Madeleine McCann's Father Calls for Stronger Press Regulation Amid Recollections of Press "Hounding".

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has urged for increased 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"

Gerry McCann stated that his family was subjected to press "intrusions" and that the media had "frequently disrupted" the search for answers regarding his daughter's going missing in 2007.

He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "heavy burden" on his family. "We faced constant scrutiny and inaccurate reports for 15 months or more that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he explained.

"We were fortunate. We got through it. We had strong support. But I can promise you, there were times where I felt like I was being suffocated, and it was the media, primarily, not the situation we were in," he stated.

A Call to Revive Leveson Inquiry

McCann and his wife, Kate, are among more than 30 people who have endorsed a letter urging the government to revive the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was set up to look into the relationship between the media and the police.

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

Recounting the Intrusion

Recalling the harassment, he said: "Journalists coming to the house, photographers pushing their cameras against our car window, when we had our toddler twins in the back who were frightened, and how upsetting that is for you as a parent."

"It's the inaccuracies. It's the making up of stories to drive a headline, rather than reality, which ruins lives," he emphasized.

A Demand for Stronger Regulation and Accountability

He stated these actions demonstrated why there needed to be more robust press regulation. "In the evenings, we'd put on the news, and there'd be front-page headlines about ourselves and what supposedly happened," 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. The harm is profound, and we need that protection. There must be accountability. And at the minute, for most of the major publishers, there is no redress," he asserted.

Government Position and Evolving Media Landscape

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

"Our position aligns that the context has evolved dramatically since the Leveson's second phase was proposed: people now are more likely to get their news from the internet, which has thrown up new and different challenges," they explained.

The minister further stated 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 Search for Closure

The child went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 at the age of three. It was stated that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation.

"Published material which should have been confidential... Consequently, anyone involved, you knew much more than you should have done," he noted.

Speaking about hope, he said the hope he would find his daughter was "slim but it's not extinguished". "Our wish is to find her alive, but we need to find out what happened and hold the perpetrator, and others are at risk while that person is free," he affirmed.