Reporting suicides

What's your shop's policy?

We reported one today in which an assistant school principal jumped off a bridge early this morning. Body was recovered a few hours later, and the school announced the administrator had "unexpectedly" died. We finally got confirmation from the police department and reported it. Public place, public resources used to recover the body, which eventually would have been identified.

We are getting murdered in the comments section. Murdered. Doesn't bother me much, but just wondering if other shops have other policies.

(This threat could be a d_b, but I'm not going back to look).

 

Probably requires an inquiry to the district to make sure the person in question wasn't under investigation or anything. There have been a few of these I've heard about where administrators died and it turns out there was a history of abuse.
But yeah, public person, public place, and/or grief counselors at a school - sure. Maybe you don't name a juvenile unless the family is okay with it.

 

We had a similar situation, a public figure found in his home. Lived in a very small community, everyone knew what happened. Our story was "community reacts to death of public figure" instead of a straight news story. We never used the word suicide, just that he passed away unexpectedly at his home. Didn't get any complaints.

 

Nah, you guys handled this one OK. Assistant principal ain’t some nobody, and it was a bridge jumping. You put 1+1 together and get 2 on that one.

The mistake was not turning off the comments for the story.

 

"Passed away suddenly" conveys a certain thought ...

 

Had a similar situation at our shop recently ... retired longtime teacher/hoops coach at local high school pulled over on interstate bridge, climbed on railing and jumped to his death.

On the night it happened, ran a brief online and in print since lots of people saw it on the highway. Didn't use the name.

The next day, several of his former players contacted us and wanted to talk about what a great coach he was, etc., so we did a full reaction story. The reporter handled it well and we didn't have any complaints to my knowledge.

I think your shop handled it correctly, Gator.

 

I’ve reported on multiple suicides in my career, but all had a wider impact than the death itself that made them relevant and worth writing about. They were the hardest stories I’ve ever had to report on.

I’ve had this discussion with many people. In a particular community, what would be the level when it needs to be reported? And I imagine it’s different for different communities.

For example, what about the star QB who committed to a big-time D1 school? What about the starting running back who is probably going to play for a JC? How about the kid who only plays special teams?

It’s a tough, tough issue.

 

I was wondering about this recently when it came up involving a hockey team who ended up losing in the state finals. The team had been leaving the game pucks in the locker of a player who died right before the start of the season. After the loss in the final, the coach of the winning team gave the game puck to that player's team. The first article I read about the team stated he "died tragically" and on of the city dailies reported he "died following a battle with anxiety", which is the phrase used in his online obituary.

High School hockey team wins Division 2 North title for

Memory of late hockey player has big impact on family and teammates

As a reader, my first reaction is for the articles to just say it. It's a fact that is part of the story and it is all but being revealed. It seems like a nicety that is kept up because its seems right more than it actually accomplishes anything. But it is a kid and a family ultimately dealing with it.

 

Public figure or public place.

We had a suicide of a firefighter recently. City sent out a statement (just saying he died unexpectedly), they lowered flags to half-mast, gave him a burial with full firefighter honors.

We didn't cover any of it. He was a low-level firefighter and he killed himself at home after a fight with his girlfriend.

We caught flack from firefighters for not "honoring" his sacrifice in the paper and covering his "last ride" when he was taken from the funeral home to the cemetery on a firetruck. They suggested he was killed during the line of duty because being a firefighter was stressful.

I wouldn't have handled it any other way.

 

I think your shop did the right thing, SJB. Not a public figure. Committed suicide at home. And sorry, but he wasn't "killed in the line of duty." He suffered from depression.

 

You guys did fine. He was a public figure.