Madeleine McCann's Parent Demands Tougher Press Oversight Following Accounts of Press "Tormenting".

The father of Madeleine McCann has urged for increased scrutiny of the UK media, describing how being "monstered" by the press made him feel that he was being "drowning under the pressure".

A Family Tormented by Press "Abuses"

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 misleading headlines for many months that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he commented.

"We were fortunate. We got through it. We had tremendous support. 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 Leveson Inquiry

The McCanns are among more than 30 people who have endorsed a letter urging the government to revive the second part of the Leveson investigation, which was due to examine the dynamic between the media and the police.

McCann said it was not acceptable that more than a year on, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He said that his family had been endured "relentless targeting" by certain the media and that the press was "posted" outside his home for months 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 scared, and how upsetting that is for you as a parent."

"It's the half-truths. It's the making up of stories to fit the agenda, rather than reality, which ruins lives," he added.

The Need for Tougher Oversight and Accountability

He stated these actions demonstrated why there needed to be more robust press regulation. "We'd be getting ready for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be major reports about ourselves and unverified claims," he described.

"That almost pulls you under, and you can see how people succumb to it and think they can't get out of it. It's so damaging, and we need that protection. People deserve recourse. And at the minute, for most of these mainstream media, there is no redress," he argued.

Government Response and Changing News Environment

A government minister said that a second phase of the inquiry had been ruled out and that the news environment was now drastically altered.

"We agree that the context has evolved dramatically from the time the second part of Leveson was proposed: people now are more likely to get their news from the internet, which has presented new and different challenges," they stated.

It was also noted that balancing the needs of those affected with the principle of press freedom was a "really difficult thing to get right," but acknowledged that "reform is required in this area".

An Enduring Search for Closure

The child went missing from a family vacation apartment in 2007 when she was three years old. Gerry McCann said that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation.

"Leaked information which should have been confidential... Consequently, anyone involved, you knew much more than you should have done," he noted.

Speaking about hope, he said the chance he would find his daughter was "faint yet persistent". "I'd love to find her alive, but we need to establish the facts and see justice served, and other children are at risk while whoever is responsible is free," he concluded.