🔗 Share this article Madeleine McCann's Parent Calls for Stronger Press Regulation Following Accounts of Media "Monstering". The father of Madeleine McCann has urged for greater oversight for the UK media, describing how being "monstered" by the press made him feel that he was being "suffocated and buried". A Family Tormented by Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was tormented by press "intrusions" and that the media had "frequently disrupted" the investigation into his daughter's disappearance in 2007. He emphasized that the intrusion took a "huge toll" on his family. "We endured ongoing coverage and misleading headlines for many months that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he commented. "We are lucky. We got through it. We received incredible backing. 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. An Appeal for Revive Leveson Inquiry McCann and his wife, Kate, are among more than 30 people who have put their names to a letter asking the government to revive the second part of the Leveson investigation, which was due to examine the relationship between the media and the police. McCann said it was not acceptable that after more than a year, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He said that his family had been subjected to "monstering" by parts of the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for months after the disappearance. Describing the Intrusion Detailing the events, he said: "Media at our doorstep, 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 misleading narratives. It's the invention of stories to drive a headline, rather than reality, which causes immense harm," he added. A Demand for Tougher Oversight 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 major reports about ourselves and alleged events," he described. "That feeling is overwhelming, and you can see how people are broken by it and think they can't get out of it. It's so damaging, 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. Government Position and Changing News Environment The Culture Secretary said that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been rejected and that the media landscape was now drastically altered. "Our position aligns 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 diverse digital platforms, which has thrown up new and different challenges," they stated. They added that balancing the rights of victims with the need for a free press was a "really difficult thing to get right," but conceded that "reform is required in this area". An Enduring Search for Closure The child went missing from a family vacation apartment in 2007 as a three-year-old. It was stated that it was "deeply disturbing" how the press had frequently obstructed with the investigation. "Leaked information which ought to have remained private... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew much more than you should have done," he explained. Speaking about hope, he said the chance 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 hold the perpetrator, and people are at risk while that person is free," he affirmed.
The father of Madeleine McCann has urged for greater oversight for the UK media, describing how being "monstered" by the press made him feel that he was being "suffocated and buried". A Family Tormented by Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was tormented by press "intrusions" and that the media had "frequently disrupted" the investigation into his daughter's disappearance in 2007. He emphasized that the intrusion took a "huge toll" on his family. "We endured ongoing coverage and misleading headlines for many months that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he commented. "We are lucky. We got through it. We received incredible backing. 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. An Appeal for Revive Leveson Inquiry McCann and his wife, Kate, are among more than 30 people who have put their names to a letter asking the government to revive the second part of the Leveson investigation, which was due to examine the relationship between the media and the police. McCann said it was not acceptable that after more than a year, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He said that his family had been subjected to "monstering" by parts of the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for months after the disappearance. Describing the Intrusion Detailing the events, he said: "Media at our doorstep, 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 misleading narratives. It's the invention of stories to drive a headline, rather than reality, which causes immense harm," he added. A Demand for Tougher Oversight 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 major reports about ourselves and alleged events," he described. "That feeling is overwhelming, and you can see how people are broken by it and think they can't get out of it. It's so damaging, 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. Government Position and Changing News Environment The Culture Secretary said that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been rejected and that the media landscape was now drastically altered. "Our position aligns 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 diverse digital platforms, which has thrown up new and different challenges," they stated. They added that balancing the rights of victims with the need for a free press was a "really difficult thing to get right," but conceded that "reform is required in this area". An Enduring Search for Closure The child went missing from a family vacation apartment in 2007 as a three-year-old. It was stated that it was "deeply disturbing" how the press had frequently obstructed with the investigation. "Leaked information which ought to have remained private... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew much more than you should have done," he explained. Speaking about hope, he said the chance 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 hold the perpetrator, and people are at risk while that person is free," he affirmed.