🔗 Share this article The McCann family Parent Calls for Stronger Media Regulation Amid Recollections of Press "Monstering". Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has demanded increased oversight for the UK media, detailing how intense press coverage made him feel that he was being "suffocated and buried". The McCanns Subjected to Press "Abuses" Gerry McCann stated that his family was subjected to press "intrusions" and that the media had "frequently disrupted" the investigation into his daughter's disappearance in 2007. He noted that the intrusion took a "significant emotional cost" on his family. "We endured sustained interest and misleading headlines for many months that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he explained. "We are lucky. We got through it. We received incredible backing. But I can promise you, there were times where I felt like I was overwhelmed, and it was the media, mainly, not the situation we were in," he reflected. An Appeal for Restart Leveson Inquiry McCann and his wife, Kate, are among a group of people who have signed a letter asking the government to revive the second phase of the Leveson investigation, which was due to examine the links between the media and the police. He expressed that it was not acceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He said that his family had been endured "monstering" by parts of the media and that the press was "posted" outside his home for an extended period after the disappearance. Describing the Intrusion Detailing the events, he said: "Reporters arriving at our home, cameras being shoved their cameras against our car window, when we had our toddler twins in the back who were terrified, and how traumatic that is for you as a parent." "It's the misleading narratives. It's the fabrication of stories to fit the agenda, rather than reality, which destroys people's lives," he added. A Demand for Tougher Oversight and Accountability He argued this behavior demonstrated why there needed to be stricter press regulation. "In the evenings, we'd put on the news, and there'd be splash stories about ourselves and alleged events," he described. "That feeling is overwhelming, 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. There has to be redress. And at the minute, for most of the major publishers, there is no effective recourse," he concluded. Government Position and Changing News Environment The Culture Secretary said that a second phase of the inquiry had been discounted and that the news environment was now very different. "Our position aligns that the context has evolved significantly since the second part of Leveson was proposed: people now are more likely to get their news from the internet, which has presented new and different challenges," the minister said. The minister further stated that balancing the rights of victims with the need for a free press was a "challenging task to get right," but acknowledged that "action is needed in this area". A Continued Search for Closure The child went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 as a three-year-old. Her father expressed that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had frequently obstructed with the investigation. "Confidential details which should have been confidential... This meant a potential culprit, you knew much more than you should have done," he noted. Speaking about hope, he said the possibility he would find his daughter was "slim but it's not extinguished". "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 perpetrator is free," he affirmed.
Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has demanded increased oversight for the UK media, detailing how intense press coverage made him feel that he was being "suffocated and buried". The McCanns Subjected to Press "Abuses" Gerry McCann stated that his family was subjected to press "intrusions" and that the media had "frequently disrupted" the investigation into his daughter's disappearance in 2007. He noted that the intrusion took a "significant emotional cost" on his family. "We endured sustained interest and misleading headlines for many months that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he explained. "We are lucky. We got through it. We received incredible backing. But I can promise you, there were times where I felt like I was overwhelmed, and it was the media, mainly, not the situation we were in," he reflected. An Appeal for Restart Leveson Inquiry McCann and his wife, Kate, are among a group of people who have signed a letter asking the government to revive the second phase of the Leveson investigation, which was due to examine the links between the media and the police. He expressed that it was not acceptable that over a year later, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He said that his family had been endured "monstering" by parts of the media and that the press was "posted" outside his home for an extended period after the disappearance. Describing the Intrusion Detailing the events, he said: "Reporters arriving at our home, cameras being shoved their cameras against our car window, when we had our toddler twins in the back who were terrified, and how traumatic that is for you as a parent." "It's the misleading narratives. It's the fabrication of stories to fit the agenda, rather than reality, which destroys people's lives," he added. A Demand for Tougher Oversight and Accountability He argued this behavior demonstrated why there needed to be stricter press regulation. "In the evenings, we'd put on the news, and there'd be splash stories about ourselves and alleged events," he described. "That feeling is overwhelming, 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. There has to be redress. And at the minute, for most of the major publishers, there is no effective recourse," he concluded. Government Position and Changing News Environment The Culture Secretary said that a second phase of the inquiry had been discounted and that the news environment was now very different. "Our position aligns that the context has evolved significantly since the second part of Leveson was proposed: people now are more likely to get their news from the internet, which has presented new and different challenges," the minister said. The minister further stated that balancing the rights of victims with the need for a free press was a "challenging task to get right," but acknowledged that "action is needed in this area". A Continued Search for Closure The child went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 as a three-year-old. Her father expressed that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had frequently obstructed with the investigation. "Confidential details which should have been confidential... This meant a potential culprit, you knew much more than you should have done," he noted. Speaking about hope, he said the possibility he would find his daughter was "slim but it's not extinguished". "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 perpetrator is free," he affirmed.