More ethics in reporting death

It is one of the few pieces of news that news outlets will not report: Suicide. Yet there are times when a completed suicide receives press coverage.

However, mental health professionals don’t believe the media cover suicides properly.

So how should suicide be covered? Studies have shown that the wrong kind of coverage of suicides, or coverage of any kind, may lead to more suicides, which is generally why suicides aren’t reported in the first place.

When asked if they were aware of guidelines for reporting suicide, the majority of journalists answered simply that they do no report suicide…unless it is a celebrity, happened in a public place, used unusual means, or was indicative of a greater social problem. The dilemma is that any suicide can be considered newsworthy and few people writing the news are aware of the devastating impact not knowing or not following guidelines has on human life.
- Canadian Psychiatric Association

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among university-aged students. Every year, up to two students will die by suicide on Ontario campuses and about 10 per cent of all post-secondary students will have suicidal thoughts. These numbers make the story an issue worth exploring, but reporting one suicide is tricky business. So too is the public relations reaction to media questions. For both reasons, health organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA), release guidelines for suicide coverage. The CPA is very blunt about how public relations professionals should respond to suicide coverage: “Suicide will be reported; it would be futile to prevent this. Experts need to provide more than ‘No Comment’ when approached by the media covering suicide.”

Yet, “no comment” is the normal reaction to media questions regarding suicide. It is a simple reaction to what is really a complex issue and the opportunity to have a great learning moment is lost.

Journalists are not exempt from this simplistic reaction. In the zeal to make sense of a tragedy, reporters may provide “simplistic explanations of suicide,” the CPA writes. News outlets may also become excessive or sensational with their reporting (although journalists and the public will likely disagree on what constitutes excessive or sensational coverage), explain how the suicide took place, make it seem like suicide solves a problem and focus solely on the deceased’s positive characteristics, the CPA writes. All “generally regarded to promote suicide contagion,” the report states.

Clinicians and researchers acknowledge that it is not news coverage of suicide per se, but certain types of news coverage, that increase suicidal behaviour in vulnerable populations.  Conversely, certain types of coverage may help to prevent imitation of the suicidal behaviour. Nevertheless, there is always the possibility that publicity about suicide might make the idea of suicide seem “normal”. Repeated and continual coverage of suicide tends to induce and promote suicidal preoccupations, particularly among adolescents and young adults.
-WHO

So what is a news outlet to do?

The Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention says in its coverage guidelines that to discourage copycat suicides, journalists should avoid or minimize:

• Reporting specific details of the method
• Descriptions of a suicide as unexplainable e.g., “He had everything going for him.”
• Reporting romanticized versions of the reasons for the suicide(s), e.g., “We want to be together for all eternity.”
• Simplistic reasons for the suicide, e.g., “Boy commits suicide because he has to wear braces.”

Placement and use of images of the story in print media is also important, the association says. Place the story on an inside page, or below the fold on the front page. Don’t use the word “suicide” in a headline and avoid running a photo of the deceased, although no explanation is given for this last point. Some of these rules can transfer over to broadcast media, including not using a picture of the deceased or using the word suicide in the piece. And instead of focusing solely on the suicide itself, a news outlet should provide information on where people can seek help, the warning signs of suicide and what to do if the consumer or someone they know may have suicidal thoughts, the association says.

It is important to report a suicide in a straightforward manner so that the suicide does not appear exciting. Reports should not make the suicidal person appear admirable, nor should they seem to approve of the suicide.
- Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention

News outlets should also explain why they made certain decisions to bring the consumer into a conversation about coverage. This is a moment to educate the public about a complex issue and the complicated decisions that take place in a newsroom when such a situation arises. Simply reporting a suicide is not the worst thing a news outlet can do — far worse is having a simple reaction and denying the newsroom and the public a chance to have a real discussion about a complex issue.