Reporting suicides

[Mr. X]

I would be interested in learning newspapers' policies on reporting suicides.

In an interview with the boys' soccer coach of the high school I cover for a weekly, he made reference to his players coming out flat because some of them knew the student who died.

That was the first I heard of the student's death. I sent an e-mail to our publisher, who basically controls all editorial content, and asked if he knew about this. He said he did and it was not reported because it was a suicide.

At dailies I have worked at, the rules were that suicides are not reported, unless someone prominent is involved or if it takes place in public.

I think a case could be made that this suicide should have been reported because a few weeks earlier, a student's death in a traffic collision near midnight on a Saturday night was reported extensively. I think both these deaths could be used as the starting point for a story on the problems of the city's youth and what can be done about them.

 

[DyePack]

I think a case could be made that this suicide should have been reported because a few weeks earlier, a student's death in a traffic collision near midnight on a Saturday night was reported extensively. I think both these deaths could be used as the starting point for a story on the problems of the city's youth and what can be done about them.

Huh?

 

[Mr. X]

I thought stories, columns and editorials should be done with the theme of "Nothing good happens after midnight," to try to encourage youth to be home earlier.

There is also a move by the City Council to institute a youth anti-loitering ordinance to keep them from cause troubles in the business district.

 

[sportschick]

 

[awriter]

Mr. X,
Why are you so hung up on this kid's suicide? And what makes you think your story is going to change the kids' behavior?

 

[Mr. X]

Let me try this again.

I am interested in learning newspapers' policies on reporting suicides.

The weekly I write for did not report on the suicide of a high school student.

At dailies I have worked at, the rules were that suicides are not reported, unless someone prominent is involved or if it takes place in public.

 

[Flash]

I thought stories, columns and editorials should be done with the theme of "Nothing good happens after midnight," to try to encourage youth to be home earlier.

Being tucked into bed by 11:59 p.m. won't prevent a troubled young man from taking his own life ...

 

[Mr. X]

Why, because it was a suicide?

The impression I got was that the suicide was not reported because it was a suicide.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

I know of one paper where a guy committed suicide and this was mentioned in the paper, and the paper took a lot of heat for it. I never really understood that. If someone walks in and shoots a guy in his bathroom, that's news, but if the guy shoots himself in the bathroom, it's not? That's an interesting standard to have. Having done a handful of death stories, I can tell you that the fact a story is in the paper isn't going to hurt the family of a suicide commiter any more than they're already hurting.

 

[fishwrapper]

I am interested in learning newspapers' policies on reporting suicides.

The weekly I write for did not report on the suicide of a high school student.

At dailies I have worked at, the rules were that suicides are not reported, unless someone prominent is involved or if it takes place in public.

Why, because it was a suicide? Sorry, but if you're going to report on a car crash or a murder or a soldier dying, then there's no reason not to report on a suicide just because it's a suicide.

Not if the deceased is a minor.
(Same with sexual assault victims.)

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

The bereaved are often at risk of suicide themselves. The legal hot water a reporter can get into is conjectural bull**** about why the person took his or her life. There are also privacy laws to consider.

 

[wickedwritah]

And privacy, period.

The rule of generally not reporting suicides is a good one. If we did, sadly some people would do it just for the publicity aspect.

Well, you'll likely ask: Wicked, that's why the people who do it in public do it there, for the press, so what's different? When someone jumps in front of a train and shuts down public transit for three hours, we kind of have to report about it.

 

[STLIrish]

A newsworthy suicide, yes. If it's done, say, in a public place, or by an at least-quasi-public person, if it reflects some broader societal issue that you can capture in a daily story. But not your run-of-the-mill suicide, say shooting oneself in the bathroom or taking too many sleeping pills. What's the news in that? Us writing about it generates a lot more potential harm than good.

 

[Claws for Concern]

Anyone remember T.O.?

:

 

[PCLoadLetter]

The theory on teen suicide, and I think the numbers generally back it up, is that they often happen in clusters, and a teen's suicide gives other troubled teens the idea to do it, too. That's why they generally aren't covered.

If you are going to do a story on it you had better have a pretty damn good reason to do it. "Nothing good happens after midnight" doesn't cut it.

 

[wickedwritah]

Another question: In obituaries, does your newspaper print suicide as the cause of death in obituaries?

A few years back, a paper at which I interned got the cause of death for every obit -- and if we didn't have a cause on the obituary, we called the coroner. And if the coroner said self-inflicted gunshot wound, that's what we ran with. Remember taking an obit on the desk one night for a 13-year-old, then called the coroner and found out the kid blew his brains out. Troubling, to say the least.

 

[Columbo]

The rule of generally not reporting suicides is a good one. If we did, sadly some people would do it just for the publicity aspect.

Actually, that already happens.

A suicide attempt is often a cry for help ... a.k.a. a cry for attention.

A feeble suicide attempt is.

A suicide, however, is usually not a cry for help.

 

[outofplace]

I know of one paper where a guy committed suicide and this was mentioned in the paper, and the paper took a lot of heat for it. I never really understood that. If someone walks in and shoots a guy in his bathroom, that's news, but if the guy shoots himself in the bathroom, it's not? That's an interesting standard to have. Having done a handful of death stories, I can tell you that the fact a story is in the paper isn't going to hurt the family of a suicide commiter any more than they're already hurting.

I remember at one of my former stops, a guy saw his ex-wife dancing with another man at a club, walked out into the parking lot and shot himself. Of course, the paper ran a story on it because he did it in public.

The guy's brother showed up at the office and threatened to kill the reporter who wrote the story.

Grief is bad enough. Having to deal with the fact that somebody you loved didn't want to live any more? That's tough to even imagine.

 

[Batman]

Our paper's policy is the in public/public figure rule. Maybe it's a small-town thing, maybe it's to shield the families a little, I don't know. I'm just a sports hack. I don't write those stories every day, thank goodness. But as far as I know, the families can put it in the obit if they want to, and I'd certainly accommodate them if they asked to put cause of death in a story.
We had a college swimmer a couple years ago who went swimming in the ocean, hit a rock and broke his neck, and drowned. We ran several stories saying (correctly) cause of death was drowning, and a few weeks later the parents asked us to explain the broken neck in future stories. Seems a lot of people were asking how such a strong swimmer could drown, and I guess explaining it every time was tough on them. We had no problem saying OK. I've heard other parents ask the same thing of papers in the obit, to avoid too many disturbing questions later on.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

If you are going to do a story on it you had better have a pretty damn good reason to do it. "Nothing good happens after midnight" doesn't cut it.

It's important to hit it hard if someone commits suicide while under institutional care, as it raises vital questions about supervision and competency. But there are just too many pitfalls to even **** with it. A lot of ethics councils haven't even touched this.