Is it okay for News Outlets to Report on
Suicide?
Within the last few decades,
suicide rates generally continue to rise, especially among young adults [1]. There may
be many factors and reasons behind why someone may decide to commit suicide,
however whether or not news organizations should report on suicides has been a
popular debate amongst news organizations and health officials. The basis of
these debates stem from questions of morals and ethics as well as the predicted
trend that reporting on suicides encourages others to partake in the act due to
various reasons, in which may be true in some cases. However, I personally feel
that suicides within communities could hold such relevance in order to be news
worthy depending on the circumstances towards or afterwards. For example, the
suicide of Port Coquitlam teen Amanda Todd who took her own life after being
bullied and sexually harassed by an online predator, in which ultimately
introduced laws to protect people from digital acts of violence such as
‘revenge porn’. Thus as a general rule it should be ok for news organizations
to report on suicides due to the fact that such instances hold relevancy to the
community, and could bring on awareness. Although, others argue that reporting
on suicides create copycat suicides, news organizations should follow a certain
code and or guidelines in order to discourage a following, maintain ethical and
respectful to the victim(s), as well as bring awareness to the trend and or
circumstances revolving it. This post will reveal how suicide is indeed news
worthy and then dive into how reporting on suicide is essential in order for
prevention and legislation with examples such as Amanda Todd. Lastly, this post
will conclude with an opposing argument of reporting on suicide.
Whether it may be movies, news, or
literature, suicide within media has been a reoccurring trend for centuries on
end, with continuous amendments on how suicide is presented within the media as
the years go by [2].
Due to the concern of how suicide has been portrayed and romanticized within
outlets of medium within the past, certain organizations and health officials
argued that journalists should in fact no report on suicides. To add onto the
fear of how suicide is portrayed within outlets of medium, news organizations
often find themselves asking the question if suicide is worth being reported on
or not after receiving complaints of unhappy readers claiming that reporting on
suicides are unethical, unnecessary, and immoral [3].
However, suicide has noticeably been a problem within the community for years
and because of this, an event of suicide is then newsworthy based on the fact
that a definition of news is noteworthy information of recent events within a
community [4].
Withholding the news and/or the truth because some readers or viewers may find
it insensitive will not be responsible journalism as insensitivity is
subjective. What one individual may find insensitive is not insensitive to the
next person. One may shrug at the news of a young gentlemen snatching a purse
off of a vulnerable elderly woman, whereas the next individual may break into
hysterics and wonder what is wrong with society and what the world has come to.
Due to the fact that for now suicide will remain to hold the relevance needed
to be newsworthy, and hiding the truth of current or recent events is not
responsible journalism, it is okay to report on suicides in a respectable, non-encouraging
way.
Now that it has been developed that
for the time being, suicide will find its way into the newsroom, since
journalists and news organizations play a vital role in education the public on
various things including health and wellness, we must recognize that reporting
on this phenomenon is indeed drawing attention to a problem that is in need of
addressing [5].
A noticeably rising trend in consideration with suicide are the advocators such
as parents, organizations, public figures, and celebrities –often affected by a
suicide within their circle, who try to reduce suicide through fundraising and awareness
often displayed through the media [6].
With that being said, quite often seen within a news article of a young adult
who has died by suicide is a determined mother giving words of advice on
suicide prevention for loved ones and or individuals. Another positive outcome
of reporting on suicide is noted with the highly memorable case of Amanda Todd,
who took her own life after being sexually harassed by an online predator as
well as bullied by high school peers [7]. The Amanda Todd story
that she shared before dying of attempted suicide led to the legislature in British
Columbia that created laws against cyberbullying and ‘revenge porn’ [8].
Although reporting on suicides is
generally okay and essential due to the reasons earlier mentioned, reporting on
suicide does hold its risks as such reports has been a contributing factor to the
suicide of other individuals. A common trend amongst copycat suicides is when
news outlets report on a suicide with a simplistic general reason to why the
individual committed suicide which then inspires somebody who sees themselves
within that same situation to attempt suicide [9].
For years on end, suicides have
been portrayed throughout numerous outlets of medium and although many argue
that such portrayals and reports within news organizations are immoral,
unethical, and therefore create copycat suicides, reporting on suicides is okay
due to the fact suicides are problematic occurrences within community thus
making it newsworthy which then is essential in bringing awareness to those who
may be suffering with issues and risk factors that may lead somebody to commit
suicide. With that being said, in order to find a balance with reporting news
and keeping suicide contagion at a low, journalists must attempt to comply
within suicide reporting guidelines [10].
Works
Cited
1. O'Carroll, P.
(1994). Suicide Contagion and the Reporting of Suicide: Recommendations from a
National Workshop. PsycEXTRA Dataset, 43(6), 9-18. Retrieved November 26, 2015,
from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00031539.html
2. Hawton, K., &
Williams, K. (2002). Influences of the media on suicide : Researchers, policy
makers, and media personnel need to collaborate on guidelines. BMJ : British
Medical Journal, 325(7377), 1374–1375. Retrieved November 26, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1124845/
3. Should we withhold
uncomfortable news? Suicide isn't a pleasant topic, but it's happening. (2010,
October 9). Spectator [Hamilton, Ontario], p. A2. Retrieved November 26, 2015,
from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.kwantlen.ca:2080/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA238964986&v=2.1&u=kwantlenuc_lib&it=r&p=CPI&asid=e900a6b45160b25226c3e9f7bd7a33e6
4. Definition of news
in English:. (n.d.). Retrieved November 26, 2015, from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/news
5. Reporting on
Suicide. (n.d.). Retrieved November 26, 2015, from https://www.afsp.org/news-events/for-the-media/reporting-on-suicide
6. Laudrantaye, S.
(2011, December 10). How the taboo against reporting on suicide met its end.
The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 26, 2015, from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/conditions/how-the-taboo-against-reporting-on-suicide-met-its-end/article4181695/?page=all
7. The Amanda Todd
Story|NoBullying|. (2013, April 21). Retrieved November 26, 2015, from http://nobullying.com/amanda-todd-story/
8. Fine, S. (2013).
Cyberbullying law targets revenge porn – and terrorism. The Globe and Mail.
Retrieved November 26, 2015, from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.kwantlen.ca:2080/docview/1459963787?pq-origsite=summon%20
9. Stack, S. (2003).
Media coverage as a risk factor in suicide. Journal of Epidemiology &
Community Health, 238-240. Retrieved November 26, 2015, from
http://jech.bmj.com/content/57/4/238.full.pdf html
10. Deutschman-Ruiz, C.
(2003, November 11). Reporting On Suicide. Retrieved November 26, 2015, from http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/18183/reporting-on-suicide/
