Suicide and the media

[Fatecrashers]

This has recently been a topic of intense debate in New Zealand so I thought I'd make a it a topic here to get an international perspective on it and generate some healthy discussion.

As it stands now, New Zealand has some of the toughest media guidelines on the reporting of suicides in the world. The official recommendation is that suicides should only be referred to in terms of the general and not the specific.

It is argued that by not reporting on specifics we can prevent copycat suicides from occurring, as people in depressive moods are especially vulnerable to suggestion, therefore reading and hearing about suicides may all that is needed to firmly plant the idea in their head. This may be even more true in cases of teenagers, as experts point to how teen suicides overseas tend to occur in a close timeframe to one another.

What this has led to is a seeming blanket ban on the mention of suicides in the news all together. Such cases are usually alluded to in code phrases such as "police are not seeking anyone else in connection with the death". The reporting is still there but only if you know to look out for it.

Recently the Chief Coroner has come out in saying that he believes the issue of suicide should be brought out into the open to prevent further tragedies from occurring. The press believes that they can be part of the solution and not the problem, and will be able to report on suicides responsibly without sensationalisation.

The main argument here is that by not reporting on suicides openly we are repressing the problem and pretending it does not exist. Without healthy discussion and flow of information people do not even know what warning signs there are to look for. It is suggested by opening up the reporting the prevention of suicides will get much easier. But currently the ball is still up in the air.

Do you believe that the media's open reporting of suicides is a good thing? Is this the case in your country? Do you know of any positive or negative effects this has had? What are your thoughts on this matter?

Links to statistics and news articles for those interested:
http://www.wordworx.co.nz/SOSAD2000.htm
http://socialreport.msd.govt.nz/documents/2008/sr08-health.pdf
http://www.socialreport.msd.govt.nz/health/suicide.html
http://www.3news.co.nz/Suicide-rate...roner/tabid/423/articleID/170263/Default.aspx
http://www.spinz.org.nz/page/81-2009

 

[MrIndigo]

The media can't do, as a group, what they say they can.

That alone should prevent any changes.

 

[mattj]

It doesn't seem to be an issue in the US. I don't see why it would be in NZ.

 

[Mike B]

All the news I have read has either been depressing or about innovation. There's not a lot of happy news IMHO. I don't care about who dies unless they are important, because it is not significantly impacting. So what if a parent abuses their kids, there are one too many that do. Nobody needs to know that because it's nothing that anyone can really learn from and it's very repetitive. It's basically names and ages that have been altered but the same subject is there - some method of how someone dies.

 

[TheAmazingFlygon]

I believe that the people have the right to know what is happening to other citizens of the same nation. Suicide should therefore not be ''hidden'' behind plays of words or omitted in news of any type. IMO, I think that this solution is a bit of a cowardly escape in order to ''solve'' the problem of suicidal thoughts among people affected of depression. It's not an issue here in Canada (however it could be in a somewhat distant future. Long live the commonwealth and the United-Kingdom!). For alternate solutions to that problem, I would suggest, instead of hiding the problem, to talk about it more openly and inform people more about the subject in question.

 

[mtr]

Well, copycat suicides have been going around since Goethe (the German writer who wrote that book about a character who killed himself, then real people started killing themselves), so I can understand why people don't report them.

 

[Setrack]

just how many different effective ways of committing suicide are there? chances are if you successfully commit suicide someone's already done it before so it's a copycat suicide

 

[cim]

I think it's kind of naive to think that there are people out there that want to kill themselves but can't figure out how

 

[MrIndigo]

I think it's kind of naive to think that there are people out there that want to kill themselves but can't figure out how

That's not what copycat means in this context; it's more that people who are depressed take inspiration from the news of suicide and think "Hey, I should kill myself too."

 

[Hipmonlee]

Is there actually a blanket ban? I thought this was the tv channels doing this themselves..

I am trying to remember how they reported high profile suicides, the only one I can think of recently was Michael Hutchence. I dont really remember the specifics of how it was reported though..

Have a nice day.

 

[ginganinja]

Ah I wondered if somebody from NZ would post something like this. Personally I am fine with how the Law currently stands. Granted my postition is somewhat biased as I have 2 members of my family involved in Govermental postitions and 2 with a strong background in Mental Health/Health. The fact is that Copy Cat suicides DO happen and yet, as the law stands we are not ignorant of Suicide at all. We can still watch it in Movies and heck I saw it on an Episode of House where at the end of it (I don't know if this occured on the American Screening) a message showed up asking that if you know anyone have problems to contact [the organisation]. In short I don't realy think that Suicide has dropped off the radar and as such I am firmly in support if keeping the law how it is.

Have a Nice Day!

 

[cantab]

As it stands now, New Zealand has some of the toughest media guidelines on the reporting of suicides in the world. The official recommendation is that suicides should only be referred to in terms of the general and not the specific.

Is it a guideline, or is it a law? Guidelines are fine, but a law restrict how the media may report suicides is an unacceptable restriction on freedom of the press. If the concern is of copycat incidents - well the same arguement could be used to force a cover-up of just about any action the authorities deem undesirable.

 

[Fatecrashers]

Is it a guideline, or is it a law? Guidelines are fine, but a law restrict how the media may report suicides is an unacceptable restriction on freedom of the press. If the concern is of copycat incidents - well the same arguement could be used to force a cover-up of just about any action the authorities deem undesirable.

It is in fact a law, it is a section of the Coroners Act 2006, which bars the release of all information except name, age, occupation and finding of self-inflicted death, unless releasing other information would do no harm. Somehow the way this is applied in practicality means that the media effectively censor themselves when reporting on suicides.

Also MrIndigo is right; one example an expert in an interview has cited is how normally in a news report on a deceased person that person's relatives, friends, employers, teachers etc will give glowing compliments about the deceased eg "He was a good lad", in the expert's opinion, if suicides are reported in this format people already in a depressed mood are likely to think that the only way people will speak positively of him is if he died. This is somewhat difficult to imagine for the non-depressed but this could very well be the case.

That was just one example of what 'copycat suicides' means in this context, it's not so much about 'I can't think of an original way to kill myself'.

 

[TheAmazingFlygon]

It is in fact a law, it is a section of the Coroners Act 2006, which bars the release of all information except name, age, occupation and finding of self-inflicted death, unless releasing other information would do no harm. Somehow the way this is applied in practicality means that the media effectively censor themselves when reporting on suicides.

Also MrIndigo is right; one example an expert in an interview has cited is how normally in a news report on a deceased person that person's relatives, friends, employers, teachers etc will give glowing compliments about the deceased eg "He was a good lad", in the expert's opinion, if suicides are reported in this format people already in a depressed mood are likely to think that the only way people will speak positively of him is if he died. This is somewhat difficult to imagine for the non-depressed but this could very well be the case.

That was just one example of what 'copycat suicides' means in this context, it's not so much about 'I can't think of an original way to kill myself'.

Maybe so, however even if you do ban ''suicide'' from the news, there is still internet and many other medias around and unless you desire to restrict all these sources of information from speaking freely about suicidal acts in which case, you would be crossing the line of starting a totalitarian regime, you won't be able to bury suicide. I believe that people should be able to access this sort of information freely. Hence, the fact that I also believe that this ban is a cowardly escape, not a real solution. Besides are there some sort of statistics out there proving that this method actually works?

 

[assassinfred]

Maybe so, however even if you do ban ''suicide'' from the news, there is still internet and many other medias around and unless you desire to restrict all these sources of information from speaking freely about suicidal acts in which case, you would be crossing the line of starting a totalitarian regime, you won't be able to bury suicide. I believe that people should be able to access this sort of information freely. Hence, the fact that I also believe that this ban is a cowardly escape, not a real solution. Besides are there some sort of statistics out there proving that this method actually works?

I agree with everything that was said here. Suicide is not an issue to be taken lightly, and simply banning it from the news does not get rid of it or prevent it, it just prevents the people watching the news to know what really happens. This isn't fair. People have a right to know what's going on, and if that means telling them about suicides, so be it. Banning it from the media does nothing in the way of prevention, and is not a solution.

 

[MrIndigo]

Actually, yeah, the statistics of suicide rates prior to publication policy changes and after said changes would be interesting. I vaguely remember reading something about a marked drop, but I can't be at all sure that I have the understanding correct.

 

[TheAmazingFlygon]

Actually, yeah, the statistics of suicide rates prior to publication policy changes and after said changes would be interesting. I vaguely remember reading something about a marked drop, but I can't be at all sure that I have the understanding correct.

Yup, I totally agree. If someone finds some kind of statistics about it, I would like if he/she could post it here or link us. Otherwise, I think that it's an ideological debate and not really a debate on whether or not it's effective.

 

[cim]

That's not what copycat means in this context; it's more that people who are depressed take inspiration from the news of suicide and think "Hey, I should kill myself too."

To me that's analogous to the idea that people won't have any sex unless they're told about it. It's silly.

I've never heard of anyone who's sad who would have killed themselves if only they knew what the concept of suicide was...

 

[Hipmonlee]

This isnt about introduction to the concept of suicide either..

Regardless of how silly you feel it is, this seems to be a well known effect that rates of suicide do go up following news coverage of suicides.

Have a nice day.

 

[Fatecrashers]

Yup, I totally agree. If someone finds some kind of statistics about it, I would like if he/she could post it here or link us. Otherwise, I think that it's an ideological debate and not really a debate on whether or not it's effective.

I've found some statistics relating to suicide rates in New Zealand and I've added the links to them in my opening post.

Unfortunately most of the data I've found only goes up to 2006, the year the Coroners Act was introduced. The general trend is that suicide rates peaked in 1998 for New Zealand and has declined since then, remaining at a consistent rate since 2002.

Number of suicides recorded in NZ:
2005 - 511
2006 - 524
2007 - 483
Average for the last 3 financial years since 2010: 540

Do these statistics prove the law's effectiveness? Make of it what you will.

An argument being made by coroners is that suicides should be reported openly the same way as cases of car crashes, serving as cautionary tales in a way. The road toll has dropped from 435 in 2004 to 390 in 2009.
This is one of controversies: more people die from suicide than from car crashes but the two things are nowhere close to getting the same level of exposure in the media.

 

[drifblim70]

If the rates of suicide coverage go up after a suicide is reported, then go ahead, obscure the reporting a bit. The practical solution is the best one as far as I'm concerned with human life, as opposed to an idealogical "information should be free" stance, although I'm not sure if anyone is taking it, but whatever. If that increase is actually documented, that is. Some guy at my high school I didn't know just killed himself last week or two ago... so um... meh? not really meaningful, but ah... nobody's killed themselves since around here, I don't think, and yeah it's just one case, but... Yeah, I hate the concept of suicides in general and I wish I could think of a better way of stopping them--people-saving thing of mine--so um... I support the law, if it works? Keep it on the books for now until (relative) proof surfaces that they shouldn't.

 

[MrIndigo]

To me that's analogous to the idea that people won't have any sex unless they're told about it. It's silly.

I've never heard of anyone who's sad who would have killed themselves if only they knew what the concept of suicide was...

Again, it's not that they don't know what it is, it's that it brings it to the front of their minds and acts as an encouragement based on the media attention.

 

[cantab]

Regardless of how silly you feel it is, this seems to be a well known effect that rates of suicide do go up following news coverage of suicides.

"Well known effects" have a habit of turning out to be untrue beliefs that everyone's assumed and no-one's really bothered to challenge.

Hence the desire for data. And mere annual, or even monthly, statistics on suicide don't prove anything on this, nor does comparing countries. The appropriate study would be of a country where there are rare high-profile news reports of suicides, and look for a stasticially significant effect afer such cases. I don't know if anyone's done such a study, anywhere. (You couldn't actually do it in New Zealand).

This will however only detect an effect that is sufficiently short term; you'd have to use more indirect approaches to find or eliminate a longer term effect of suicides being increased for many months or years after a news report.

Also, under all of this is an assumption, one that goes almost unchallenged, that suicide is always bad. Sure, it has a negative emotionally impact on those who knew the deceased, and a negative financial impact because the person is no longer contributing to the economy. But how do those impacts compare to the impacts of people who would be considered high suicide risks but stay alive?

 

[Hipmonlee]

Well, I have found a lot of references to data that I dont have access to I am afraid. But it seems unlikely that the data doesnt exist. Though how scientific it is is unclear..

Have a nice day.

 

[Fatecrashers]

"Well known effects" have a habit of turning out to be untrue beliefs that everyone's assumed and no-one's really bothered to challenge.

Hence the desire for data. And mere annual, or even monthly, statistics on suicide don't prove anything on this, nor does comparing countries. The appropriate study would be of a country where there are rare high-profile news reports of suicides, and look for a stasticially significant effect afer such cases. I don't know if anyone's done such a study, anywhere. (You couldn't actually do it in New Zealand).

According to some infromation I recently discovered, increased rate of suicides has been shown to occur up to ten days after a television report. While an Austrian study has shown a strong correlation between the number of papers distributed in various areas and the number of subsequent firearm suicides in each area after a related media report.

However you could argue that the research being done were selective and misleading in order to hype the phenomenon of copycat suicides. As with all research involving a high degree of statiscal analysis there is a large margin for uncertainty.

This will however only detect an effect that is sufficiently short term; you'd have to use more indirect approaches to find or eliminate a longer term effect of suicides being increased for many months or years after a news report.

Research seems to suggest that the effect is usually short term and does not extend to months or years.

Also, under all of this is an assumption, one that goes almost unchallenged, that suicide is always bad. Sure, it has a negative emotionally impact on those who knew the deceased, and a negative financial impact because the person is no longer contributing to the economy. But how do those impacts compare to the impacts of people who would be considered high suicide risks but stay alive?

Studies show that suicide victims exhibit symptoms of psychiatric disorders at least 87% of the time. If those symptoms were spotted I would argue strongly that we should give them treatment instead of letting them carry on as a suicide risk.