Sonika Raj1, Abhishek Ghosh2, Babita Sharma2, Sonu Goel3. 1. University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland. 2. Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India. 3. School of Public Health and Department of Community Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The content and nature of media reports could influence suicide prevention measures. AIM: To evaluate contemporary online media reports' compliance with guidelines for responsible reporting of suicidal acts from Indian resources. METHODS: We included English and Hindi articles for reports concerning suicide, published by local and national media sources for 30 consecutive days from the day of death of a celebrity by alleged suicide. The search was performed in Google News with predefined search queries and selection criteria. Two independent investigators did data extraction. Subsequently, each news report was assessed against guidelines for the responsible reporting of suicide by the WHO and the Press Council of India. RESULTS: We identified 295 articles (Hindi n = 172, English n = 123). Results showed more than 80% of the media reports deviated from at least one criterion of the recommendations. A maximum breach was seen in the news article's headlines, sensational reportage and detailed suicide methods description. Significant differences were seen in the quality of English and Hindi reporting and reporting celebrity and noncelebrity suicide. Additional items revealed were reporting suicide pacts, linking multiple suicides in a single news report, allowing user-generated threads and linking Religion and suicide. CONCLUSION: Measures are required to implement reporting recommendations in the framework of a national suicide prevention strategy.
BACKGROUND: The content and nature of media reports could influence suicide prevention measures. AIM: To evaluate contemporary online media reports' compliance with guidelines for responsible reporting of suicidal acts from Indian resources. METHODS: We included English and Hindi articles for reports concerning suicide, published by local and national media sources for 30 consecutive days from the day of death of a celebrity by alleged suicide. The search was performed in Google News with predefined search queries and selection criteria. Two independent investigators did data extraction. Subsequently, each news report was assessed against guidelines for the responsible reporting of suicide by the WHO and the Press Council of India. RESULTS: We identified 295 articles (Hindi n = 172, English n = 123). Results showed more than 80% of the media reports deviated from at least one criterion of the recommendations. A maximum breach was seen in the news article's headlines, sensational reportage and detailed suicide methods description. Significant differences were seen in the quality of English and Hindi reporting and reporting celebrity and noncelebrity suicide. Additional items revealed were reporting suicide pacts, linking multiple suicides in a single news report, allowing user-generated threads and linking Religion and suicide. CONCLUSION: Measures are required to implement reporting recommendations in the framework of a national suicide prevention strategy.
Authors: Abhishek Ghosh; Chandrima Naskar; Nidhi Sharma; Shinjini Choudhury; Aniruddha Basu; Renjith R Pillai; Debasish Basu; S K Mattoo Journal: Int J Ment Health Addict Date: 2022-06-24 Impact factor: 11.555