🔗 Share this article The McCann family Father Urges Stricter Press Regulation Following Accounts of Press "Monstering". The father of Madeleine McCann has issued a call for increased oversight for the UK media, recounting how sustained media attention made him feel like he was being "drowning under the pressure". A Family Tormented by Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was deeply affected by press "excesses" and that the media had "consistently hampered" the investigation into his daughter's disappearance in 2007. He stated that the media attention exacted a "heavy burden" on his family. "We faced constant scrutiny and sensationalized stories for over a year that led us to take legal action to stop it," he explained. "We are lucky. We survived. We received strong support. But I can promise 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 stated. A Call to Restart Leveson Inquiry The McCanns are among dozens of individuals who have endorsed a letter calling on ministers to restart the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was intended to examine the links between the media and the police. McCann said it was unacceptable that after more than a year, press regulation was "not being prioritized". He said that his family had been victims of "monstering" by sections of the media and that the press was "posted" outside his home for an extended period after the disappearance. Recounting the Harassment Detailing the events, he said: "Media at our doorstep, cameras being shoved their cameras against our car window, when we had two-year-old twins in the back who were terrified, and how distressing that is for you as a parent." "It's the inaccuracies. It's the making up of stories to fit the agenda, rather than reality, which destroys people's lives," he added. The Need for Stronger Oversight and Accountability He stated these actions demonstrated why there needed to be tougher press regulation. "At night, as we prepared for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be front-page headlines about ourselves and alleged events," he said. "That feeling is overwhelming, and you can see how people succumb 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 major publishers, there is little accountability," he argued. Official Position and Evolving Media Landscape The Culture Secretary said that a second phase of the inquiry had been rejected and that the media landscape was now profoundly changed. "We share the view that the landscape has transformed significantly since the Leveson's second phase was proposed: the public is now more likely to get their news online from a whole variety of sources, which has thrown up 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 conceded that "action is needed in this area". A Continued Hope for Answers The child went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 at the age of three. Her father expressed that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation. "Leaked information which ought to have remained private... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew far more than you should have done," he said. 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 see justice served, and other children are at risk while whoever is responsible is free," he stated.
The father of Madeleine McCann has issued a call for increased oversight for the UK media, recounting how sustained media attention made him feel like he was being "drowning under the pressure". A Family Tormented by Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was deeply affected by press "excesses" and that the media had "consistently hampered" the investigation into his daughter's disappearance in 2007. He stated that the media attention exacted a "heavy burden" on his family. "We faced constant scrutiny and sensationalized stories for over a year that led us to take legal action to stop it," he explained. "We are lucky. We survived. We received strong support. But I can promise 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 stated. A Call to Restart Leveson Inquiry The McCanns are among dozens of individuals who have endorsed a letter calling on ministers to restart the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was intended to examine the links between the media and the police. McCann said it was unacceptable that after more than a year, press regulation was "not being prioritized". He said that his family had been victims of "monstering" by sections of the media and that the press was "posted" outside his home for an extended period after the disappearance. Recounting the Harassment Detailing the events, he said: "Media at our doorstep, cameras being shoved their cameras against our car window, when we had two-year-old twins in the back who were terrified, and how distressing that is for you as a parent." "It's the inaccuracies. It's the making up of stories to fit the agenda, rather than reality, which destroys people's lives," he added. The Need for Stronger Oversight and Accountability He stated these actions demonstrated why there needed to be tougher press regulation. "At night, as we prepared for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be front-page headlines about ourselves and alleged events," he said. "That feeling is overwhelming, and you can see how people succumb 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 major publishers, there is little accountability," he argued. Official Position and Evolving Media Landscape The Culture Secretary said that a second phase of the inquiry had been rejected and that the media landscape was now profoundly changed. "We share the view that the landscape has transformed significantly since the Leveson's second phase was proposed: the public is now more likely to get their news online from a whole variety of sources, which has thrown up 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 conceded that "action is needed in this area". A Continued Hope for Answers The child went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 at the age of three. Her father expressed that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation. "Leaked information which ought to have remained private... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew far more than you should have done," he said. 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 see justice served, and other children are at risk while whoever is responsible is free," he stated.