🔗 Share this article The McCann family Father Urges Stronger Media Oversight Amid Accounts of Press "Tormenting". The father of Madeleine McCann has demanded more robust oversight for the UK media, describing how being "monstered" by the press made him feel as if he was being "overwhelmed". A Family Subjected to Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was subjected to press "excesses" and that the media had "consistently hampered" the search for answers regarding his daughter's going missing in 2007. He stated that the media attention exacted a "significant emotional cost" on his family. "We endured sustained interest and misleading headlines for over a year that led us to take legal action to stop it," he explained. "We are lucky. We got through it. We had strong support. But I can promise you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning, and it was the media, mainly, not the situation we were in," he recounted. A Call to Revive Press Regulation Review McCann and his wife, Kate, are among dozens of individuals who have endorsed a letter calling on ministers to revive the second phase of the Leveson investigation, which was due to examine the relationship between the media and the police. McCann said it was not acceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "off the agenda". He said that his family had been endured "relentless targeting" by certain the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for months after the disappearance. Recounting the Harassment Describing the intrusion, 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 scared, and how upsetting 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 reality, which destroys people's lives," he stated. The Need for Stronger Regulation and Redress He argued this behavior showed 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 major reports about ourselves and unverified claims," he told. "That feeling is overwhelming, and you can see how people succumb to it and think they can't get out of it. The impact is devastating, and we need that protection. People deserve recourse. And at the minute, for most of the major publishers, there is little accountability," he argued. Official Position and Changing News Environment A government minister commented that a second phase of the inquiry had been rejected and that the media landscape was now profoundly changed. "We agree that the landscape has transformed dramatically from the time the second part of Leveson was proposed: the public is now more likely to get their news from the internet, which has presented new and different challenges," they explained. The minister further stated that weighing the needs of those affected with the need for a free press was a "really difficult thing to get right," but acknowledged that "action is needed in this area". An Enduring Hope for Answers The child went missing from a family vacation apartment in 2007 as a three-year-old. Her father expressed that it was "deeply disturbing" how the press had repeatedly interfered 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 said. 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 bring whoever's responsible, and people are at risk while whoever is responsible is free," he affirmed.
The father of Madeleine McCann has demanded more robust oversight for the UK media, describing how being "monstered" by the press made him feel as if he was being "overwhelmed". A Family Subjected to Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was subjected to press "excesses" and that the media had "consistently hampered" the search for answers regarding his daughter's going missing in 2007. He stated that the media attention exacted a "significant emotional cost" on his family. "We endured sustained interest and misleading headlines for over a year that led us to take legal action to stop it," he explained. "We are lucky. We got through it. We had strong support. But I can promise you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning, and it was the media, mainly, not the situation we were in," he recounted. A Call to Revive Press Regulation Review McCann and his wife, Kate, are among dozens of individuals who have endorsed a letter calling on ministers to revive the second phase of the Leveson investigation, which was due to examine the relationship between the media and the police. McCann said it was not acceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "off the agenda". He said that his family had been endured "relentless targeting" by certain the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for months after the disappearance. Recounting the Harassment Describing the intrusion, 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 scared, and how upsetting 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 reality, which destroys people's lives," he stated. The Need for Stronger Regulation and Redress He argued this behavior showed 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 major reports about ourselves and unverified claims," he told. "That feeling is overwhelming, and you can see how people succumb to it and think they can't get out of it. The impact is devastating, and we need that protection. People deserve recourse. And at the minute, for most of the major publishers, there is little accountability," he argued. Official Position and Changing News Environment A government minister commented that a second phase of the inquiry had been rejected and that the media landscape was now profoundly changed. "We agree that the landscape has transformed dramatically from the time the second part of Leveson was proposed: the public is now more likely to get their news from the internet, which has presented new and different challenges," they explained. The minister further stated that weighing the needs of those affected with the need for a free press was a "really difficult thing to get right," but acknowledged that "action is needed in this area". An Enduring Hope for Answers The child went missing from a family vacation apartment in 2007 as a three-year-old. Her father expressed that it was "deeply disturbing" how the press had repeatedly interfered 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 said. 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 bring whoever's responsible, and people are at risk while whoever is responsible is free," he affirmed.