Covering Suicide Worldwide: Media Responsibilities

"Compelling evidence from the initial findings of a comprehensive and systematic review of international research into the impact of media coverage of suicide, suggests that media professionals everywhere have an onerous responsibility when reporting about suicide." The question, though, is what constitutes responsible reporting? Who should define it - relatives of suicide victims, those who study suicide ("suicidologists"), the police, politicians, media regulators and analysts, or media professionals themselves? How much detail do reporters need to go into when a domestic tragedy becomes a news item? And should they be held responsible for consequences over which we have no control?

This review of research about the impact of media coverage on suicidal behaviour explores these and other questions from a global perspective. It was compiled by Bill Norris and Mike Jempson of the MediaWise Trust (formerly the PressWise Trust) with Lesley Bygrave of Befrienders International. The review covers a variety of media portrayals of suicide, examining in-house guidelines and practice in South Korea, Australia, Costa Rica, Japan, and the United States. One message that emerges from this study is that "responsible approaches to the portrayal of suicidal behaviour in the media can save lives".

The resource includes guidelines and training strategies, and explores ethical issues raised by research about the impact of media coverage on suicidal behaviour. Specifically, its contents are as follows:

1. Introduction
2. Influencing media coverage of suicide
3. Training - what training?
4. To publish or not to publish
5. Conclusions
Panels:
1. What journalism codes say
2. In-house guidelines and practice: South Korea
3. In-house guidelines and practice: Australia, Costa Rica, Japan
4. Reporting suicide in the USA
Appendices:
1. Suicidal behaviour and the media
2. Suicide: Questions for the newsroom
3. WHO guidance on reporting suicide
4. A basis for media guidelines (Australia)
5. Samaritan guidelines for reporting suicide (UK)
6. Debunking common myths about suicide
7. Advice to officials dealing with the media (USA)
8. Advice to the media (USA)
9. The warning signs of suicide

Click here to download the report in PDF format.

Click here to open or save the report as a Word document.