Citation

Frey C, Michel K, Valach L. Eur. J. Public Health 1997; 7(1): 15-19.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/eurpub/7.1.15

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

All articles in Swiss newspapers with suicide or attempted suicide as the main topic were collected over a time span of 8 months. The aim was the investigation of a potential imitation effect and the extent of preventive messages given. A rating scheme for an assumed imitation effect based on different items for heading, text and picture was developed. The results show that approximately two-fifttis of all 151 articles were inappropriate in some aspects and were considered as bearing a high potential for imitation effect. The rating was significantly more unfavourable for the main Swiss tabloid paper than the other newspapers. A reason for suicide was specified in 41.7% of all articles, half of them in a very simple and monocausal way. Relevant preventive information was only given In 10% of cases. We conclude that media guidelines for suicide reporting are needed. A preventive strategy to influence the policy of suicide reporting in newspapers must primarily concentrate on a few papers with a high circulation (popular press).