Professor Jane Pirkis
…..the early 2000’s
- Literature review on the impact of media reporting of suicide on actual suicidal behaviour
- Empirical study of how the Australian media reported suicide and mental illness.
Involved Australian Rotary health Research, Mindframe National Media initiative and Beyond Blue, depression Anxiety
Literature Review: Suicide and the Media, A Critical review by Jane Purkis
- Identified numerous studies which collectively showed peaks in suicide rates following media reports of suicide.
- Effect accentuated when stories were prominent, glorified or sensationalised suicide, and/or described the method in explicit detail
Empirical Study: The media Monitoring Report
- Tracked suicide stories appearing in Australian media over 2000/01 (4,813 in total)
- Conducted quantitative content analysis and found the quality of reporting was variable - e.g., 50% of all stories discussed suicide methods in detail
- Conducted qualitative textual analyses which suggested that values like status, conflict, unusualness, deaths of innocent children or children at risk, and the ‘public interest’ influence whether a story about suicide is published and, if it is, how it is framed
…In 2002
- § Department of Health and Ageing commissioned the development of a set of guidelines known as Reporting Suicide and Mental Illness
- Development involved extensive consultation with stakeholders (including senior journalists and editors) and was guided by a reference group which included representation from media professionals and suicide prevention experts
- Hunter Institute of Mental Health given responsibility for dissemination and has continued in this role since then, consulting with media professionals along the way
Influence on media guidelines
Reporting Suicide and Mental Illness explicitly incorporated some of our key findings, encouraging journalists to think carefully about whether or not to report on a given suicide and, if they choose to do so, to be moderate in their
…In Mid 2000’s
- Qualitative study of the views of journalists, mental health professionals and consumers on media reporting of suicide
- Process evaluation of Reporting Suicide and Mental Illness
Australian Government Australian Research Council and Mindframe The national media initiative
Journalists’ experience with guidelines
- Reporting Suicide and Mental Illness has had a broad reach, largely due to the tireless efforts of the Hunter Institute of Mental Health in running briefings with journalists and making drop-in visits to media organisations
- These efforts have meant that there is good understanding among journalists of the need for sensitive reporting of suicide, and that the guidelines are viewed positively
- The ultimate arbiter of success, however, is whether the guidelines have had an impact on journalists’ reporting practices
…In 2006
- Follow-up empirical study of how the Australian media reported suicide and mental illness.
- Beyondblue and Mindframe The national media initiative.
Empirical study: The Media Monitoring Project 2
- Tracked suicide stories appearing in Australian media in 2006/07, by which time Reporting Suicide and Mental Illness had been in circulation for four years (8,363 in total)
- Quality of reporting had improved significantly e.g; only 14% of media items discussed suicide methods in detail.
- We interpreted this as being likely to have been at least in part due to the dissemination of Reporting Suicide and Mental Illness, although we acknowledged that the before-and-after design did not allow other competing explanations to be ruled out completely.
…In Late 2000’s
Capacity Building Grant: NHMRC and IASP
- Australian Health News Research Collaboration
- Suicide and the Media Task Force
Collaborations: National and international
NHMRC and IASP support has led to many fruitful local and international collaborations. Examples include:
- Study of media guidelines from around the world which found that although they are very similar in content, they differ in the way in which they have been implemented
- Meta-analysis of studies looking at the impact of reporting of celebrity suicide which found that there was an average increase of 0.26 suicides per 100,000 in the month after reporting of a celebrity suicide
- Revision of existing WHO guidelines
For all this ARH acted as a springboard. Initial project has:
- Leveraged funding for a broader program of work
- Spawned collaborations
- Helped build research careers
- Led to scholarly publications
- Changed practice
coverage, refrain from providing details about exactly how the person died, and provide helpline information