Madeleine McCann's Father Demands Tougher Press Regulation Following Accounts of Press "Monstering".

The father of Madeleine McCann has urged for increased oversight for the UK media, detailing how intense press coverage made him feel like he was being "suffocated and buried".

The McCanns Subjected to Press "Abuses"

Gerry McCann stated that his family was deeply affected by press "intrusions" and that the media had "repeatedly interfered with" the search for answers regarding his daughter's going missing in 2007.

He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "huge toll" on his family. "We faced sustained interest and inaccurate reports for 15 months or more that forced us to take legal action to stop it," he reportedly said.

"We are lucky. We survived. We received tremendous support. Yet, I must tell you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning, and it was the media, mostly, not the situation we were in," he stated.

A Call to Restart Leveson Inquiry

The McCanns are among a group of people who have endorsed a letter urging ministers to restart the second part of the Leveson inquiry, which was intended to examine the dynamic between the media and the police.

He expressed that it was unacceptable that after more than a year, press regulation was "off the agenda". He described how his family had been subjected to "relentless targeting" by sections of the media and that the press was "camped" outside his home for months after the disappearance.

Describing the Intrusion

Describing the intrusion, 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 frightened, and how upsetting that is for you as a parent."

"It's the misleading narratives. It's the invention of stories to drive a headline, rather than reality, which destroys people's lives," he stated.

A Demand for Stronger Oversight and Redress

He stated these actions showed 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 major reports about ourselves and unverified claims," he described.

"That can drag you down, 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 has to be redress. And at the minute, for most of these mainstream media, there is no redress," he concluded.

Official Position and Changing News Environment

A government minister stated that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been ruled out and that the media landscape was now drastically altered.

"Our position aligns that the context has evolved profoundly since the second part of Leveson was recommended: the public is now more likely to get their news online from a whole variety of sources, 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 "really difficult thing to get right," but conceded that "action is needed in this area".

A Continued Hope for Answers

The child went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 as a three-year-old. Gerry McCann said that it was "deeply disturbing" how the press had consistently meddled with the investigation.

"Confidential details which ought to have remained private... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew much more than you should have done," he said.

Regarding the ongoing search, 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 bring whoever's responsible, and others are at risk while that person is free," he concluded.