Madeleine McCann's Parent Demands Tougher Press Regulation Amid Accounts of Media "Hounding".

The father of Madeleine McCann has demanded more robust oversight for the UK media, describing how sustained media attention made him feel like he was being "suffocated and buried".

A Family Tormented by Press "Abuses"

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

He noted that the media attention exacted a "significant emotional cost" on his family. "We endured ongoing coverage and misleading headlines for 15 months or more that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he commented.

"We were fortunate. We got through it. We received incredible backing. However, I assure you, there were times where I felt like I was being suffocated, and it was the media, mainly, not the situation we were in," he reflected.

A Call to Revive Press Regulation Review

The McCanns are among a group of people who have put their names to a letter asking the government to revive the second phase of the Leveson investigation, which was set up to look into the dynamic 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 "monstering" by certain the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for an extended period after Madeleine went missing.

Describing the Harassment

Recalling the harassment, he said: "Journalists coming to the house, cameras being shoved their cameras against our car window, when we had two-year-old twins in the back who were terrified, and how traumatic that is for you as a parent."

"It's the half-truths. It's the making up of stories to suit a narrative, rather than the truth, which destroys people's lives," he added.

A Demand for Tougher Oversight and Redress

He argued this behavior demonstrated why there needed to be stricter press regulation. "At night, as we prepared for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be major reports about ourselves and unverified claims," he said.

"That can drag you down, and you can see how people are broken by 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 effective recourse," he concluded.

Government Position and Changing Media Landscape

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

"We agree that the landscape has transformed significantly from the time the Leveson's second phase was recommended: the public is now more likely to get their news from the internet, which has presented new and different challenges," they explained.

They added that balancing the needs of those affected with the need for a free press was a "complex balance to get right," but conceded that "steps must be taken in this area".

A Continued Hope for Closure

The child went missing from a family vacation apartment 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 should have been confidential... Consequently, anyone involved, you knew far more than you should have done," he explained.

Regarding the ongoing search, he said the hope he would find his daughter was "faint yet persistent". "I'd love to find her alive, but we need to discover the truth and hold the perpetrator, and people are at risk while that person is free," he stated.