Madeleine McCann's Parent Calls for Stronger Media Regulation Amid Recollections of Press "Hounding".

The father of Madeleine McCann has demanded greater oversight for the UK media, detailing how being "monstered" by the press made him feel that he was being "drowning under the pressure".

A Family Subjected to Media Intrusion

According to Gerry McCann, his family was tormented by press "excesses" and that the media had "consistently hampered" the search for answers regarding his daughter's going missing in 2007.

He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "huge toll" on his family. "We had constant scrutiny and inaccurate reports for over a year that forced us to take legal action to stop it," he reportedly said.

"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, primarily, not the situation we were in," he stated.

An Appeal for Revive Leveson Inquiry

McCann and his wife, Kate, are among dozens of individuals who have put their names to a letter asking the government to restart the second part of the Leveson inquiry, which was due to examine the dynamic between the media and the police.

He expressed that it was unacceptable that more than a year on, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He said that his family had been endured "monstering" by certain the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for months after the disappearance.

Describing the Intrusion

Describing the intrusion, he said: "Media at our doorstep, photographers literally ramming their cameras against our car window, when we had two-year-old twins in the back who were frightened, and how upsetting that is for you as a parent."

"It's the inaccuracies. It's the invention of stories to fit the agenda, rather than reality, which ruins lives," he emphasized.

The Need for Tougher Regulation and Accountability

He said the conduct showed 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 major reports about ourselves and alleged events," he told.

"That almost pulls you under, 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 large media outlets, there is no effective recourse," he asserted.

Official Position and Evolving News Environment

A government minister said that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been ruled out and that the news environment was now very different.

"We share the view that the landscape has transformed dramatically since the Leveson's second phase was proposed: people now are more likely to get their news from the internet, which has created new and different challenges," the minister said.

It was also noted that weighing the rights of victims with the principle of press freedom was a "challenging task to get right," but conceded that "reform is required in this area".

A Continued Hope for Answers

The child went missing from a family vacation apartment in 2007 as a three-year-old. It was stated that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had consistently meddled with the investigation.

"Leaked information which was meant for police only... Consequently, anyone involved, you knew a lot more than you should have done," he noted.

Regarding the ongoing search, he said the chance he would find his daughter was "slim but it's not extinguished". "I'd love to find her alive, but we need to find out what happened and hold the perpetrator, and other children are at risk while whoever is responsible is free," he stated.