AHCJ – Association of Health Care Journalists

11/11/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 11/11/2024 16:50

Boost your reporter toolkit with these best practices for covering suicide

Lois Lee, M.D., MPH, of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School talks to journalists during a session on firearm access and suicide risk at AHCJ's October 2024 summit in Washington, D.C. Photo by Erica Tricarico

Journalists have a responsibility to cover suicide with care and nuance. Sensationalized and poor coverage raises the risk of a contagion effect - other people being inspired to take their lives.

Studies have found that copycat suicides rise following coverage of a single incident, especially involving a celebrity. When done carefully and thoughtfully, good journalism can dispel myths, help improve public awareness and understanding of the complexities of suicide and encourage people to seek help.

Best practices

Here are some best reporting practices to consider when covering the topic. They might not all be relevant for every story, but they're important to keep in mind:

  • Report on suicide as a public health issue by highlighting prevention efforts, providing accurate facts and data, confronting myths and sharing stories from people who have survived and recovered. Find examples of solutions when they're relevant.
  • Specifically for firearms, highlight safe storage practices, such as using a gun lock and safe and storing the ammo separate from the firearm. Safe storage is a key part of suicide prevention given just how lethal a firearm is in an attempt.
  • Include resources in stories, such as local prevention groups and hotline numbers, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and the Crisis Text Line.
  • Avoid using words and phrases that further stigmatize suicides or risks contagion. For example, use "died by suicide" rather than "committed suicide." This is a public health issue, not a crime. Don't refer to an attempt as "successful" or "unsuccessful."
  • Don't include explicit descriptions of the method, such as giving specific details on how exactly the person took their life or the location of the death. It is enough to say that the person died of a self-inflicted firearm wound.
  • Describe the warning signs of suicide ideation. Avoid characterizing the act as without any warning; there are usually signs that someone is struggling, though many people don't spot the signs.

Story angles

We've covered several ways to approach this topic on this page, particularly when it comes to covering the groups who are most at risk for suicide:

Black youth and adults. Suicide rates have been on the rise among Black people, particularly Black men. And Black people who have been exposed to gun violence are at an elevated risk, as we covered here. The suicide death rate among Black kids has been increasing faster than any racial and ethnic group, as we also recently wrote about here. In 2022, the firearms suicide rate among Black teenagers surpassed the rate for white teenagers for the first time on record. We covered that grim milestone here.

Veterans. Another at-risk group are veterans. Researchers with the American Association of Suicidology found that service members across many backgrounds who own guns consider military personnel and veterans to be highly credible sources for discussing safe firearm storage, which we wrote about here. We have also covered the role physicians play in firearm violence prevention, especially counseling on lethal means.

Reporting guides

Many suicide prevention organizations have compiled recommendations, guidelines and best practices for how to responsibly report about the topic:

  • The Suicide Reporting ToolKit provides a three-step model for approaching a story about suicide and sorting out the ethics of reporting on the act. The model provides examples of suicide narratives, a set of ethical rules emphasizing how not to sensationalize or stigmatize it, and a standard of moderation for minimizing harm.
  • The Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide is a collaboration between leading experts in suicide prevention and several international prevention and public health organizations, schools of journalism, media organizations and more. The recommendations are based on more than 50 international studies on suicide contagion.
  • The CDC offers a list of helpful, general facts and recommendations for reporters covering the topic.
  • The 988 Suicide and Crisis Line also provides media resources and best practices.
  • The American Association of Suicidology offers a guide for newsrooms and frames many of their recommendations as a way for the news media to be a partner in prevention efforts.

If you or someone you know is struggling, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the Crisis Text Line offer help and resources.