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The Cincinnati Beacon
Letter to the BBB: Enquirer’s Suicide Coverage!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
This was recently submitted to the Cincinnati Better Business Bureau. For a “settlement,” I have requested a front page Sunday story about how to reduce violence in our community, self-inflicted or otherwise.
On Sunday, June 24th, The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a front page story about suicide. (Find it online here: http://tinyurl.com/2zhbdd ) This violates all accepted practices regarding journalism ethics. For example, you can find the Wolrd Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for media handling of suicide here: http://tinyurl.com/29xmer
Specifically, the WHO warns to avoid front page news coverage, to avoid discussing methods used, and to avoid discussing locations. Doing things like this increases the number of “copycat suicides,” which has long been documented as a serious threat when media decides to break commonly accepted guidelines for writing about suicide.
Additionally, the Enquirer failed to provide clear information about how people can get help. They published a list of phone numbers, but did not indicate for whom the numbers were assigned. So 911 was included with some local lines and some 800 numbers. Is there a difference in who to call if you are a concerned friend or family member? If you are thinking of suicide? When should 911 become involved? The Enquirer failed to deliver.
I am submitting this complaint because I fear that The Enquirer’s story—which appears to violate commonly accepted standards for news reporting—could cause a spike in regional deaths as people imitate that which they read in the front page of the City’s paper of record.
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