The McCann family Father Calls for Stronger Media Oversight Amid Accounts of Press "Hounding".

The father of Madeleine McCann has issued a call for greater scrutiny of the UK media, recounting how being "monstered" by the press made him feel as if he was being "drowning under the pressure".

The McCanns Subjected to Media Intrusion

According to Gerry McCann, his family was tormented by press "excesses" and that the media had "frequently disrupted" the investigation into his daughter's disappearance in 2007.

He noted that the media attention exacted a "significant emotional cost" on his family. "We had sustained interest and misleading headlines for over a year that led us to take legal action to stop it," he reportedly said.

"We are lucky. We got through it. We received strong support. However, I assure 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 Revive Leveson Inquiry

The McCanns are among a group of people who have put their names to a letter urging the government to reopen the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was intended to examine the relationship between the media and the police.

McCann said it was unacceptable that after more than a year, press regulation was "off the agenda". He said that his family had been subjected to "monstering" by certain the media and that the press was "posted" outside his home for months after Madeleine went missing.

Recounting the Intrusion

Recalling the harassment, he said: "Media at our doorstep, photographers literally ramming their cameras against our car window, when we had our toddler twins in the back who were terrified, and how distressing that is for you as a parent."

"It's the half-truths. It's the making up of stories to fit the agenda, rather than reality, which ruins lives," he added.

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 front-page headlines about ourselves and alleged events," he said.

"That can drag you down, 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 these mainstream media, there is little accountability," he asserted.

Government Response and Evolving News Environment

A government minister stated that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been rejected and that the media landscape was now very different.

"Our position aligns that the landscape has transformed profoundly from the time the Leveson's second phase was recommended: people now are more likely to get their news from the internet, which has presented new and different challenges," they explained.

They added that weighing the rights of victims with the need for a free press was a "complex balance to get right," but recognized that "reform is required in this area".

A Continued Search for Answers

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

"Confidential details which was meant for police only... Consequently, anyone involved, you knew far more than you should have done," he explained.

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 establish the facts and see justice served, and people are at risk while that perpetrator is free," he stated.