Reporting of Suicide
By admin
Thursday, 13th July 2017
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The Headline organisation undertakes media monitoring to ensure that mental health and suicide issues are reported in a responsible manner. At a seminar on 12 July 2017 they issued the following advice to journalists:
Media Discussion of Mental Health and Suicide is vital
Journalists reporting mental health and suicide issues should Aim to include:
- Information on sources of support (such as the Samaritans)
- Stories of personal experience
- Expert insight
- Positive accounts of hope and recovery where possible
Journalists should try to avoid:
- Explicit descriptions of the means of suicide
- Sensationalism and reductive explanations of suicide
- Stereotypes, myths and derogatory terms
- Negative imagery
Full guidelines are available on the Headline website (here)