The McCann family Father Urges Stronger Media Regulation Amid Recollections of Media "Hounding".

The father of Madeleine McCann has urged for greater scrutiny of the UK media, recounting how sustained media attention made him feel that he was being "drowning under the pressure".

The McCanns Subjected to Press "Abuses"

According to Gerry McCann, his family was tormented by press "intrusions" and that the media had "repeatedly interfered with" the investigation into his daughter's 2007 disappearance.

He noted that the intrusion took a "huge toll" on his family. "We had constant scrutiny and inaccurate reports for 15 months or more that led us to take legal action to stop it," he explained.

"We are lucky. We got through it. We had strong support. Yet, I must tell you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning, and it was the media, primarily, not the situation we were in," he recounted.

A Call to Restart Press Regulation Review

McCann and his wife, Kate, are among dozens of individuals who have signed a letter calling on the government to revive the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was intended to examine the dynamic between the media and the police.

He expressed that it was not acceptable that more than a year on, 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.

Recounting the Intrusion

Describing the intrusion, he said: "Journalists coming to the house, photographers pushing their cameras against our car window, when we had two-year-old twins in the back who were frightened, and how distressing 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 facts, which causes immense harm," he stated.

A Demand for Tougher Oversight and Redress

He stated these actions demonstrated why there needed to be more robust press regulation. "We'd be getting ready for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be splash stories about ourselves and unverified claims," he said.

"That feeling is overwhelming, and you can see how people give in to it and think they can't get out of it. The harm is profound, and we need that protection. There has to be redress. And at the minute, for most of the large media outlets, there is no redress," he concluded.

Official Position and Changing News Environment

The Culture Secretary said that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been ruled out and that the news environment was now very different.

"We agree that the landscape has transformed profoundly 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," they stated.

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

A Continued Hope for Closure

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

"Confidential details which should have been confidential... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew a lot more than you should have done," he said.

Regarding the ongoing search, he said the hope he would find his daughter was "small but still alive". "Our wish is to find her alive, but we need to discover the truth and see justice served, and others are at risk while whoever is responsible is free," he stated.