Madeleine McCann's Parent Demands Tougher Media Oversight Amid Recollections of Media "Hounding".

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has issued a call for greater scrutiny of the UK media, describing how being "monstered" by the press made him feel as if he was being "overwhelmed".

The McCanns Tormented by Media Intrusion

According to Gerry McCann, his family was tormented by press "intrusions" and that the media had "frequently disrupted" the investigation into his daughter's going missing in 2007.

He stated that the media attention exacted a "huge toll" on his family. "We faced ongoing coverage and sensationalized stories for many months that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he explained.

"We are lucky. We got through it. We received tremendous support. However, I assure you, there were times where I felt like I was being suffocated, and it was the media, primarily, not the situation we were in," he stated.

An Appeal for Revive Press Regulation Review

McCann and his wife, Kate, are among more than 30 people who have signed a letter urging the government to restart the second phase of the Leveson investigation, which was due to examine the links between the media and the police.

McCann said it was not acceptable that more than a year on, press regulation was "off the agenda". He said that his family had been subjected to "relentless targeting" by sections of the media and that the press was "stationed" outside his home for months after the disappearance.

Recounting the Intrusion

Describing the intrusion, he said: "Reporters arriving at our home, photographers pushing their cameras against our car window, when we had two-year-old twins in the back who were scared, and how upsetting that is for you as a parent."

"It's the half-truths. It's the fabrication of stories to drive a headline, rather than the facts, which destroys people's lives," he emphasized.

A Demand for Tougher Regulation and Redress

He stated these actions demonstrated why there needed to be more robust press regulation. "We'd be getting ready for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be splash stories about ourselves and alleged events," he said.

"That feeling is overwhelming, and you can see how people succumb 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 these mainstream media, there is no effective recourse," he concluded.

Official Position and Evolving News Environment

The Culture Secretary said that a second phase of the inquiry had been ruled out and that the media landscape was now drastically altered.

"We agree that the landscape has transformed profoundly since the Leveson's second phase was proposed: the public is now more likely to get their news from the internet, which has thrown up new and different challenges," they stated.

The minister further stated that weighing the needs of those affected with the principle of press freedom was a "challenging task to get right," but conceded that "reform is required in this area".

A Continued Search for Answers

The child went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 at the age of three. Gerry McCann said that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had frequently obstructed with the investigation.

"Leaked information which was meant for police only... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew much more than you should have done," he explained.

Regarding the ongoing search, he said the chance he would find his daughter was "faint yet persistent". "Our wish is to find her alive, but we need to discover the truth and see justice served, and other children are at risk while whoever is responsible is free," he concluded.