🔗 Share this article Madeleine McCann's Parent Demands Stricter Media Oversight Amid Accounts of Press "Monstering". The father of Madeleine McCann has urged for increased scrutiny of the UK media, detailing how being "monstered" by the press made him feel as if he was being "suffocated and buried". The McCanns Tormented by Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was deeply affected by press "intrusions" and that the media had "consistently hampered" the investigation into his daughter's going missing in 2007. He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "huge toll" on his family. "We faced ongoing coverage and misleading headlines for over a year that forced us to take legal action to stop it," he commented. "We are lucky. We survived. We received strong support. But I can promise 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 recounted. An Appeal for Restart Leveson Inquiry 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 inquiry, which was set up to look into the links between the media and the police. He expressed that it was unacceptable that more than a year on, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He said that his family had been victims of "monstering" by sections of the media and that the press was "camped" outside his home for an extended period after Madeleine went missing. Describing the Intrusion Describing the intrusion, he said: "Media at our doorstep, photographers literally ramming their cameras against our car window, when we had two-year-old twins in the back who were scared, and how distressing that is for you as a parent." "It's the half-truths. It's the making up of stories to fit the agenda, rather than the truth, which ruins lives," he emphasized. A Demand for Tougher Regulation and Accountability He stated these actions demonstrated why there needed to be tougher press regulation. "At night, as we prepared for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be splash stories about ourselves and alleged events," he told. "That feeling is overwhelming, and you can see how people succumb to it and think they can't get out of it. It's so damaging, 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. Government Response and Evolving News Environment The Culture Secretary stated that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been rejected and that the media landscape was now profoundly changed. "We agree that the context has evolved profoundly 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 created new and different challenges," they stated. It was also noted that weighing 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". An Enduring Search for Answers Madeleine McCann disappeared from a family vacation apartment in 2007 as a three-year-old. Her father expressed that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had frequently obstructed with the investigation. "Leaked information which was meant for police only... This meant a potential culprit, you knew far more than you should have done," he explained. Speaking about hope, he said the hope he would find his daughter was "slim but it's not extinguished". "I'd love to find her alive, but we need to find out what happened and bring whoever's responsible, and other children are at risk while that person is free," he affirmed.
The father of Madeleine McCann has urged for increased scrutiny of the UK media, detailing how being "monstered" by the press made him feel as if he was being "suffocated and buried". The McCanns Tormented by Media Intrusion Gerry McCann stated that his family was deeply affected by press "intrusions" and that the media had "consistently hampered" the investigation into his daughter's going missing in 2007. He emphasized that the media attention exacted a "huge toll" on his family. "We faced ongoing coverage and misleading headlines for over a year that forced us to take legal action to stop it," he commented. "We are lucky. We survived. We received strong support. But I can promise 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 recounted. An Appeal for Restart Leveson Inquiry 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 inquiry, which was set up to look into the links between the media and the police. He expressed that it was unacceptable that more than a year on, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He said that his family had been victims of "monstering" by sections of the media and that the press was "camped" outside his home for an extended period after Madeleine went missing. Describing the Intrusion Describing the intrusion, he said: "Media at our doorstep, photographers literally ramming their cameras against our car window, when we had two-year-old twins in the back who were scared, and how distressing that is for you as a parent." "It's the half-truths. It's the making up of stories to fit the agenda, rather than the truth, which ruins lives," he emphasized. A Demand for Tougher Regulation and Accountability He stated these actions demonstrated why there needed to be tougher press regulation. "At night, as we prepared for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be splash stories about ourselves and alleged events," he told. "That feeling is overwhelming, and you can see how people succumb to it and think they can't get out of it. It's so damaging, 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. Government Response and Evolving News Environment The Culture Secretary stated that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been rejected and that the media landscape was now profoundly changed. "We agree that the context has evolved profoundly 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 created new and different challenges," they stated. It was also noted that weighing 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". An Enduring Search for Answers Madeleine McCann disappeared from a family vacation apartment in 2007 as a three-year-old. Her father expressed that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had frequently obstructed with the investigation. "Leaked information which was meant for police only... This meant a potential culprit, you knew far more than you should have done," he explained. Speaking about hope, he said the hope he would find his daughter was "slim but it's not extinguished". "I'd love to find her alive, but we need to find out what happened and bring whoever's responsible, and other children are at risk while that person is free," he affirmed.