🔗 Share this article Madeleine McCann's Father Demands Tougher Press Regulation Amid Accounts of Press "Hounding". Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has urged for increased oversight for the UK media, describing how sustained media attention made him feel as if he was being "drowning under the pressure". The McCanns Tormented by Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was subjected to press "intrusions" and that the media had "repeatedly interfered with" the investigation into his daughter's 2007 disappearance. He emphasized that the intrusion took a "significant emotional cost" on his family. "We had ongoing coverage and misleading headlines for over a year that forced us to take legal action to stop it," he commented. "We are lucky. We got through it. We received strong support. Yet, I must tell you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning, and it was the media, mainly, not the situation we were in," he stated. An Appeal for Restart Press Regulation Review McCann and his wife, Kate, are among dozens of individuals who have signed a letter urging ministers to restart the second part of the Leveson inquiry, which was set up to look into the links between the media and the police. He expressed that it was not acceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "off the agenda". He said that his family had been subjected to "monstering" by sections of the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for an extended period after Madeleine went missing. Recounting the Harassment Describing the intrusion, he said: "Journalists coming to the house, photographers pushing 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 misleading narratives. It's the making up of stories to drive a headline, rather than the facts, which ruins lives," he emphasized. A Demand for Stronger Oversight and Accountability He argued this behavior highlighted why there needed to be stricter 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 described. "That feeling is overwhelming, 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 no effective recourse," he argued. Government 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 very different. "Our position aligns that the landscape has transformed significantly from the time the second part of Leveson was proposed: the public is now more likely to get their news online from a whole variety of sources, which has created new and different challenges," they stated. The minister further stated that weighing the rights of victims 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 Hope for Answers The child went missing from a family vacation apartment 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. "Confidential details which should have been confidential... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew much more than you should have done," he explained. Speaking about hope, he said the chance 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 other children are at risk while that person is free," he concluded.
Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has urged for increased oversight for the UK media, describing how sustained media attention made him feel as if he was being "drowning under the pressure". The McCanns Tormented by Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was subjected to press "intrusions" and that the media had "repeatedly interfered with" the investigation into his daughter's 2007 disappearance. He emphasized that the intrusion took a "significant emotional cost" on his family. "We had ongoing coverage and misleading headlines for over a year that forced us to take legal action to stop it," he commented. "We are lucky. We got through it. We received strong support. Yet, I must tell you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning, and it was the media, mainly, not the situation we were in," he stated. An Appeal for Restart Press Regulation Review McCann and his wife, Kate, are among dozens of individuals who have signed a letter urging ministers to restart the second part of the Leveson inquiry, which was set up to look into the links between the media and the police. He expressed that it was not acceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "off the agenda". He said that his family had been subjected to "monstering" by sections of the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for an extended period after Madeleine went missing. Recounting the Harassment Describing the intrusion, he said: "Journalists coming to the house, photographers pushing 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 misleading narratives. It's the making up of stories to drive a headline, rather than the facts, which ruins lives," he emphasized. A Demand for Stronger Oversight and Accountability He argued this behavior highlighted why there needed to be stricter 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 described. "That feeling is overwhelming, 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 no effective recourse," he argued. Government 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 very different. "Our position aligns that the landscape has transformed significantly from the time the second part of Leveson was proposed: the public is now more likely to get their news online from a whole variety of sources, which has created new and different challenges," they stated. The minister further stated that weighing the rights of victims 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 Hope for Answers The child went missing from a family vacation apartment 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. "Confidential details which should have been confidential... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew much more than you should have done," he explained. Speaking about hope, he said the chance 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 other children are at risk while that person is free," he concluded.