Should suicide be reported?
September 17, 2009
- Posted by Deborah Jones
The Globe and Mail's Andre Picard reports on the recent suicide of a 19-year-old law student who jumped from a high rise residence at the University of Ottawa, and asks: "Is that news? If so, how detailed should the news reports be? Will drawing attention to the tragedy be helpful or harmful?"
Whether to report a suicide is a dilemma every journalist will face, some time -- not least because our usual assumptions about the benefits, rights and freedoms of information are challenged by numerous suicide experts with a barrage of advice. Canadian Psychiatric Association guidelines (pdf) for media state that
"media coverage of suicide is proven to lead to copycat suicides." The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention warns media, "Suicide Contagion is Real." The Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention has a publication for media with specific recommendations "to discourage imitative or copycat suicides."
Noting there were 3,743 Canadian suicides in the last year for which stats are available, Picard asks: "Should we be turning a blind eye to this carnage so as to not offend sensibilities? Or should we be shining a light on suicide deaths - most of them preventable - to highlight the underlying cause, which is often untreated mental illness?"
Picard's answer: "The seemingly compassionate rules are a convenient excuse for avoiding discussion of (and reporting on) an issue that makes us highly uncomfortable."
My answer: there's no one-size-fits-all solution on reporting suicide. Judgement is needed in every instance -- and because there is rarely time for education and reflection on a news story, researching and thinking about the issue in advance is needed.
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Yes, we need to report on suicide. As pointed out in Picard’s article, suicide is the symptom of serious public health issues that need to be addressed. Suicide is often the tragic outcome of mental illness, especially untreated mental illness. Why don’t people get the treatment they need? The fear of the stigma of mental illness no doubt plays a role as does inadequate access to timely services. These questions need answers and deserve press and air time. The true question is, “How can journalists report on suicide and the underlying issues while minimizing the potential of suicide contagion?” The guidelines from the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention aren’t an entreaty to avoid reporting but an aide on how to report given the best evidence presently available. The evidence may not be perfect and much more research on suicide contagion and reporting may be needed but there is enough evidence to merit action. Reporting on suicide can be a minefield, but a blanket policy not to report is not the solution.
How about the suicide of a child in care? Talk about your emotional minefield. Still the stories we did have prompted some serious movement at the highest levels. Our thanks to our mentor at J-Source for his timely suggestions on a very sensitive, but vital issue in our community.
YES it should be reported. Read this article on what happens if it isn't.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/op-ed/Avoiding%20talk%20suicide%20perpetuates%20stigma/1970637/story.html
In 2008 The Coast, a weekly paper in Halifax, NS, published a story on suicides who jumped from one of the bridges that spans Halifax harbour. It was award-winning feature and more importantly, the commission who runs the bridge has erected suicide barriers. So yes, sometimes it is a responsible action to report on suicide.
http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/adams-fall/Content?oid=962276
The head of France Telecom seemingly blames the media for a spate of suicides by his workers, who have left notes citing their work at the company as the cause.
Der Spiegel writes Didier Lombard "also seems to consider the suicides more of a public relations issue than anything else. He also said that all of the reports in the media, in newspapers and on television, were part of the problem. "These are dramas -- and they happen," said Lombard, who was unhappy that the suicides were being discussed so much in public. He also warned of the contagious nature of suicide. "The more you talk about this kind of thing, the more you put it into the heads of anyone who is psychologically instable.""
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,649715,00.html#ref