Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals

The World Health Organization issued a resource guide for responsible reporting to minimize the risks of suicide contagions, which is a great reminder for the media coverage in the assisted suicide debates:

  • avoid language which sensationalizes or normalizes suicide, or presents it as a solution to problems
  • avoid prominent placement and undue repetition of stories about suicide
  • avoid providing detailed information about the site of a completed or attempted suicide
  • word headlines carefully
  • exercise caution in using photographs or video footage, take particular care in reporting celebrity suicides, provide information about where to seek help

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