PATTERN OF MEDIA REPORTING OF SUICIDE

Authors

  • Oluwabunmi Buhari University of Ilorin
  • Rapheal Ogbolu
  • Blessing Uteh
  • Ihunanya Egegbara Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos
  • Titilayo Tade Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative, Nigeria (SURPIN), Lagos University Teaching Hospital
  • Chinelo Olayimika Synapse Services Magnolia Unit, Lagos State
  • Margaret Ojeahere Department of Psychiatry, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17501/26138417.2022.5103

Keywords:

suicide, analysis, media report, media guidelines, pattern, Nigeria

Abstract

Suicide remains a global public health concern with over 800,000 deaths reported annually. The media play an important role in influencing the attitude of the populace to suicide. It has been widely demonstrated that the way suicides are reported/portrayed may increase or reduce the rate and pattern of suicide in a locality. As such guidelines have been put in place to regulate media reporting. The study aimed at analysing the pattern of online media reportage of Suicides in Nigeria based on established guidelines for responsible reporting. This was a retrospective study involving content analysis of 30 randomly selected online newspapers reporting suicide deaths over the past three years (2018-2021) in Nigeria. A total of 147 suicide reports were identified. Majority of the news media used inappropriate language in reporting the suicide. Majority (89.1%) of suicides were portrayed as criminal acts, 87.1% of the suicides were given undue prominence, 10.2% suicides were sensationalized and about half (49%) of the suicides report were explicitly described. Graphic details of methods used occurred in 28.6% of the suicide reports. Only 14.3% of suicides had a published suicide note. Majority of the news media did not provide correct information about mental ill health and only 4.1% of the reported suicide had additional information on help seeking information. We concluded that much still needs to be done to improve suicide reporting. Relevant stakeholders need to continually collaborate with media outfits to provide trainings in order to increase mental health and suicide literacy, as well as to jointly develop locally applicable and culturally relevant guidelines on reportage.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Rapheal Ogbolu

Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative, Nigeria (SURPIN) Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Surulere, Lagos State, Nigeria

Blessing Uteh

Department of Internal Medicine,

University of Medical Sciences,

Akure, Ondo State

Titilayo Tade, Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative, Nigeria (SURPIN), Lagos University Teaching Hospital

Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative, Nigeria (SURPIN)

 Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Surulere, Lagos State,

References

Adewuya, A. O., Ola, B. A., Coker, O. A., Atilola, O., Zachariah, M. P., Olugbile, O., Fasawe, A., & Idris, O. (2016). Prevalence and associated factors for suicidal ideation in the Lagos State Mental Health Survey, Nigeria. BJPsych open, 2(6), 385–389. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjpo.bp.116.004333

Armiyau A. Y. (2015) A Review of Stigma and Mental Illness in Nigeria. J Clin Case Rep 5:488. doi:10.4172/2165-7920.1000488. https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/a-review-of-stigma-and-mental-illness-in-nigeria-2165-7920.1000488.php?aid=40679

Bohanna, I., Wang, X. (2012). Media guidelines for the responsible reporting of suicide: a review of effectiveness. Crisis, 33(4), 190-8. doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000137. PMID: 22713977.

Campion-Smith B. (2015). Suicide, social media and newsroom taboos: How new media are changing the way suicides are reported. Ottawa (ON): Carleton University School of Journalism and Communication. https://curve.carleton.ca/9fb74fc7-8c8f-4447-9ee2-18a4c75a649d

Cvinar J. G. (2005). Do suicide survivors suffer social stigma: a review of the literature. Perspectives in psychiatric care, 41(1), 14–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0031-5990.2005.00004.x

Duncan, S., Luce, A. (2020). Using the Responsible Suicide Reporting Model to increase adherence to global media reporting guidelines. Journalism. doi:10.1177/1464884920952685

Gandy, J.J., & Terrion, J.L. (2015). Journalism and suicide reporting guidelines in Canada: perspectives, partnerships and processes. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 17, 249 - 260. doi: 10.1080/14623730.2015.1077613

Gould M., Kleinman MH, Lake AM, Forman J, & Basset Midle J. (2014). Newspaper coverage of suicide and initiation of suicide clusters in teenagers in the USA, 1988-96: a retrospective, population-based, case-control study. Lancet Psychiatry, 1(1), 34-43. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366 (14)70225-1.

Gunn, J. F. III, & Lester, D. (2012). Media guidelines in the Internet age [Editorial]. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 33(4), 187–189. https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000171

Levesque, R. (2007). SPSS Programming and Data Management: A Guide for SPSS and SAS Users (4th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: SPSS Inc. ISBN 1-56827-390-8.

Liu J. (2020). Need to establish a new adolescent suicide prevention programme in South Korea. General psychiatry, 33(4), e100200. https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2020-100200

Media Guidelines for Reporting Suicide and Self-Harm. (2008). Samaritans; Stirling, UK https://www.samaritans.org/about-samaritans/media-guidelines/media-guidelines-reporting-suicide/

National Union of Journalists, Scotland. (2014). Responsible Reporting on Mental Health, Mental Illness and Death by Suicide. A Practical Guide for Journalists by the National Union of Journalists. https://www.nuj.org.uk/resource/nuj-guidelines-for-reporting-mental-health-and-death-by-suicide.html

newspapers.ng Nigerian Newspapers. Accessed 17/01/21 at 15:31. https://newspapersng.com/

Niederkrotenthaler, T., Herberth, A., & Sonneck, G. (2007). Der "Werther-Effekt": Mythos oder Realität? [The "Werther-effect": legend or reality?]. Neuropsychiatrie : Klinik, Diagnostik, Therapie und Rehabilitation : Organ der Gesellschaft Osterreichischer Nervenarzte und Psychiater, 21(4), 284–290. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18082110/

Niederkrotenthaler, T., Voracek, M., Herberth, A., Till, B., Strauss, M., Etzersdorfer, E., Eisenwort, B., & Sonneck, G. (2010). Role of media reports in completed and prevented suicide: Werther v. Papageno effects. The British journal of psychiatry: the journal of mental science, 197(3), 234–243. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.109.074633

Nock, M. K., Hwang, I., Sampson, N., Kessler, R. C., Angermeyer, M., Beautrais, A., Borges, G., Bromet, E., Bruffaerts, R., de Girolamo, G., de Graaf, R., Florescu, S., Gureje, O., Haro, J. M., Hu, C., Huang, Y., Karam, E. G., Kawakami, N., Kovess, V., Levinson, D., & Williams, D. R. (2009). Cross-national analysis of the associations among mental disorders and suicidal behavior: findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. PLoS medicine, 6(8), e1000123. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000123

Ogbolu R.E., Mba-Oduwusi N., Ogunnubi O.P., Buhari I. N., Rahmon O., Tade T., Ogunsola K. (2020). Situation Report on Suicide in Nigeria. African Journal for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, 23(1), 97-107. http://ajpssi.org/index.php/ajpssi/article/view/421/pdf_321

Olibamoyo, O., Ola, B.A., Coker, O.A., Adewuya, A.O., & Onabola, A. (2021). Analysis of media reporting of suicidal behavior in Nigeria. Mental Health & Prevention, 21, 200197. doi/10.1016/J.MHP.2021.200197

Phillips D. P. (1974). The influence of suggestion on suicide: substantive and theoretical implications of the Werther effect. American sociological review, 39(3), 340–354.

Preventing suicide: a resource for media professionals, update 2017. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2017 (WHO/MSD/MER/17.5). Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. https://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/resource_media.pdf

Robinson, J., Cox, G., Bailey, E., Hetrick, S., Rodrigues, M., Fisher, S., & Herrman, H. (2016). Social media and suicide prevention: a systematic review. Early intervention in psychiatry, 10(2), 103–121. https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.12229

Shoib S., & Yasir-Arafat S. M. (2021). Quality of Newspaper reporting of suicide inKashmir: Adherence to World Health Organization Guidelines. Psychiatry, 84(3), 291-298. doi: 10.1080/00332747.2021.1888605

Sinyor M., Schaffer A., Heisel M. J., Picard, A., Adamson, G., Cheung, C. P., Katz, L. Y., Jetly, R., & Sareen, J. (2018). Media Guidelines for Reporting on Suicide: 2017 Update of the Canadian Psychiatric Association Policy Paper. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 63(3),182-196. doi:10.1177/0706743717753147

Sisask, M., & Värnik, A. (2012). Media roles in suicide prevention: a systematic review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 9(1), 123–138. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph9010123

Sonneck, G., Etzersdorfer, E., & Nagel-Kuess, S. (1994). Imitative suicide on the Viennese subway. Social science & medicine (1982), 38(3), 453–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(94)90447-2

Stack S. (2000). Media impacts on suicide: A quantitative review of 293 findings. Social Science Quarterly, 81(4),957-972. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42864031

Tatum, P. T., Canetto, S. S., & Slater, M. D. (2010). Suicide coverage in U.S. newspapers following the publication of the media guidelines. Suicide & life-threatening behavior, 40(5), 524–534. https://doi.org/10.1521/suli.2010.40.5.524

Till, B., Tran, U. S., Voracek, M., & Niederkrotenthaler, T. (2017). Beneficial and harmful effects of educative suicide prevention websites: randomised controlled trial exploring Papageno v. Werther effects. The British journal of psychiatry: the journal of mental science, 211(2), 109–115. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.115.177394

Torok, M., Calear, A., Shand, F., & Christensen, H. (2017). A Systematic Review of Mass Media Campaigns for Suicide Prevention: Understanding Their Efficacy and the Mechanisms Needed for Successful Behavioral and Literacy Change. Suicide & life-threatening behavior, 47(6), 672–687. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12324

Wasserman, I. M. (1984). “Imitation and Suicide: A Reexamination of the Werther Effect.” American Sociological Review, 49 (3), 427–36 https://doi.org/10.2307/2095285

World Health Organization (WHO). (2015). Mental Health. Responsible and glamourized media reporting. https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/mental-health/mhgap/self-harm-and-suicide/responsible-and-deglamourized-media-reporting.pdf?sfvrsn=8b6c7723_0

World Health Organization (WHO). (2019). Suicide in the World: Global health estimates. data. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/326948/WHO-MSD-MER-19.3-eng.pdf

Downloads

Published

2022-05-20

How to Cite

Buhari, O., Ogbolu, R., Uteh, B. ., Egegbara, I., Tade, T., Olayimika, C., & Ojeahere, M. (2022). PATTERN OF MEDIA REPORTING OF SUICIDE. Proceedings of the Global Public Health Conference, 5(1), 17–27. https://doi.org/10.17501/26138417.2022.5103