Reporting suicides

[Gator]

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).

 

[DanOregon]

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.

 

[MileHigh]

We don't do it unless it's a threat/hazard/impact to the public. Someone on a bridge that closes a highway or interstate for two hours. A few years ago a school was delayed after someone was found hanging from a tree. We didn't report it.

This morning. got a press release from a sheriff's office that there was a disturbance at a house with one person. Deputies went out, but they couldn't go inside because there was nothing that led them to legally go inside.

Deputies left. Neighbors went inside and found the 40-something-year-old dead. Deputies came back out. No threat to the public. We didn't cover it, at least online.

Case-by-case basis. At this point, I know when to do something and when not to.

Don't get me started on our "policy" of approaching families who are victims of crimes or accidents. Long discussions. Obviously, a very sensitive topic for me that I am passionate about inside the walls. Unfortunately, we've got some knucklehead "leadership" issues.

 

[rtse11]

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.

 

[Alma]

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).

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.

 

[Slacker]

We never used the word suicide, just that he passed away unexpectedly at his home.

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

 

[I Should Coco]

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.

 

[SnarkShark]

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.

 

[justgladtobehere]

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.

 

[ScottJBryan]

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 Should Coco]

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.

 

[TexasVet]

You guys did fine. He was a public figure.

 

[Alma]

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.

Good God. Killed in the line of duty?

There are times when that job is stressful. There are times when it's about cooking gourmet meals and working out, too.

 

[WriteThinking]

I always felt like suicides should be as fully reported as any other story, with emphasis and "play" depending on the person, publicity and circumstances involved, just like any other story.

I mean, we report every homicide -- including the method involved -- even the murders of relative nobodies, with as full information as reporters are able to work up, without a lot of attention paid to sensitivity. Why are suicides different?

Nothing need be embellished or overdone, of course, but I'm not sure the families of murders/other deaths are any less embarrassed/privacy-invaded/thrilled about the details of cases being reported, either, and it gets done anyway.

 

[QYFW]

Good God. Killed in the line of duty?

There are times when that job is stressful. There are times when it's about cooking gourmet meals and working out, too.

The coverage was fine, but the reaction isn't that alarming. Knowing you could die any day you go to work is a lot more stressful than your average job, and that kind of thing bonds firefighters, cops, military members (and their loved ones) in a way most people don't understand. Most people think working out and eating relatively well erases the inherent danger/related stress of such a job.

Also, I've eaten dozens of great meals cooked at firehouses. I wouldn't call any of them "gourmet."

 

[Dick Whitman]

I mean, we report every homicide -- including the method involved -- even the murders of relative nobodies, with as full information as reporters are able to work up, without a lot of attention paid to sensitivity. Why are suicides different?

Why are suicides, in which a person decides to end his or her own life, "different" than homicides, in which a person's life is ended by another?

Why might the former be a more sensitive topic for the survivors than that latter?

That's your question?

 

[Dick Whitman]

A local football coach's wife once killed herself during the season, and he missed a game or two in the aftermath. He talked to me at length about her and about coping, but ultimately determined he didn't want to go on the record. He was torn between drawing attention to depression and his concern, which won out, that his young son would find out how his mother died from a Google search instead of from him.

 

[Southwinds]

However you report it, remember that they died. They didn't pass away or whatever other phrase you want to use.

And also, for something like that, why wouldn't you lock the comments?

 

[Flip Wilson]

Yes, public figure or public place, suicide gets reported. A guy I went to high school with shot himself on the lawn of the county courthouse after being convicted of felony DWI, which was going to send him to prison for a long while. The local daily caught hell for covering the story, but the guy chose to kill himself in a public spot.

 

[MTM]

Retired longtime football coach at one of our local high schools killed himself at home and we didn't report it. He was in his mid-50s. I did a short story ahead of the memorial service, running down his accomplishments and stating he died at home. Those who knew him knew the circumstances.

Sad thing is, his first wife committed suicide early in his coaching tenure, so their now mid-20s son lost both parents that way.