🔗 Share this article Madeleine McCann's Parent Demands Tougher Press Regulation Following Accounts of Press "Hounding". Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has issued a call for more robust scrutiny of the UK media, recounting how being "monstered" by the press made him feel that he was being "overwhelmed". A Family Subjected to Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was deeply affected by press "abuses" and that the media had "frequently disrupted" the search for answers regarding his daughter's 2007 disappearance. He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "significant emotional cost" on his family. "We had sustained interest and inaccurate reports for 15 months or more that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he reportedly said. "We are lucky. We survived. We had 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 reflected. An Appeal for Restart Press Regulation Review McCann and his wife, Kate, are among more than 30 people who have put their names to a letter calling on ministers to restart the second phase of the Leveson investigation, which was due to examine the relationship between the media and the police. He expressed that it was not acceptable that after more than a year, press regulation was "not being prioritized". He described how his family had been subjected to "relentless targeting" by sections of the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for an extended period after Madeleine went missing. Recounting the Intrusion Recalling the harassment, he said: "Reporters arriving at our home, photographers literally ramming their cameras against our car window, when we had young twin children in the back who were terrified, and how traumatic that is for you as a parent." "It's the misleading narratives. It's the making up of stories to suit a narrative, rather than the truth, which ruins lives," he stated. A Demand for Stronger Oversight and Accountability He said the conduct showed why there needed to be stricter press regulation. "In the evenings, we'd put on the news, and there'd be front-page headlines about ourselves and unverified claims," he said. "That almost pulls you under, and you can see how people are broken by it and think they can't get out of it. The harm is profound, 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. Government Response and Changing News Environment The Culture Secretary said that a second phase of the inquiry had been discounted and that the media landscape was now very different. "Our position aligns that the context has evolved dramatically 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," they explained. It was also noted that weighing the rights of victims with the principle of press freedom was a "complex balance to get right," but conceded that "action is needed in this area". An Enduring Search for Closure Madeleine McCann disappeared from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 when she was three years old. It was stated that it was "deeply disturbing" how the press had consistently meddled with the investigation. "Published material which ought to have remained private... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew far more than you should have done," he said. Regarding the ongoing search, he said the possibility he would find his daughter was "faint yet persistent". "I'd love to find her alive, but we need to establish the facts and bring whoever's responsible, and other children are at risk while that perpetrator is free," he affirmed.
Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has issued a call for more robust scrutiny of the UK media, recounting how being "monstered" by the press made him feel that he was being "overwhelmed". A Family Subjected to Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was deeply affected by press "abuses" and that the media had "frequently disrupted" the search for answers regarding his daughter's 2007 disappearance. He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "significant emotional cost" on his family. "We had sustained interest and inaccurate reports for 15 months or more that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he reportedly said. "We are lucky. We survived. We had 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 reflected. An Appeal for Restart Press Regulation Review McCann and his wife, Kate, are among more than 30 people who have put their names to a letter calling on ministers to restart the second phase of the Leveson investigation, which was due to examine the relationship between the media and the police. He expressed that it was not acceptable that after more than a year, press regulation was "not being prioritized". He described how his family had been subjected to "relentless targeting" by sections of the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for an extended period after Madeleine went missing. Recounting the Intrusion Recalling the harassment, he said: "Reporters arriving at our home, photographers literally ramming their cameras against our car window, when we had young twin children in the back who were terrified, and how traumatic that is for you as a parent." "It's the misleading narratives. It's the making up of stories to suit a narrative, rather than the truth, which ruins lives," he stated. A Demand for Stronger Oversight and Accountability He said the conduct showed why there needed to be stricter press regulation. "In the evenings, we'd put on the news, and there'd be front-page headlines about ourselves and unverified claims," he said. "That almost pulls you under, and you can see how people are broken by it and think they can't get out of it. The harm is profound, 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. Government Response and Changing News Environment The Culture Secretary said that a second phase of the inquiry had been discounted and that the media landscape was now very different. "Our position aligns that the context has evolved dramatically 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," they explained. It was also noted that weighing the rights of victims with the principle of press freedom was a "complex balance to get right," but conceded that "action is needed in this area". An Enduring Search for Closure Madeleine McCann disappeared from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 when she was three years old. It was stated that it was "deeply disturbing" how the press had consistently meddled with the investigation. "Published material which ought to have remained private... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew far more than you should have done," he said. Regarding the ongoing search, he said the possibility he would find his daughter was "faint yet persistent". "I'd love to find her alive, but we need to establish the facts and bring whoever's responsible, and other children are at risk while that perpetrator is free," he affirmed.