Reporting suicides

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

A (attractive) woman committed suicide at our town's prominent hotel by hanging herself from a bedpost - after a night of drinking, drugs and sex (with her husband and another woman).
The dead woman was a supervisor for one of the town's largest employers, so the salacious details spread quickly. Many folks knew about what happended, however, due to our policy, nothing was reported except the obit.

Several people I talked to in the community thought our paper was part of the cover up - The (supposed) reason: the hotel wanted to avoid any embarrassing publicity.

A week earlier, a man was found hanging in the courtyard of his apartment complex (later determined to be a suicide). We had a story.

Our poicy is the standard: famous person or public place deal.

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.

That's amazing!
At our paper you can list yourself as the deposed King of Siam and we'll run it. Most of our obits simply state "Bill Bob Jenkins went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Dec 12. Jenkins, the greatest Paw Paw in the world, is survived by ... ...

I recall, we ran one obit in which the deceased claimed to be the inventor of pantyhose.
Was she? Not bloody likely!

 

[STLIrish]

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.

True, but this kind of story is really hard to do well as a daily. There really are just too many pitfalls, both legal and emotional, standing between you and a quick turnaround. And these can be really complicated stories that you don't want to sensationalize. Better, I'd think, to take an enterprise approach, find several incidents over time and talk about the broader issues at work here. Plus, the machinations of the regulatory process, the courts and the healing powers of time will all help you find ways into the story that just aren't available in the first day or two.

 

[wickedwritah]

At our paper you can list yourself as the deposed King of Siam and we'll run it. Most of our obits simply state "Bill Bob Jenkins went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Dec 12. Jenkins, the greatest Paw Paw in the world, is survived by ... ...

Well, the paper I referred to did free obits, so we set the rules. The papers that run news-style, free obits are dropping like flies. Almost everywhere runs paid obits nowadays, it seems.

 

[Ace]

I don't understand why you can't report on the death if it is newsworthy but not mention the suicide aspect.

Couldn't you get the police report of the high school kid and mention that he was found dead in his room. Was taken to the hospital but was not able to be revived or whatever and have reaction from the school (we will have extra counselors on hand, etc.) and run the story?

Let people draw their own conclustions. Why completely ignore it?

 

[fishwrapper]

I don't understand why you can't report on the death if it is newsworty but not mention the suicide aspect.

Couldn't you get the police report of the high school kid and mention that he was found dead in his room. Was taken to the hospital but was not able to be revived or whatever and have reaction from the school (we will have extra counselors on hand, etc.) and run the story?

Let people draw their own conclustions. Why completely ignore it?

I'm in full agreement with this. Especially if the student was 18.
If it is a minor, name excluded. The information is there.
The actual details of the suicide serve no one.

 

[Gold]

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.

That is a completely wrong reason for not covering suicides. They happen in clusters not because newspapers report on it, but because the word spreads among teenagers without the newspapers. To quote Paul Simon, Silence like a cancer grows.

Suicide is in the top 10 causes of young people's deaths, and I think it might be in the top 5. That isn't a pleasant fact, but a policy of not reporting suicides doesn't save people's lives. Articles about suicide - with resources where people can get help - might save lives.

 

[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.

True, but this kind of story is really hard to do well as a daily. There really are just too many pitfalls, both legal and emotional, standing between you and a quick turnaround. And these can be really complicated stories that you don't want to sensationalize. Better, I'd think, to take an enterprise approach, find several incidents over time and talk about the broader issues at work here. Plus, the machinations of the regulatory process, the courts and the healing powers of time will all help you find ways into the story that just aren't available in the first day or two.

Agreed, enterprising it is the best way to go.

There are few things more arrogant in the business than a journalist presuming to understand why a stranger took his own life (this gleaned from little or no research) and then condensing it into a neat little graf up high. Usually unattributed, too.

 

[Football_Bat]

I did a suicide column about 10 years ago, but it was about a player I had seen who'd had a monster game in one of the first games I ever covered. I never went into the details of his death, even though I'd learned plenty from the police report. (He hung himself in his bedroom with a dog chain.)

Usually, you can read an obit and put two and two together. Twenty-year-old guys don't normally just die at their home of natural causes, and if that's the case, a memorial is usually listed.

 

[fishwrapper]

I did a suicide column about 10 years ago, but it was about a player I had seen who'd had a monster game in one of the first games I ever covered. I never went into the details of his death, even though I'd learned plenty from the police report. (He hung himself in his bedroom with a dog chain.)

Usually, you can read an obit and put two and two together. Twenty-year-old guys don't normally just die at their home of natural causes, and if that's the case, a memorial is usually listed.

You see, I like the subtleness of your report (even though the victim was an adult).
And, as professionals, we need to be discerning of how we word our reports in these really tough instances that plague society and our youths. (another: sexual assault).
A softened word or an altered phrase could really help the real victims: the survivors.

 

[outofplace]

I did a suicide column about 10 years ago, but it was about a player I had seen who'd had a monster game in one of the first games I ever covered. I never went into the details of his death, even though I'd learned plenty from the police report. (He hung himself in his bedroom with a dog chain.)

Usually, you can read an obit and put two and two together. Twenty-year-old guys don't normally just die at their home of natural causes, and if that's the case, a memorial is usually listed.

Even then, you've got to be careful. My brother's best friend dropped dead due to previously undetected heart defect when he was only 20 year's old.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

I dealt with a suicide-related sports story this fall.

I showed up to a prep soccer game in September just a tad bit early and was sitting in the stands chatting with my photographer. I glance over at the home team who is warming up and notice something wasn't right. A small, younger player had kicked a ball into the head of an older player. From what I witnessed it was an accident, but the older kid jumped on the little kid (nicknamed Peanut) and just started wailing on him.

It went on for about a minute and the coach broke it up and sat both players out of the game. I noticed the older kid sulked off and didn't stick around for the game. I thought about writing about what happened in my game notes, but since it was 45 minutes before the game started, I didn't bother with it.

In October, I'm at a prep football game and I'm told that a soccer player from the school I covered in September had offed himself. I asked if it was the kid who had blown up a month before and of course it was. They had a moment of silence for the kid before the football game. Several people told me off the record the kid was severely teased by football players and others. I was bit disappointed in myself for not reporting his emotional explosion in the paper. Perhaps if I would have, his need for help would've been met.

 

[Crimson Tide]

My shop does not report on suicides, but will report on murder-suicides. Why? Beats the hell out of me, other than hung up on offending people. The unofficial rule of the shop is report unless it could offend readers and cost us subscriptions.

Whatever. In a place our size, anyone dying of anything other than natural causes doesn't happen that often, so it's newsworthy. Families are going to be ****ed up whether Johnny got shanked or blew his head off.

The given reason is that we don't want to publicize suicide so other troubled people do it. That's ****ing stupid. The same could be said for murders, but we cover them and acknowledge that **** happens. What's the difference between being killed and killing yourself? Dead is dead, and it's ugly either way.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

What's the difference between being killed and killing yourself? Dead is dead, and it's ugly either way.

Cowardice.

That's the difference.

 

[buckweaver]

What's the difference between being killed and killing yourself? Dead is dead, and it's ugly either way.

Cowardice.

That's the difference.

If you're trying to say that it takes more courage not to go through with it than to do so, yes, I agree with you.

But if you're trying to say that people who commit suicides are cowards ... well, maybe you don't know what it feels like to be that close to the edge. Let's not be judgmental here.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

I've been surrounded by people who desperately clung to every last wisp of life they had left, never wanted to cross the bridge and I'm at the point where I think it's an issue of courage. Don't throw the fight. It's very hard to respect someone who puts a glock in their mouth after you watch someone else dying of cancer.

I don't mean to be calloused, it's just where I'm at.

 

[Gold]

What's the difference between being killed and killing yourself? Dead is dead, and it's ugly either way.

Cowardice.

That's the difference.

LJB, I'm disappointed in your statement.

If you know anything about depression, you would not say that. It is an ailment, just like heart problems, AIDS, cancer, or other illnesses. Sometimes it results in suicide or attempted suicide.

This is why there is a need for articles about suicides, to show that there is help available.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

What's the difference between being killed and killing yourself? Dead is dead, and it's ugly either way.

Cowardice.

That's the difference.

LJB, I'm disappointed in your statement.

If you know anything about depression, you would not say that. It is an ailment, just like heart problems, AIDS, cancer, or other illnesses. Sometimes it results in suicide or attempted suicide.

This is why there is a need for articles about suicides, to show that there is help available.

Everyone experiences varying degrees of depression. It's a natural part of our chemistry. It took me a good three years to fully recover and find some peace with the deaths of my father and my brother. The healing pattern varies, and there are a lot of dark holes along the way.

I say again that suicide is a SELFISH coward's refuge, which is visited tenfold on the survivors. If anyone ever even thinks of it, they should consider their loved ones. They're the people who are going to have to carry the load.

 

[Gold]

Not everyone experiences that level of depression. And you never know what somebody else is going through. Of course people should consider others, but when you are in a deep enough hole you can't see any light.

 

[buckweaver]

It's very hard to respect someone who puts a glock in their mouth after you watch someone else dying of cancer.

I say again that suicide is a SELFISH coward's refuge, which is visited tenfold on the survivors. If anyone ever even thinks of it, they should consider their loved ones. They're the people who are going to have to carry the load.

And I say again: maybe you don't understand what it feels like. Otherwise, you would be a little less inclined to pass judgment.

Suicide is not about respect.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

No, I have no idea what it's like.

I grew up in the teen suicide capital of the U.S.