🔗 Share this article The McCann family Parent Calls for Tougher Media Oversight Amid Accounts of Press "Hounding". Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has demanded more robust scrutiny of the UK media, recounting how being "monstered" by the press made him feel as if he was being "drowning under the pressure". A Family Subjected to Press "Abuses" According to Gerry McCann, his family was subjected to press "abuses" and that the media had "repeatedly interfered with" the search for answers regarding his daughter's going missing in 2007. He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "heavy burden" on his family. "We endured ongoing coverage and inaccurate reports for over a year that forced us to take legal action to stop it," he explained. "We are lucky. We survived. We received 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 stated. A Call to Restart Press Regulation Review McCann and his wife, Kate, are among dozens of individuals who have signed a letter urging the government to restart the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was set up to look into the dynamic between the media and the police. He expressed that it was unacceptable that after more than a year, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He said that his family had been endured "relentless targeting" by parts of the media and that the press was "camped" outside his home for an extended period after Madeleine went missing. Describing the Harassment Recalling the harassment, he said: "Reporters arriving at our home, photographers pushing their cameras against our car window, when we had our toddler twins in the back who were terrified, and how upsetting that is for you as a parent." "It's the misleading narratives. It's the fabrication of stories to drive a headline, rather than the facts, which ruins lives," he stated. A Demand for Stronger Regulation and Redress He argued this behavior highlighted why there needed to be stricter press regulation. "We'd be getting ready for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be front-page headlines about ourselves and alleged events," he said. "That can drag you down, and you can see how people give in to it and think they can't get out of it. The harm is profound, and we need that protection. People deserve recourse. And at the minute, for most of the large media outlets, there is no redress," he concluded. Official Response and Changing Media Landscape A government minister said that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been ruled out and that the news environment was now profoundly changed. "We share the view that the situation has changed profoundly since the Leveson's second phase was recommended: the public is now more likely to get their news from diverse digital platforms, which has created new and different challenges," they explained. It was also noted that weighing the needs of those affected with the need for a free press was a "complex balance to get right," but acknowledged that "action is needed in this area". An Enduring Search for Closure Madeleine McCann disappeared from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 as a three-year-old. Gerry McCann said that it was "profoundly disappointing" how the press had consistently meddled with the investigation. "Leaked information which ought to have remained private... Consequently, anyone involved, you knew much more than you should have done," he explained. 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 find out what happened and hold the perpetrator, and other children are at risk while that person is free," he stated.
Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has demanded more robust scrutiny of the UK media, recounting how being "monstered" by the press made him feel as if he was being "drowning under the pressure". A Family Subjected to Press "Abuses" According to Gerry McCann, his family was subjected to press "abuses" and that the media had "repeatedly interfered with" the search for answers regarding his daughter's going missing in 2007. He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "heavy burden" on his family. "We endured ongoing coverage and inaccurate reports for over a year that forced us to take legal action to stop it," he explained. "We are lucky. We survived. We received 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 stated. A Call to Restart Press Regulation Review McCann and his wife, Kate, are among dozens of individuals who have signed a letter urging the government to restart the second phase of the Leveson inquiry, which was set up to look into the dynamic between the media and the police. He expressed that it was unacceptable that after more than a year, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He said that his family had been endured "relentless targeting" by parts of the media and that the press was "camped" outside his home for an extended period after Madeleine went missing. Describing the Harassment Recalling the harassment, he said: "Reporters arriving at our home, photographers pushing their cameras against our car window, when we had our toddler twins in the back who were terrified, and how upsetting that is for you as a parent." "It's the misleading narratives. It's the fabrication of stories to drive a headline, rather than the facts, which ruins lives," he stated. A Demand for Stronger Regulation and Redress He argued this behavior highlighted why there needed to be stricter press regulation. "We'd be getting ready for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be front-page headlines about ourselves and alleged events," he said. "That can drag you down, and you can see how people give in to it and think they can't get out of it. The harm is profound, and we need that protection. People deserve recourse. And at the minute, for most of the large media outlets, there is no redress," he concluded. Official Response and Changing Media Landscape A government minister said that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been ruled out and that the news environment was now profoundly changed. "We share the view that the situation has changed profoundly since the Leveson's second phase was recommended: the public is now more likely to get their news from diverse digital platforms, which has created new and different challenges," they explained. It was also noted that weighing the needs of those affected with the need for a free press was a "complex balance to get right," but acknowledged that "action is needed in this area". An Enduring Search for Closure Madeleine McCann disappeared from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 as a three-year-old. Gerry McCann said that it was "profoundly disappointing" how the press had consistently meddled with the investigation. "Leaked information which ought to have remained private... Consequently, anyone involved, you knew much more than you should have done," he explained. 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 find out what happened and hold the perpetrator, and other children are at risk while that person is free," he stated.