Madeleine McCann's Father Urges Stricter Press Regulation Following Recollections of Media "Hounding".

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has issued a call for more robust scrutiny of the UK media, detailing how being "monstered" by the press made him feel as if he was being "suffocated and buried".

The McCanns Subjected to Press "Abuses"

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

He noted that the media attention exacted a "heavy burden" on his family. "We faced ongoing coverage and sensationalized stories for over a year that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he explained.

"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, mainly, not the situation we were in," he stated.

A Call to Revive Press Regulation Review

McCann and his wife, Kate, are among dozens of individuals who have put their names to a letter calling on ministers to reopen the second phase of the Leveson investigation, which was due to examine the dynamic between the media and the police.

He expressed that it was unacceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "off the agenda". He described how his family had been victims of "monstering" by certain the media and that the press was "camped" outside his home for an extended period after the disappearance.

Recounting the Harassment

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

"It's the half-truths. It's the invention of stories to drive a headline, rather than the truth, which destroys people's lives," he stated.

The Need for Stronger Regulation and Accountability

He said the conduct demonstrated why there needed to be tougher press regulation. "In the evenings, we'd put on the news, and there'd be splash stories 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. It's so damaging, and we need that protection. There has to be redress. And at the minute, for most of the large media outlets, there is no effective recourse," he asserted.

Official Position and Changing Media Landscape

A government minister stated that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been rejected and that the news environment was now very different.

"We agree that the landscape has transformed significantly since the second part of Leveson was proposed: the public is now more likely to get their news from the internet, which has created new and different challenges," they stated.

It was also noted that balancing the rights of victims 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 family vacation apartment in 2007 at the age of three. Gerry McCann said that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had frequently obstructed with the investigation.

"Confidential details which ought to have remained private... This meant a potential culprit, you knew far more than you should have done," he explained.

On the prospect of finding Madeleine, he said the chance he would find his daughter was "faint yet persistent". "We hope to find her alive, but we need to find out what happened and bring whoever's responsible, and others are at risk while that person is free," he stated.