The McCann family Parent Demands Stricter Media Regulation Following Accounts of Press "Tormenting".

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has demanded greater oversight for the UK media, describing how being "monstered" by the press made him feel like he was being "drowning under the pressure".

The McCanns Tormented by Media Intrusion

Gerry McCann stated that his family was subjected to press "abuses" and that the media had "consistently hampered" the search for answers regarding his daughter's going missing in 2007.

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

"We were fortunate. We got through it. We received incredible backing. However, I assure you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning, and it was the media, mostly, not the situation we were in," he recounted.

A Call to Revive Leveson Inquiry

McCann and his wife, Kate, are among a group of people who have put their names to a letter asking ministers to revive the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was intended to examine the relationship between the media and the police.

McCann said it was unacceptable that after more than a year, 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 "posted" outside his home for months after Madeleine went missing.

Describing the Intrusion

Describing the intrusion, he said: "Media at our doorstep, photographers pushing their cameras against our car window, when we had young twin children in the back who were scared, and how traumatic 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 causes immense harm," he stated.

A Demand for Stronger Regulation and Redress

He argued this behavior highlighted why there needed to be tougher press regulation. "We'd be getting ready for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be splash stories about ourselves and alleged events," he told.

"That can drag you down, and you can see how people give in to it and think they can't get out of it. The impact is devastating, 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 Response and Evolving 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 share the view that the context has evolved dramatically since 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," the minister said.

It was also noted that weighing the needs of those affected with the need for a free press was a "really difficult thing to get right," but conceded that "action is needed in this area".

A Continued Search for Answers

Madeleine McCann disappeared from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 at the age of three. Gerry McCann said that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation.

"Confidential details which was meant for police only... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew much more than you should have done," he said.

Speaking about hope, he said the hope he would find his daughter was "faint yet persistent". "Our wish is to find her alive, but we need to establish the facts and see justice served, and other children are at risk while that person is free," he affirmed.