Madeleine McCann's Father Urges Tougher Media Oversight Following Accounts of Media "Hounding".

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has urged for increased scrutiny of the UK media, recounting how being "monstered" by the press made him feel as if he was being "overwhelmed".

The McCanns Tormented by Media Intrusion

According to Gerry McCann, his family was subjected to press "intrusions" and that the media had "repeatedly interfered with" the search for answers regarding his daughter's disappearance in 2007.

He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "heavy burden" on his family. "We faced constant scrutiny and inaccurate reports for many months that forced 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 overwhelmed, and it was the media, primarily, not the situation we were in," he reflected.

An Appeal for Revive Press Regulation Review

McCann and his wife, Kate, are among dozens of individuals who have put their names to a letter calling on the government to restart the second part of the Leveson inquiry, which was intended to examine the links between the media and the police.

McCann said it was not acceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "off the agenda". He described how his family had been endured "monstering" by parts of the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for months after the disappearance.

Describing the Intrusion

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

"It's the inaccuracies. It's the invention of stories to drive a headline, rather than the truth, which ruins lives," he stated.

The Need for Stronger Regulation and Accountability

He stated these actions demonstrated why there needed to be stricter 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 described.

"That almost pulls you under, and you can see how people succumb to it and think they can't get out of it. It's so damaging, and we need that protection. There must be accountability. And at the minute, for most of the major publishers, there is no effective recourse," he asserted.

Official Response and Changing Media Landscape

The Culture Secretary commented that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been discounted and that the media landscape was now profoundly changed.

"We agree that the context has evolved significantly since the Leveson's second phase was recommended: the public is now more likely to get their news from diverse digital platforms, which has presented new and different challenges," the minister said.

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

A Continued Search for Closure

The child went missing from a family vacation apartment in 2007 when she was three years old. Gerry McCann said that it was "deeply disturbing" how the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation.

"Leaked information which was meant for police only... This meant a potential culprit, you knew a lot more than you should have done," he noted.

On the prospect of finding Madeleine, he said the possibility he would find his daughter was "slim but it's not extinguished". "We hope to find her alive, but we need to establish the facts and see justice served, and people are at risk while that perpetrator is free," he concluded.