Madeleine McCann's Parent Calls for Tougher Media Regulation Amid Recollections of Press "Tormenting".

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has demanded increased scrutiny of the UK media, detailing how intense press coverage made him feel as if he was being "drowning under the pressure".

A Family Subjected to Media Intrusion

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

He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "heavy burden" on his family. "We endured sustained interest and sensationalized stories for many months that led us to take legal action to stop it," he explained.

"We were fortunate. We got through it. We had incredible backing. However, I assure you, there were times where I felt like I was overwhelmed, and it was the media, mostly, not the situation we were in," he recounted.

An Appeal for Revive Leveson Inquiry

McCann and his wife, Kate, are among a group of people who have put their names to a letter urging the government to restart the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was due to examine the links between the media and the police.

McCann said it was unacceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He said that 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.

Recounting the Harassment

Describing the intrusion, he said: "Journalists coming to the house, cameras being shoved their cameras against our car window, when we had young twin children 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 fit the agenda, rather than the truth, which ruins lives," he emphasized.

A Demand for Stronger Regulation and Redress

He said the conduct 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 splash stories about ourselves and what supposedly happened," he told.

"That can drag you down, and you can see how people give in to it and think they can't get out of it. The impact is devastating, and we need that protection. People deserve recourse. And at the minute, for most of these mainstream media, there is no redress," he asserted.

Government Position and Changing Media Landscape

A government minister said that a second phase of the inquiry had been discounted and that the media landscape was now drastically altered.

"Our position aligns that the landscape has transformed dramatically from the time the Leveson's second phase was proposed: the public is now more likely to get their news from the internet, which has presented new and different challenges," they stated.

They added that balancing the needs of those affected with the principle of press freedom was a "complex balance to get right," but acknowledged that "reform is required in this area".

An Enduring Search for Closure

Madeleine McCann disappeared from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 when she was three years old. Gerry McCann said that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had consistently meddled with the investigation.

"Leaked information which was meant for police only... Consequently, anyone involved, you knew far more than you should have done," he said.

Speaking about hope, he said the hope he would find his daughter was "faint yet persistent". "We hope to find her alive, but we need to find out what happened and hold the perpetrator, and others are at risk while whoever is responsible is free," he stated.