The McCann family Parent Calls for Stricter Media Oversight Following Accounts of Media "Tormenting".

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has demanded greater oversight for the UK media, recounting how being "monstered" by the press made him feel like he was being "suffocated and buried".

A Family Tormented by Media Intrusion

According to Gerry McCann, his family was tormented by press "abuses" and that the media had "repeatedly interfered with" the investigation into his daughter's 2007 disappearance.

He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "huge toll" on his family. "We endured ongoing coverage and misleading headlines for many months that forced us to take legal action to stop it," he commented.

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

A Call to Restart Press Regulation Review

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

McCann said it was not acceptable that after more than a year, press regulation was "off the agenda". He described how his family had been endured "monstering" by certain the media and that the press was "posted" outside his home for months after Madeleine went missing.

Describing the Harassment

Recalling the harassment, he said: "Reporters arriving at our home, photographers pushing their cameras against our car window, when we had our toddler twins in the back who were terrified, 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 destroys people's lives," he added.

A Demand for Stronger Oversight and Accountability

He stated these actions demonstrated why there needed to be tougher 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. The impact is devastating, and we need that protection. There has to be redress. And at the minute, for most of the large media outlets, there is no redress," he concluded.

Official Position and Changing Media Landscape

The Culture Secretary said that a second phase of the inquiry had been ruled out and that the news environment was now very different.

"Our position aligns that the situation has changed 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," the minister said.

The minister further stated that balancing the needs of those affected with the need for a free press was a "complex balance to get right," but acknowledged that "action is needed in this area".

An Enduring Search for Closure

The child went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 as a three-year-old. Gerry McCann said that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation.

"Leaked information which ought to have remained private... This meant a potential culprit, you knew much more than you should have done," he said.

On the prospect of finding Madeleine, he said the possibility he would find his daughter was "slim but it's not extinguished". "Our wish is to find her alive, but we need to find out what happened and see justice served, and people are at risk while that perpetrator is free," he concluded.