The McCann family Parent Calls for Stricter Press Regulation Amid Accounts of Press "Hounding".

The father of Madeleine McCann has urged for greater oversight for the UK media, recounting how intense press coverage made him feel as if he was being "suffocated and buried".

A Family Subjected to Media Intrusion

According to Gerry McCann, his family was tormented by press "intrusions" and that the media had "consistently hampered" the search for answers regarding his daughter's disappearance in 2007.

He emphasized that the intrusion took a "huge toll" on his family. "We had ongoing coverage and misleading headlines for many months that led us to take legal action to stop it," he explained.

"We are lucky. We survived. We received tremendous support. But I can promise you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning, and it was the media, mostly, not the situation we were in," he reflected.

An Appeal for Restart Leveson Inquiry

The McCanns are among more than 30 people who have signed a letter calling on the government to restart the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was due to examine the relationship between the media and the police.

McCann said it was not acceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "not being prioritized". He described how his family had been victims of "relentless targeting" by parts of the media and that the press was "camped" outside his home for months after the disappearance.

Describing the Intrusion

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

"It's the inaccuracies. It's the fabrication of stories to suit a narrative, rather than reality, which causes immense harm," he stated.

A Demand for Stronger Oversight and Accountability

He stated these actions demonstrated 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 said.

"That almost pulls you under, 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 little accountability," he argued.

Official Response and Evolving News Environment

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

"We agree that the situation has changed significantly from the time the second part of Leveson was recommended: the public is now more likely to get their news from the internet, which has presented new and different challenges," the minister said.

The minister further stated that weighing the rights of victims with the need for a free press was a "complex balance to get right," but acknowledged that "reform is required in this area".

A Continued Hope for Closure

Madeleine McCann disappeared from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 as a three-year-old. Gerry McCann said that it was "profoundly disappointing" how the press had frequently obstructed with the investigation.

"Confidential details which ought to have remained private... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew a lot more than you should have done," he explained.

Speaking about hope, he said the chance he would find his daughter was "small but still alive". "I'd love to find her alive, but we need to find out what happened and bring whoever's responsible, and other children are at risk while that perpetrator is free," he stated.