Responsible Reporting

The reporting of suicide raises interesting ethical questions for the press. The recent events involving Sen. Nick Sherry led to a letter from the Dr Graham Martin, a mental health specialist, commenting on reporting in The Advertiser, Adelaide.

Re: Front page article on Senator Nick Sherry and From the Gallery, Saturday 4 October 1997

I would like to compliment highly your reporter David Penberthy and thus your newspaper for the sensitive and clever reporting of the "Rorts affair tragedy". Despite the news being a "matter of public interest" and therefore entirely appropriately placed on the front page with a large photograph of Senator Sherry, not once does the article refer to "attempted suicide". It does not further create a drama by the nature of the reporting nor does it discuss method in any detail. It refers to "near death", "an injured and distressed state". It is even careful to report Senator Sherry's "final press release" in non-inflammatory terms.

In the fight against suicide it has become increasingly clear that the public perception of suicide as an alternative in times of strife is a major under-pinning of the recent increase in such behaviours. We know that articles about suicide or attempts on the front page, concerning celebrities, with graphic detail or pictures, where "suicide" is part of the title and where the act is glorified in some way, increase the likelihood of influencing others - that is the likelihood of copycat. Your article does none of these and is one of the finest examples of reporting such an event that I have observed. You are to be commended for getting exactly the right balance of reporting for the public interest while treating the detail in a careful, sensitive and circumspect way.

Similarly, the article "Time to rise from the dirt", also by David Penberthy, is an example of sensitive and non-inflammatory commentary. He notes "no one would have wished illness upon Senator Sherry as a result of the pressures of the week. But Senator Sherry - hospitalised yesterday with a severe bout of depression -". How careful! Thank God one reporter understands the responsibility of his job and the seriousness of the suicide issue in this country.

[By way of contrast look at the reporting in another newspaper.] The subheading on the front page states "Senator attempts suicide over rorts". The first paragraph glorifies suicide as an act of contrition when shamed: "The shame of being ridiculed...pushed...Nick Sherry to attempt suicide yesterday." It reports the letter left by Senator Sherry "So I am now taking the appropriate course of action." "Suicide bid" is mentioned in paragraph 3. "Decided to take his own life..." noted in paragraph 5. "Suicide letter" is mentioned in paragraph 13. "Discovered he had slit his wrists" in paragraph 14. Mr John Sharp is reported to "understand the feeling he would have had" thus justifying the act, I suppose (paragraph 16). The "suicide bid" is again mentioned in paragraph 20 and again "discover Sherry with his wrists slashed and rush him to hospital" is in the tag under the picture, under Friday 9.00 a.m.

John Sharp has a lot to learn about the reporting of self-harm given this piece of pernicious reportage. But it is not just him. Note, that under the front page picture with a title "Dinner with the heavy-hitters, then the awful deed," the whole event is dramatised again. In paragraph 1 "one of them had already decided to kill himself". Then "But Sherry's now - public note reveals he had been contemplating his suicide attempt since last Wednesday..." in paragraph 6. The article continues on page 8 "seriously injured, his wrists slashed", paragraph 11. "Attempted suicide" is again mentioned in the penultimate paragraph of the article on Senator Abetz on page 9. The somewhat edited text of the letter is reported on page 9 and [the newspaper] somewhat unctuously states, "This is an edited text ... The agency edited the letter to strike a balance between the public interest in its contents and the right to privacy of Senator Sherry and his family and friends". However sufficient is included to make a case that Senator Sherry's motives are altruistic. This is exactly how not to report self-harm. The editors and reporters of the latter newspaper should be ashamed in going so much against what is now known about the media's influence to suicide.[1] They should be publicly rebuked for actions likely to influence more people to identify with Senator Sherry's shame and copy his action.

Perhaps David Penberthy would consider running a training course in how to report matters of public interest.

Dr Graham Martin

Footnote

1. Martin G. 1988. "Media Influence to Suicide." Archives of Suicide Research, 4:1, in press.

[Editor's Note: The Press Council does not necessarily endorse the views of Dr Martin. In April 1996, the Council hosted a seminar on the reporting of suicide at which questions were raised about the validity of the assertions that link media reporting with increased suicide. Copies of the transcript of that seminar and of the Council's GPR 189 setting out some guidelines on the reporting of suicide are available from the Press Council office.]

see also
Reporting of Suicide - a response to the federal Department of Health
GPR 246 - guideline on suicide reporting
1997-98 Freedom of the Press summary - on developments on reporting of youth suicide

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