Media reporting of suicide and adherence to media guidelines

Background:International research consistently shows evidence for an association between sensationalised and detailed media reporting, and suicidal behaviour.Aim:This study examined the quality of media reporting of suicide and adherence to media guidelines in Ireland.Methods:In accordance with the criteria outlined in the media guidelines for reporting suicide, 243 media articles were screened and analysed for quality of reporting of two high-profile cases of suicide and two cases of suicide that became high profile following a period of intense media coverage that occurred between September 2009 and December 2012.Results:A minority of articles breached the media guidelines in relation to sensationalised language (11.8%), placement of reports on the front page of the newspaper (9.5%), publishing of inappropriate photographs (4.2%) and mention of location of suicide (2.4%), while no articles disclosed the contents of a suicide note. However, in the majority of articles analysed, journalists did not refer ...