Press and Media
Contact:
Allan Wallace
Executive Director
ED@theDASfoundation.org
(865) 264-0126 (office)
For Journalists: Safe and Effective Messaging Standards
It is vital to adhere to safe and effective messaging standards when reporting on issues
impacting mental illness and its corollaries. This ensures fair and accurate
representation of those suffering from a mental illness and brings attention to the public
health crisis of suicide while minimizing the stigma that is often attached to mental
health issues. To read about safe messaging for suicide prevention, please visit the link
below:
Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)
Safe and Effective Messaging for Suicide Prevention
Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide
Suicide is a public health issue. Media and online coverage of suicide should be informed by using best practices. Some suicide deaths may be newsworthy. However, the way media covers suicide can influence behavior negatively by contributing to contagion or positively by encouraging help-seeking.
Suicide Contagion or “Copycat Suicide” occurs when one or more suicides are reported in a way that contributes to another suicide.
Click here to read Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide from AFSP.org.
Important Points for Covering Suicide:
- More than 50 research studies worldwide have found that certain types of news coverage can increase the likelihood of suicide in vulnerable individuals. The magnitude of the increase is related to the amount, duration and prominence of coverage.
- Risk of additional suicides increases when the story explicitly describes the suicide method, uses dramatic/
graphic headlines or images, and repeated/extensive coverage sensationalizes or glamorizes a death. - Covering suicide carefully, even briefly, can change public misperceptions and correct myths which can
encourage those who are vulnerable or at risk to seek help.
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