Suicide, a Topic that Opens a Debate on What Journalism is for: A Study on Portuguese Journalists’ Perceptions

Ribeiro, Eudora; Granado, António

doi:10.1080/1461670x.2022.2091642

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The above reasons might explain why in Portugal suicide is often perceived as a confusing death, with complex, multidetermined, and poorly understood causes [ 70 ], a social taboo that seems to extend to the news media. Almost 64% of the journalists surveyed in a recent study stated that suicide is taboo in Portuguese journalism [ 71 ]. However, this is not a rare case, as suicide continues to be a taboo issue, steeped in religious, moral, political, social, and cultural stigmas [ 72 ], also pointed out as such by journalists in other countries [[ 73 ], for example].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicide mortality in Portugal after 4 mediatized suicides from 1996 to 2020

Ribeiro,

Granado,

Gomes

et al. 2023

Heliyon

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicide mortality in Portugal after 4 mediatized suicides from 1996 to 2020

Ribeiro,

Granado,

Gomes

et al. 2023

Heliyon

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…To achieve this, knowledge of WHO guidelines is essential. However, evidence indicates that there is a lack of knowledge of these recommendations 27 - 29 . Therefore, there is a need to include this information in the curricula 27 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, evidence indicates that there is a lack of knowledge of these recommendations 27 - 29 . Therefore, there is a need to include this information in the curricula 27 . In this regard, the Pan American Health Organization has organized free training on responsible coverage of suicide for communicators in Latin America and the Caribbean 30 , 31 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this regard, the Pan American Health Organization has organized free training on responsible coverage of suicide for communicators in Latin America and the Caribbean 30 , 31 . Despite these efforts, there is still debate among communicators as to whether and to what extent suicide cases should be reported 27 . What is clear is that work on this topic should be developed in collaboration with mental health professionals to provide balanced and sensitive information 10 , 32 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Al respecto, la Organización Panamericana de la Salud ha organizado capacitaciones gratuitas acerca de la cobertura responsable sobre suicidio dirigido a comunicadores de América Latina y el Caribe 30 , 31 . A pesar de estos esfuerzos, existe aún debate por parte de los comunicadores sobre si se deben reportar los casos de suicidio y en qué medida 27 . Lo que está claro, es que este trabajo debe desarrollarse en colaboración con profesionales de la salud mental para brindar una información equilibrada y sensible 10 , 32 .…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

See 2 more Smart Citations

Noticias de suicidio en canales de televisión peruanos: evaluación del cumplimiento de las recomendaciones de la OMS para su notificación

Broncano-Rivera,

Contreras-Pizarro,

Valle

2023

Rev Peru Med Exp Salud Publica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objetivo. Determinar el cumplimiento a las recomendaciones de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) de las noticias sobre suicidio emitidas por canales de la televisión peruana. Materiales y métodos. Estudio cuantitativo y descriptivo. La unidad de análisis fueron las noticias de suicidio emitidas por ocho canales de televisión peruana durante los años 2020 y 2021. Las noticias se clasificaron en tres categorías: noticias sobre suicidio, intento de suicidio y prevención del suicidio. Se utilizó un instrumento de evaluación compuesto por las recomendaciones de la OMS. Resultados. Se analizaron un total de 126 noticias. Ninguna de estas noticias cumplió en su totalidad con las recomendaciones de la OMS. Las noticias sobre suicidio o intento de suicidio cumplieron con 4 de 13 recomendaciones, siendo la recomendación más acatada la de evitar publicar notas suicidas (97,4%), mientras que la menos cumplida fue la de instruir a la población sobre el suicidio y su prevención, y no difundir mitos (0,9%). Las noticias de prevención de suicidio cumplieron 5 de 7 recomendaciones. Conclusiones. Las noticias sobre suicidio emitidas en la televisión peruana en los años 2020 y 2021 mostraron un bajo cumplimiento a las recomendaciones de la OMS. Los profesionales de la comunicación tienen un rol fundamental en la prevención del suicidio, limitando la información sensible y difundiendoinformación de ayuda. Es fundamental el conocimiento de estas recomendaciones por los comunicadores, y el trabajo conjunto entre el equipo periodístico y los profesionales de la salud mental en la comunicación de noticias relacionadas con el suicidio.

show abstract

Psychiatrists’ Perceptions of the Role of Journalists in Suicide Reporting and Prejudices about Mental Illnesses in Portugal

Ribeiro,

Granado

2024

J Community Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

International studies and the World Health Organization call for collaboration between media and mental health professionals to reduce the risk of imitative suicidal behaviour after suicide reporting – known as the Werther effect – and encourage individuals at risk to seek help. This study explores Portuguese psychiatrists’ perceptions of the practices of journalists, their interaction with those professionals, and their perspectives on the national suicide coverage through an anonymous online questionnaire and ten semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire received 128 responses. Only about 24% of the Portuguese psychiatrists characterized their relationship with journalists as cooperative, and most of them considered suicide reporting to be sensationalist and irresponsible. More than 80% of the participants expressed the view that journalists do not know the guidelines for responsible suicide reporting, but more than 95% considered that they can contribute to suicide prevention. These findings suggest that there is a long way to go to build a constructive partnership for suicide prevention between psychiatrists and journalists in Portugal, focused on improving the quality of suicide reporting. We hope this study may inspire similar studies in other countries, since suicide is an international public health problem and collaboration between media and mental health professionals can help to prevent it on a global scale.

show abstract

Suicide, a Topic that Opens a Debate on What Journalism is for: A Study on Portuguese Journalists’ Perceptions

Cited by 6 publications

References 45 publications

Suicide mortality in Portugal after 4 mediatized suicides from 1996 to 2020

Suicide mortality in Portugal after 4 mediatized suicides from 1996 to 2020

Noticias de suicidio en canales de televisión peruanos: evaluación del cumplimiento de las recomendaciones de la OMS para su notificación

Psychiatrists’ Perceptions of the Role of Journalists in Suicide Reporting and Prejudices about Mental Illnesses in Portugal

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About