The father of Madeleine McCann has issued a call for more robust oversight for the UK media, recounting how intense press coverage made him feel that he was being "overwhelmed".
The McCanns Tormented by Press "Abuses"
According to Gerry McCann, his family was subjected to press "intrusions" and that the media had "consistently hampered" the investigation into his daughter's 2007 disappearance.
He stated that the intrusion took a "heavy burden" on his family. "We had sustained interest and sensationalized stories for 15 months or more that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he commented.
"We are lucky. We survived. We received strong support. However, I assure you, there were times where I felt like I was overwhelmed, and it was the media, primarily, 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 put their names to a letter calling on ministers to restart the second part of the Leveson inquiry, which was set up to look into the dynamic between the media and the police.
McCann said it was unacceptable that more than a year on, press regulation was "not being prioritized". He said that his family had been subjected to "monstering" by parts of the media and that the press was "posted" outside his home for months after the disappearance.
Describing the Intrusion
Detailing the events, he said: "Media at our doorstep, photographers pushing their cameras against our car window, when we had two-year-old 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 making up of stories to fit the agenda, rather than the truth, which ruins lives," he stated.
A Demand for Tougher Oversight and Accountability
He said the conduct highlighted why there needed to be tougher press regulation. "In the evenings, we'd put on the news, and there'd be front-page headlines about ourselves and what supposedly happened," he described.
"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 impact is devastating, and we need that protection. People deserve recourse. And at the minute, for most of these mainstream media, there is no redress," he argued.
Official Position and Changing Media Landscape
The Culture Secretary stated that a second phase of the inquiry had been ruled out and that the news environment was now very different.
"Our position aligns that the context has evolved dramatically from the time the second part of Leveson was recommended: people now are more likely to get their news from the internet, which has presented new and different challenges," they stated.
It was also noted that weighing the needs of those affected with the principle of press freedom was a "really difficult thing to get right," but recognized that "steps must be taken in this area".
An Enduring Search for Answers
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 repeatedly interfered with the investigation.
"Leaked information which ought to have remained private... Consequently, anyone involved, you knew far more than you should have done," he said.
Regarding the ongoing search, he said the hope he would find his daughter was "small but still alive". "We hope to find her alive, but we need to establish the facts and hold the perpetrator, and others are at risk while that perpetrator is free," he concluded.
