The McCann family Parent Calls for Stricter Press Regulation Following Accounts of Media "Monstering".

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has demanded increased scrutiny of the UK media, detailing how sustained media attention made him feel as if he was being "drowning under the pressure".

A Family Subjected to Press "Abuses"

According to Gerry McCann, his family was subjected to press "abuses" and that the media had "frequently disrupted" the investigation into his daughter's going missing in 2007.

He noted that the media attention exacted a "heavy burden" on his family. "We had constant scrutiny and misleading headlines for 15 months or more that led us to take legal action to stop it," he commented.

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

A Call to Restart Leveson Inquiry

McCann and his wife, Kate, are among a group of people who have endorsed a letter calling on ministers to restart the second part of the Leveson inquiry, which was due to examine the relationship between the media and the police.

McCann said it was not acceptable that more than a year on, press regulation was "not being prioritized". He described how his family had been subjected to "relentless targeting" by parts of the media and that the press was "camped" outside his home for months after the disappearance.

Describing the Intrusion

Recalling the harassment, 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 scared, and how upsetting that is for you as a parent."

"It's the misleading narratives. It's the fabrication of stories to drive a headline, rather than the truth, which causes immense harm," he stated.

The Need for Tougher Oversight and Accountability

He said the conduct highlighted why there needed to be more robust press regulation. "At night, as we prepared for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be front-page headlines about ourselves and unverified claims," he told.

"That almost pulls you under, 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. There has to be redress. And at the minute, for most of the major publishers, there is no effective recourse," he concluded.

Official Position and Changing News Environment

The Culture Secretary said that a second phase of the inquiry had been rejected and that the media landscape was now profoundly changed.

"Our position aligns that the landscape has transformed significantly since the second part of Leveson was proposed: the public is now more likely to get their news online from a whole variety of sources, which has presented new and different challenges," the minister said.

It was also noted that balancing the rights of victims with the principle of press freedom was a "complex balance to get right," but conceded that "steps must be taken in this area".

An Enduring Hope for Closure

The child went missing from a family vacation apartment in 2007 as a three-year-old. Gerry McCann said that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had consistently meddled with the investigation.

"Published material which should have been confidential... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew far more than you should have done," he noted.

On the prospect of finding Madeleine, he said the possibility he would find his daughter was "small but still alive". "We hope to find her alive, but we need to establish the facts and hold the perpetrator, and others are at risk while whoever is responsible is free," he stated.