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

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has urged for more robust scrutiny of the UK media, recounting how intense press coverage made him feel like he was being "drowning under the pressure".

The McCanns Tormented by Media Intrusion

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

He stated that the intrusion took a "huge toll" on his family. "We faced constant scrutiny and misleading headlines for over a year that forced us to take legal action to stop it," he explained.

"We were fortunate. We survived. We had tremendous support. However, I assure you, there were times where I felt like I was overwhelmed, and it was the media, mainly, not the situation we were in," he stated.

An Appeal for Restart Press Regulation Review

McCann and his wife, Kate, are among more than 30 people who have signed a letter asking ministers to reopen the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was intended to examine the dynamic between the media and the police.

McCann said it was not acceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "not being prioritized". He said that his family had been victims of "monstering" by sections of the media and that the press was "posted" outside his home for months after the disappearance.

Recounting the Intrusion

Detailing the events, he said: "Journalists coming to the house, photographers literally ramming their cameras against our car window, when we had young twin children in the back who were frightened, and how traumatic that is for you as a parent."

"It's the misleading narratives. It's the making up of stories to fit the agenda, rather than the facts, which destroys people's lives," he stated.

The Need for Tougher Regulation and Accountability

He argued this behavior demonstrated why there needed to be more robust press regulation. "In the evenings, we'd put on the news, and there'd be splash stories about ourselves and what supposedly happened," he told.

"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 major publishers, there is no effective recourse," he concluded.

Official Response and Changing News Environment

A government minister stated that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been rejected and that the news environment was now profoundly changed.

"We share the view that the context has evolved dramatically since the Leveson's second phase was proposed: the public is now more likely to get their news from the internet, which has thrown up new and different challenges," they stated.

It was also noted that weighing the needs of those affected with the need for a free press was a "complex balance to get right," but conceded that "reform is required in this area".

A Continued Search for Closure

The child went missing from a family vacation apartment in 2007 when she was three years old. Gerry McCann said that it was "deeply disturbing" how the press had consistently meddled with the investigation.

"Published material which ought to have remained private... Consequently, anyone involved, you knew far more than you should have done," he noted.

Speaking about hope, he said the chance 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 other children are at risk while that perpetrator is free," he stated.