Suicide in the media: latest Canadian data highlights importance of responsible reporting
In the largest study of its kind in Canada, Sunnybrook researchers along with colleagues around the globe, reviewed 17,000 news articles on the topic of suicide in the Toronto media market, examining whether certain details in the articles impacted suicide rates in the city.
What they found highlights the importance of responsible reporting of suicide events and how including greater context, as well as crisis contact information, can potentially help a person in crisis by reminding them that suicide isn’t the only option.
“It is important for reporters and media outlets to understand that how they report on a suicide can have a real impact across the population,” says Dr. Mark Sinyor, lead investigator in the study and a psychiatrist at Sunnybrook, in the CMAJ news release.
The study is published in CMAJ.
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