Newspaper Reporting on a Cluster of Suicides in the UK

John, Ann; Hawton, Keith; Gunnell, David; Lloyd, Kenneth E.; Scourfield, Jonathan; Sr., Phillip A. Jones; Luce, Ann; Marchant, Amanda; Platt, Steve; Price, Sian; Dennis, Michael

doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000410

Cited by 20 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…This came at a time when good quality reporting was essential for suicide prevention. Reporting of a possible suicide cluster began before there were more suicides than expected in the area (John et al, 2016). The presence of a higher than expected number A CONTENT ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON OF TWO PEAKS OF NEWSPAPER REPORTING DURING A SUICIDE CLUSTER TO EXAMINE IMPLICATIONS FOR IMITATION, SUGGESTION AND PREVENTION of deaths during P1 but not during P2 presents a rare opportunity to examine features of reporting for potential contagion.…”

Section: Recommendations For Responsible Reporting Of Suicides Have Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Increases in suicide deaths in young people following the release of a controversial television series was found to be concordant with the period in which social media discussions of the series were greatest (Niederkrotenthaler et al, 2019). While press coverage in this cluster preceded it s statisti al sta t (John et al,2016) the role of the media must be considered alongside other modes of transmission, such as word of mouth (Haw et al, 2013).…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Content Analysis and Comparison of Two Peaks of Newspaper Reporting During a Suicide Cluster to Examine Implications for Imitation, Suggestion, and Prevention

Marchant

Brown

Scourfield

et al. 2020

Crisis

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Abstract. Background: During 2007–2008, media attention focused on a cluster of youth suicides in the UK. There were two peaks (P1, P2) in the volume of newspaper reporting of the deaths. The number of possible suicides was greater than expected at the time of the first peak but not at the time of the second. Aims: To explore any differences in the content of the reporting peaks and to consider implications for imitation and prevention. Method: A content analysis of two peaks of newspaper reporting was conducted. Results: There were 204 articles in P1 (December 27, 2007 to February 19, 2008) and 157 in P2 (February 20, 2008 to March 15, 2008). Four main themes were identified: individual stories; possible causes; features of reporting of the cluster; and educating and informing the public. P1 articles more frequently contained: explicit details of method; photographs of the deceased, and contained more characterization of individuals. Limitations: The focus was on print media, future studies should incorporate online and social media content. Conclusion: The findings provide some support for the hypothesis of a process of suggestion initiated by sensationalist reporting in P1. This contributes to the evidence base of the role of the press in suicide imitation and prevention, highlighting the importance of care when reporting suicides.

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Section: Recommendations For Responsible Reporting Of Suicides Have Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Content Analysis and Comparison of Two Peaks of Newspaper Reporting During a Suicide Cluster to Examine Implications for Imitation, Suggestion, and Prevention

Marchant

Brown

Scourfield

et al. 2020

Crisis

Self Cite

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“…Several studies have attempted to assess adherence to suicide reporting guidelines across various countries and forms of media, including new media, with disappointing results (Abbott, Ramchand, Chamberlin, & Marcellino, 2017;Easson, Agarwal, Duda, & Bennett, 2014;John et al, 2016;Utterson, Daoud, & Dutta, 2017;Young, Subramanian, Miles, Hinnant, & Andsager, 2017). A recent study examining the fidelity of media reporting on Robin Williams' suicide found that 55% of articles surpassed the 80% threshold for "high fidelity" and 85% of articles applied at least 70% of the guidelines.…”

Section: Existing Guidelinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Suggestions have been made to increase adherence to guidelines, including involving media organizations in the development of suicide reporting strategies to increase buy-in and increasing efficiency of disseminating recommendations to media organizations (Scherr, Arendt, & Schäfer, 2016). While more research is needed, the development of new instruments to systematically evaluate news reports could advance our knowledge in the near future (John et al, 2014(John et al, , 2016Nutt, Kidd, & Matthews, 2015).…”

Section: Existing Guidelinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional and new media's influence on suicidal behavior and contagion

Ortiz

Khin

2018

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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The role of nonfictional and fictional media in suicide contagion has been well established, ostensibly beginning with the publication of Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther in 1774. In recent decades, the emergence of several new forms of media (e.g. websites, social media, blogs, smartphone applications) has revolutionized the communication and social interaction paradigms. This article reviews "the Werther effect" (or suicide contagion related to media), special populations who are more influential or susceptible, current media reporting guidelines and their effectiveness, and the latest research on new media and its effect on suicide and suicide contagion. The aim is to update recommendations on how to mitigate the potential negative effects of both traditional and new media on suicidal behavior and suicide contagion.

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“…Previous studies have analyzed all health-related materials in general newspapers [8,12]. Others have analyzed specific sports [13,14,15,16], organic diseases [17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24] and/or psychological illness [25,26,27,28,29,30]. A similar previous study was published [18]; however, the analysis only focused on athletes’ medical information disclosed by English newspapers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Potential of Specialized Media in Public Health: Analysis of Health-Related Content in Sports Newspapers

López-Villegas

Catalán-Matamoros

2019

IJERPH

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Sports-specialized newspapers are one of the print media with the highest number of readers in Spain. However, little is known about the health coverage in this type of print press. The aim of the study was to analyze any health-related material in sports newspaper coverage and describe the main characteristics. This is an observational and cross-sectional study, performed in relation to the three most read daily Spanish sports newspapers (MARCA, AS, SPORT). A descriptive analysis was conducted to assess the health-related materials selected after a careful search over a period of 30 days. During this time, a total of 815 units of analysis were identified. On average, 14.79% (n = 645 pages) of the full content (n = 4362) included health-related material. The Liga BBVA section was the most frequent to contain health-related content by a significant margin (p = 0.01). The main covered topics were injuries to soccer players (52%), doping (21%), and other diseases in athletes or their relatives (8.6%) with no significant differences (p = 0.10). Photographs (87.4%) were the most frequent visual material used in the health content, followed by infographics (12.6%). Press releases were the most frequent source of information (58%). Spanish sports newspapers include a high proportion of health-related material, especially in terms of providing detailed descriptions of athletes’ sport injuries, mainly related to soccer.

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Newspaper Reporting on a Cluster of Suicides in the UK

Abstract: 21Background: Media reporting may influence suicide clusters through imitation or contagion.

Cited by 20 publications

References 29 publications

A Content Analysis and Comparison of Two Peaks of Newspaper Reporting During a Suicide Cluster to Examine Implications for Imitation, Suggestion, and Prevention

A Content Analysis and Comparison of Two Peaks of Newspaper Reporting During a Suicide Cluster to Examine Implications for Imitation, Suggestion, and Prevention

Traditional and new media's influence on suicidal behavior and contagion

The Potential of Specialized Media in Public Health: Analysis of Health-Related Content in Sports Newspapers

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