Newspaper Reporting on a Cluster of Suicides in the UK
A Study of Article Characteristics Using PRINTQUAL
Abstract
Abstract.Background: Media reporting may influence suicide clusters through imitation or contagion. In 2008 there was extensive national and international newspaper coverage of a cluster of suicides in young people in the Bridgend area of South Wales, UK. Aims: To explore the quantity and quality of newspaper reporting during the identified cluster. Method: Searches were conducted for articles on suicide in Bridgend for 6 months before and after the defined cluster (June 26, 2007, to September 16, 2008). Frequency, quality (using the PRINTQUAL instrument), and sensationalism were examined. Results: In all, 577 newspaper articles were identified. One in seven articles included the suicide method in the headline, 47.3% referred to earlier suicides, and 44% used phrases that guidelines suggest should be avoided. Only 13% included sources of information or advice. Conclusion: A high level of poor-quality and sensationalist reporting was found during an ongoing suicide cluster at the very time when good-quality reporting could be considered important. A broad awareness of media guidelines and expansion and adherence to press codes of practice are required by journalists to ensure ethical reporting.
References
2013). Online media report on a Hungarian Double suicide case: Comparison of consecutively published articles. Psychiatria Danubina, 25(3), 248–254.
(2012). Media guidelines for the responsible reporting of suicide: A review of effectiveness. Crisis, 33, 190–198.
(1982). Imitative suicides: A national study of the effects of television news stories. American Sociological Review, 47, 802–809.
(2007). The influence of media reporting of a celebrity suicide on suicidal behaviour in patients with history of depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 103, 69–75.
(2012). Suicide news reporting accuracy and stereotyping in Hong Kong. Journal of Affective Disorders, 141(2–3), 270–275. 10.1016/j.jad.2012.03.036
(2013). The power of the Web: A systematic review of the studies of the influence of the internet on self-harm and suicide in young people. PLOs oNE, 8(10), e77555. 10.1371/journal.pone.0077555
(2007). Long-term impact of celebrity suicide on suicidal ideation: Results from a population based study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 61, 540–546.
(2014). Newspaper coverage of suicide and initiation of suicide clusters in teenagers in the USA, 1988-96: A retrospective, population-based, case-control study. The Lancet Psychiatry. 10.1016/S2215-0366(14)70225-1
(2007). Media suicide reports, internet use and the occurrence of suicides between 1987 and 2005 in Japan. BMC Public Health, 7, 321. 10.1186/1471-2458-7-321
(2011). Media reporting and suicide: A time-series study of suicide from Clifton suspension bridge, UK 1974-2007. Journal of Public Health, 33, 511–517.
(2013). Suicide clusters: A review of risk factors and mechanisms. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 43, 97–108.
(1999). Effects of a drug overdose in a television drama on presentations to hospital for self poisoning: Time series and questionnaire study. BMJ, 318, 972–977.
(2002). Influences of the media on suicide. BMJ, 325, 1374–1375.
(2005).
(Media influences on suicidal behaviour: Evidence and prevention . In K. HawtonEd., Prevention and treatment of suicidal behaviour (pp. 340–356). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.2014). PRINTQUAL: The development of a measure for assessing the quality of newspaper reporting of suicide. Crisis. 10.1027/0227-5910/a000276
(2013). Identifying probable suicide clusters in Wales using national mortality data. PLoS ONE, 8(8), e71713. 10.1371/journal.pone.0071713
(2012). Geospatial mapping of suicide clusters. Te Pou o Te Whakaaro Nui. Retrieved from http://www.tepou.co.nz/library/tepou/geospatial-mapping-of-suicide-clusters
(2010). The infantilisation and stigmatization of suicide: A multi-modal analysis of British press reporting of the Bridgend suicides (Doctoral dissertation). Bournemouth University, Cardiff, UK.
(2013). Which suicides are reported in the media – and what makes them 'newsworthy'. Crisis, 34, 305–313.
(2012). Reporting suicide: Interpreting media guidelines. Australian Journalism Review, 34, 45–56.
(2013). Media recommendations on reporting suicidal behaviour and suggestions for optimisation. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 128, 314–315.
(2012). Changes in suicide rates following media reports on celebrity suicide: A meta-analysis. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 66, 1037–1042.
(2010). Role of media reports in completed and prevented suicide: Werther v. Papageno effects. British Journal of Psychiatry, 197(3), 234–243. 10.1192/bjp.bp.109.074633
(2014). The definition and epidemiology of clusters of suicidal behaviour: A systematic review. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. 10.1111/sltb.12091
(2001). Suicide and the media. Part 1: Reportage in non-fictional media. Crisis, 22, 146–154.
(2011).
(Media influences on suicide and attempted suicide . In R. O'ConnerS. PlattJ. GordonEds., International handbook of suicide prevention research, policy and practice (pp. 531–544). Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.2012). An adolescent suicide cluster and the possible role of electronic communication technology. Crisis, 33, 239–245.
(2008). Media guidelines for reporting suicide and self-harm. Retrieved from http://www.samaritans.org/media-centre/media-guidelines-reporting-suicide
. (2012). Media roles in suicide prevention: A systemtic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 9, 123–128.
(2000). Media impacts on suicide: A quantitative review of 293 findings. Social Science Quarterly, 81, 957–971.
(2003). Media coverage as a risk factor in suicide. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 57, 238–240.
(2005). Suicide in the media: A quantitative review of studies based on non-fictional stories. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 35, 121–133.
(2012). Reporting of suicide by the New Zealand media. Crisis, 33, 199–207.
(2005). Preventing suicide. A resource for media professionals. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/resource_media.pdf
. (