apartment in 2007 as a three-year-old. Her father expressed that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation.

"Published material which should have been confidential... Consequently, anyone involved, you knew far more than you should have done," he explained.

Speaking about hope, he said the chance 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 see justice served, and other children are at risk while whoever is responsible is free," he stated.