Towards a shared understanding: Perspectives from Toronto’s first media forum for suicide prevention

Abstract

Media reporting on suicide may have harmful and/or protective effects on deaths by suicide, depending on the nature of the coverage. Canada's first forum on this important issue was held in Toronto on November 6, 2015. Participating in the forum were public health policy-makers, mental health and suicide prevention experts and senior media representatives. This commentary summarizes the content of the forum and highlights the need for ongoing collaboration between suicide prevention experts and media professionals aimed at safe and respectful reporting that maintains the public's need to be informed.KEY WORDS: Suicide; mass media; imitative behavior La traduction du résumé se trouve à la fin de l'article.

Assessing the quality of media reporting of suicide news in India against World Health Organization guidelines: A content analysis study of nine major newspapers in Tamil Nadu

“…While guidelines typically improved the quality of reporting, journalists' awareness, use and opinion of guidelines was generally low, and approaches centred on media consultation and collaboration had the greatest success (Bohanna and Wang, 2012). Media professionals may legitimately argue that it is in the public interest to report on newsworthy suicides and some could be sceptical about the association between media reports and imitative suicidal behaviour, viewing any restrictions as censorship that perpetuates 'taboos' around suicide (Bohanna and Wang, 2012;Collings and Kemp, 2010;Sinyor et al, 2016). To inform the development of national guidelines, further research should examine the perspectives of media professionals in India in relation to suicide reporting to enable a critical engagement with their concerns, as has been done elsewhere (Cheng et al, 2014).…”

Media Guidelines for Reporting on Suicide: 2017 Update of the Canadian Psychiatric Association Policy Paper

“…A recent study examining adherence to Mindset's 14 specific recommendations in the aftermath of a celebrity suicide found that most recommendations were followed (range of adherence was 65% to 99% of articles), except for the recommendation to tell people considering suicide how they can get help (present in only 27% of articles). 48 The original CPA position paper on media reporting and suicide 1 garnered controversy from some who expressed scepticism about the evidence base for suicide contagion, 49 and argued that perceived efforts to suppress suicide-related stories are counter-productive. 50 In the interim, there has been increased engagement between mental health professionals and the media via informal dialogue surrounding specific reports, through symposia at the CPA annual meeting, and during and after Canada's first media forum for suicide prevention, held in Toronto in November, 2015.…”

“…49 In part due to a greater public desire for information about mental health, journalists are increasingly interested in covering issues related to mental health, including suicide, in a respectful and destigmatizing manner. 49 Most suicide deaths are not newsworthy and the media are sensitive to concerns about contagion; however, deciding when and how to cover suicide is a delicate balancing act. 49 Rather than telling journalists how to do their jobs, consensus is that the mental health community needs to work collaboratively with the media and provide them with the best available information to make those difficult decisions, and to provide context and help mitigate risks of contagion when the decision is to proceed with a report.…”

“…49 Most suicide deaths are not newsworthy and the media are sensitive to concerns about contagion; however, deciding when and how to cover suicide is a delicate balancing act. 49 Rather than telling journalists how to do their jobs, consensus is that the mental health community needs to work collaboratively with the media and provide them with the best available information to make those difficult decisions, and to provide context and help mitigate risks of contagion when the decision is to proceed with a report. 36,39,49 One relatively new aspect to this discussion is the proliferation of social media and the implications for media guidelines on reporting suicide.…”

The association between suicide deaths and putatively harmful and protective factors in media reports

“…30 A detailed understanding of the specific aspects of media reports that may provoke suicide contagion is needed to help the media make these decisions; however, evidence identifying the "active ingredients" in media reporting that may mediate suicide contagion or adaptive behaviour remains limited. The studies above have established an evidentiary starting point from which the relative harmful or protective contributions of specific elements in media reports may begin to be unpacked.…”