Madeleine McCann's Parent Demands Stronger Press Regulation Following Recollections of Media "Hounding".

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has issued a call for more robust oversight for the UK media, describing how intense press coverage made him feel like he was being "suffocated and buried".

The McCanns Subjected to Media Intrusion

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

He noted that the intrusion took a "heavy burden" on his family. "We endured constant scrutiny and inaccurate reports for over a year that led us to take legal action to stop it," he explained.

"We are lucky. We got through it. We received incredible backing. But I can promise you, there were times where I felt like I was being suffocated, and it was the media, mainly, not the situation we were in," he reflected.

A Call to Revive Press Regulation Review

McCann and his wife, Kate, are among more than 30 people who have endorsed a letter asking the government to restart the second part of the Leveson investigation, which was set up to look into the dynamic between the media and the police.

McCann said it was unacceptable that more than a year on, press regulation was "not being prioritized". He described how his family had been endured "relentless targeting" by certain the media and that the press was "camped" outside his home for months after Madeleine went missing.

Describing the Intrusion

Recalling the harassment, he said: "Reporters arriving at our home, photographers pushing 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 misleading narratives. It's the fabrication of stories to fit the agenda, rather than the facts, which ruins lives," he emphasized.

The Need for Stronger Oversight and Redress

He stated these actions showed 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 major reports about ourselves and alleged events," he described.

"That feeling is overwhelming, and you can see how people give in 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 large media outlets, there is no effective recourse," he concluded.

Official Position and Changing Media Landscape

The Culture Secretary stated that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been rejected and that the media landscape was now drastically altered.

"We share the view that the situation has changed profoundly since the second part of Leveson was proposed: the public is now more likely to get their news from the internet, which has thrown up new and different challenges," the minister said.

The minister further stated that weighing the rights of victims with the principle of press freedom was a "challenging task to get right," but conceded that "steps must be taken in this area".

A Continued Search for Answers

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

"Published material which was meant for police only... Consequently, anyone involved, you knew a lot more than you should have done," he explained.

Regarding the ongoing search, he said the hope 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 hold the perpetrator, and other children are at risk while that person is free," he stated.