Reporting on Suicide
Shared from www.afsp.org
Journalists and news organizations play a critical role in educating the public about health. News coverage of HIV/AIDS, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and the flu makes a difference in people’s lives and influences the care they receive. Similarly, reports about suicide inform the public about likely causes, common warning signs and risk factors, trends in suicide rates, and successful prevention efforts. At times, reporting on suicide can prove harmful, spreading misinformation or inadvertently contributing to suicide contagion.
Also known as copycat suicide, suicide contagion is a phenomenon in which additional, often similar suicides take place following the report of a suicide, presumably inspired by reporting on the original suicide.
A group of international suicide prevention organizations, public health organizations, and internet safety experts have collaborated with working journalists, news organizations, and schools of journalism to develop a set of Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide. Download the recommendations below.
Journalists and news organizations play a critical role in educating the public about health. News coverage of HIV/AIDS, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and the flu makes a difference in people’s lives and influences the care they receive. Similarly, reports about suicide inform the public about likely causes, common warning signs and risk factors, trends in suicide rates, and successful prevention efforts. At times, reporting on suicide can prove harmful, spreading misinformation or inadvertently contributing to suicide contagion.
Also known as copycat suicide, suicide contagion is a phenomenon in which additional, often similar suicides take place following the report of a suicide, presumably inspired by reporting on the original suicide.
A group of international suicide prevention organizations, public health organizations, and internet safety experts have collaborated with working journalists, news organizations, and schools of journalism to develop a set of Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide. Download the recommendations below.
| recommendations_suicide_reporting.pdf |