“A really unfortunate natural experiment arose with Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain’s deaths that occurred closely together,” says Ackerman. June 11 was used for reporting on Bourdain’s death in USA Today, because it publishes in print on weekdays only. In coverage from the day after each of the deaths, researchers examined how closely the publications followed 14 guidelines gleaned from Reporting on Suicide and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention on covering suicide responsibly. Ackerman, senior author on the paper and the suicide prevention coordinator for the Center for Suicide Prevention and Research at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio explains. The authors wanted to focus on papers with wide readership because of their larger impact and because they tend to feature original reporting and writing on suicide deaths instead of republishing wire stories, John P. The papers included were the Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Houston Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Seattle Times, Tampa Bay Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. and had a minimum print circulation of 200,000. The newspapers included in the study represent all regions of the U.S. The new study scrutinizes 10 print newspapers’ coverage of two celebrities who recently died by suicide - designer Kate Spade on Jand chef Anthony Bourdain on June 8, 2018. As the “About” page on the Reporting on Suicide website explains, “The recommendations are based on more than 50 international studies on suicide contagion.” It’s also worth noting that the guidelines are largely based on peer-reviewed research. And individual journalists may have differing opinions about the media’s responsibility in covering the issue. Individual newsrooms and news organizations may have their own guidelines for how to approach the topic of suicide - or have no guidelines at all. It’s worth noting here that these are recommendations, not rules. Mental health advocates urge that thoughtful reporting - for example, stressing the preventable nature of suicide, working to destigmatize mental illness and avoiding the glamorization of a celebrity’s death - may prevent contagion and connect individuals with needed mental health resources.Īccordingly, projects such as Reporting on Suicide have enlisted the expertise of journalism and suicide prevention experts to develop guidelines for reporting on suicide. Research suggests that reports on celebrity suicides are linked to subsequent increases in suicides - a so-called “copycat” or contagion effect. How the news media covers suicide matters. Print newspaper coverage of suicide falls short of expert recommendations suggested by the website Reporting on Suicide and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, new research in JAMA Network Open finds. NovemNewspaper coverage of celebrity suicides falls short of expert guidelinesīy Chloe Reichel, The Journalist's Resource November 1, 2019 ![]() Newspaper coverage of celebrity suicides falls short of expert guidelinesīy Chloe Reichel, The Journalist's Resource
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