🔗 Share this article Madeleine McCann's Father Calls for Stricter Media Oversight Amid Accounts of Press "Monstering". The father of Madeleine McCann has urged for increased scrutiny of the UK media, detailing how being "monstered" by the press made him feel like he was being "suffocated and buried". A Family Tormented by Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was deeply affected by press "abuses" and that the media had "frequently disrupted" the investigation into his daughter's disappearance in 2007. He noted that the media attention exacted a "heavy burden" on his family. "We had constant scrutiny and inaccurate reports for over a year that led us to take legal action to stop it," he explained. "We were fortunate. We survived. We received tremendous support. Yet, I must tell you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning, and it was the media, primarily, not the situation we were in," he stated. A Call to Restart Press Regulation Review The McCanns are among dozens of individuals who have put their names to a letter asking the government to restart the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was set up to look into the links between the media and the police. McCann said it was unacceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "off the agenda". He said that his family had been subjected to "relentless targeting" 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: "Journalists coming to the house, photographers pushing their cameras against our car window, when we had our toddler twins in the back who were frightened, and how upsetting that is for you as a parent." "It's the half-truths. It's the making up of stories to suit a narrative, rather than the facts, which ruins lives," he stated. The Need for Tougher Regulation and Redress He stated these actions highlighted why there needed to be more robust press regulation. "At night, as we prepared for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be splash stories about ourselves and alleged events," he said. "That almost pulls you under, and you can see how people give in 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 asserted. Official Position and Evolving News Environment A government minister commented that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been rejected and that the media landscape was now profoundly changed. "Our position aligns that the landscape has transformed dramatically 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 presented new and different challenges," they explained. It was also noted that balancing the rights of victims with the need for a free press was a "challenging task 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 when she was three years old. Her father expressed that it was "profoundly disappointing" how the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation. "Published material which ought to have remained private... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew much more than you should have done," he explained. On the prospect of finding Madeleine, he said the hope he would find his daughter was "faint yet persistent". "We hope to find her alive, but we need to establish the facts and see justice served, and others are at risk while whoever is responsible is free," he stated.
The father of Madeleine McCann has urged for increased scrutiny of the UK media, detailing how being "monstered" by the press made him feel like he was being "suffocated and buried". A Family Tormented by Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was deeply affected by press "abuses" and that the media had "frequently disrupted" the investigation into his daughter's disappearance in 2007. He noted that the media attention exacted a "heavy burden" on his family. "We had constant scrutiny and inaccurate reports for over a year that led us to take legal action to stop it," he explained. "We were fortunate. We survived. We received tremendous support. Yet, I must tell you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning, and it was the media, primarily, not the situation we were in," he stated. A Call to Restart Press Regulation Review The McCanns are among dozens of individuals who have put their names to a letter asking the government to restart the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was set up to look into the links between the media and the police. McCann said it was unacceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "off the agenda". He said that his family had been subjected to "relentless targeting" 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: "Journalists coming to the house, photographers pushing their cameras against our car window, when we had our toddler twins in the back who were frightened, and how upsetting that is for you as a parent." "It's the half-truths. It's the making up of stories to suit a narrative, rather than the facts, which ruins lives," he stated. The Need for Tougher Regulation and Redress He stated these actions highlighted why there needed to be more robust press regulation. "At night, as we prepared for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be splash stories about ourselves and alleged events," he said. "That almost pulls you under, and you can see how people give in 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 asserted. Official Position and Evolving News Environment A government minister commented that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been rejected and that the media landscape was now profoundly changed. "Our position aligns that the landscape has transformed dramatically 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 presented new and different challenges," they explained. It was also noted that balancing the rights of victims with the need for a free press was a "challenging task 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 when she was three years old. Her father expressed that it was "profoundly disappointing" how the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation. "Published material which ought to have remained private... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew much more than you should have done," he explained. On the prospect of finding Madeleine, he said the hope he would find his daughter was "faint yet persistent". "We hope to find her alive, but we need to establish the facts and see justice served, and others are at risk while whoever is responsible is free," he stated.