Online media reporting of suicidal behaviour in Ghana: Analysis of adherence to the WHO guidelines

Abstract

Background: Irresponsible media reporting of suicide is a potential risk for copycat suicide. There is a paucity of studies from sub-Saharan Africa on the quality of media reporting of suicide. Objectives: We assessed the compliance of Ghanaian online media outlets with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for media reporting of suicide. Methods: We searched 10 local media outlets with strong online presence in Ghana, to identify suicide-related news reports from 2000 through 2019. We applied summative content analysis and chi-square [Formula: see text] test to the data. Results: We included 288 news reports, of which 261 (90.6%) were completed suicides, 7 (2.4%) were attempted suicides and 20 (6.9%) were homicide suicides. Most of the news reports failed to comply with the WHO guidelines: 92.7% mentioned the specific method of the suicide act, 82.6% included ‘suicide’ in the headline and 55.6% included photos of the victims. The [Formula: see text] tests indicated that privately owned media outlets were more likely than publicly owned to post a photo of the victim, [Formula: see text] = 17.37, p < .001, and report the incident location in the headline, [Formula: see text] = 15.00, p < .001. However, generally, there were no statistically significant relationships between the quality of reporting and media outlet ownership. Each of the 288 reports failed to mention any of the potentially helpful features recommended by the WHO guidelines. Conclusion: Regardless of the ownership of the media outlet (whether private or publicly owned), mostly, the online reportage of suicidal behaviour in Ghana deviates sharply from the international recommended best practice by the WHO.

News reporting of suicidal behaviour in Nigeria: Adherence assessment to World Health Organization guidelines

“…A similar pattern of news presentation reported in the African countries like Ghana where most of the news reports failed to comply with the WHO guidelines (Quarshie et al, 2020). Nonetheless, a slightly different situation has been reported in Egypt where media complied with few of the guidelines, such as not defining suicide as ‘success’ or ‘failure, not using images or videos, not mentioning the suicide note of a victim and not adding a quote about the victim (Mesbah, 2014).…”

Changes in Media Reporting Quality and Suicides Following National Media Engagement on Responsible Reporting of Suicide in Canada: Changements de la Qualité des reportages dans les médias sur les suicides suite à l’engagement des médias nationaux à la déclaration responsable du suicide au Canada

“…Prior research has demonstrated that dissemination of media guidelines specifically can lead to improved reporting; however, effects can be variable and may fluctuate over time and, often, journalist awareness and use of guidelines can be low, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. 32 , 46 – 66 The discrepancy between our encouraging putatively harmful/protective element outcomes and our stark Gestalt narrative findings suggest that the current lists of “dos” and “don’ts” provided to journalists may not only miss the forest for the trees, but indeed leave suicide-related media reporting in the wrong forest altogether. It is worth underscoring that societal messaging and narratives about suicide and its prevention appear to differ from public messaging about almost any other health outcome.…”

Suicide Reporting: An Analysis of Selected Nigerian Online News Sites (September2018-August2020)

“…Some studies have shown that the way suicide deaths are reported by the media has an impact on community suicide rates (Niederkrotenthaler, et al, 2010;Quarshie, Andoh-Arthur, Asante, & Asare-Doku, 2020;Stack, 2009;Pirkis, Burgess, Francis, Blood, & Jolley, 2006). Irresponsible suicide reporting, particularly when the suicide stories are publicized in graphic detail appears to trigger copycat behaviours (Niederkrotenthaler, et al, 2010;Wang & Xiangdong, 2012).…”