Highlights Panic buying is an emerging phenomenon observed during COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to evaluate the nature, extent, and impact of panic buying as reported in the media. A high proportion of reports have been found from the developed countries. There is a need for further studies to explore the issue as well as to prevent the episodes.

Background: Panic buying is an erratic human behavior that has been reported irregularly and episodically. There is a dearth of studies exploring the identifiable factors accounting for it. We aimed to identify the factors responsible for panic buying extracted from online media reports. Methods: We scrutinized the media reports published in English discussing the different aspects of panic buying. We collected data until May 30, 2020, and searched the possible mentioned reasons responsible for panic buying. Results: We analyzed a total of 784 media reports. The majority of the reports were found in Bing (18%), Ecosia (12.6%), Google (26.4%), and Yahoo (12.5%). Panic buying was reported in 93 countries. Among the 784 responses, a total of 171 reports did not explain the responsible factors of panic buying. Therefore, we analyzed the remaining 613 reports to identify the same. A sense of scarcity was reportedly found as the important factor in about 75% of the reports followed by increased demand (66.07%), the importance of the product (45.02%), anticipation of price hike (23.33%), and due to COVID-19 and its related factors (13.21%). Other reported factors were a rumor, psychological factors (safety-seeking behavior, uncertainty, anxiety reduction, and taking control), social learning, lack of trust, government action, and past experience. Conclusions: The study revealed the responsible factors of panic buying extracted from media reports. Further, studies involving the individuals indulging in panic buying behavior are warranted to replicate the findings.

Homicide which occurs in intimute social relabbnships was studied using data from three Western Canudiun cities. Variables which may be related to the relationship and homicide are also examined. Unstable relationships are clearly differentiated from other relationsirips and are more likely to result in homicide. Implications for f a r e research are discussed.

Background Celebrity suicides have the potential to trigger suicide contagion, particularly when media reporting is detailed and imbalanced. We aimed to assess the quality of media reporting of suicide of a popular Indian entertainment celebrity against the World Health Organization (WHO) suicide reporting guidelines. Methods Relevant news articles that reported the actor’s suicide were retrieved from online news portals of regional and English language newspapers and television channels in the immediate week following the event. Deductive content analysis of these articles was done using a pre-designed data extraction form. Results A total of 573 news articles were analyzed. Several breaches of reporting were noted in relation to mentioning the word ‘celebrity’ in the title of report (14.7%), inclusion of the deceased’s photograph (88.5%), detailed descriptions of the method (50.4%) and location of suicide (70.6%); local language newspapers were more culpable than English newspapers. Helpful reporting characteristics such as mentioning warning signs (4.1%), including educational information (2.7%) and suicide support line details (14.0%) were rarely practiced. Conclusion Media reporting of celebrity suicide in India is imbalanced and poorly adherent to suicide reporting recommendations. Local language news reports display more frequent and serious violations in reporting as opposed to English news articles.

ObjectivesMedia reporting has an influential role in panic buying (PB). We aimed to evaluate the media portrayal of PB during this COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe searched, collected, and analysed the news reports from the English media discussing the PB events. The search was done between 23 and 30 May 2020.ResultsA total of 525 news reports were analysed. Approximately half (49.3%) discussed the government action to handle the situation, 36.4% discussed the expert opinion regarding PB, 20.6% discussed the psychology of PB, 21.5% discussed the rumours, and 18.5% suggested remedial measures. Concerning the negative aspects, 96.6% of the titles mentioned panic buying, 75.4% mentioned the cause, and 62.3% mentioned the photos of empty shelves. The media in low–middle-income countries are 1.5 times more likely to include expert opinion (p = 0.03), 2.1 times more likely to discuss rumours regarding PB (p = 0.001), almost thrice more likely to report the cause of PB (p = 0.001), and thrice more likely to mention its impact (p = 0.001).ConclusionMedia has been portraying more negative aspects of PB. Further, there are variations in reporting patterns between high-income and low–middle-income countries.