Suicide Sensitive Journalism Handbook

This 30-page report shares the results of a joint study conducted by the Media Unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives - CPA (Colombo, Sri Lanka) and the UK-based MediaWise Trust (formerly the PressWise Trust). This project was motivated by the conviction that "the media can play a powerful role in educating the public about suicide prevention. Stories about suicide can inform readers, listeners and viewers about the likely causes of suicide, its warning signs, sources of help and advice, trends in suicide rates, and recent treatment advances. They can also highlight opportunities to prevent suicide. Media stories about individual deaths by suicide may be newsworthy and need to be covered, but they also have the potential to do harm. Implementation of recommendations for media coverage of suicide has been shown to decrease suicide rates. There is evidence that sensitive media coverage of suicide can help to save lives."

Carried out as part of an effort to raise awareness among journalists of the importance of reporting suicides with sensitivity, the CPA study of media coverage in Sri Lanka is synthesised in this 30-page report. In addition to detailing key findings, the report offers guidelines for suicide-sensitive reporting. It includes various real-life examples of specific suicide cases, with detailed analysis of the tone of the media coverage in each case.

For further data related to this study, and for suicide statistics, visit the Media Unit page on the CPA website.

A series of workshops on suicide-sensitive journalism were conducted in August 2003. Click here to read the CPA's report on these workshops in PDF format.