LAST night’s (Aug 1) death of a woman at Suria KLCC mall in Kuala Lumpur has reignited concerns about unethical media reporting on suicide, a long-standing debate in Malaysia.
A search of the mall’s name on Google tells us why: of the first seven news articles on the death that pop up, the header pictures of four of them is that of the woman’s body and the bloody floor underneath her (albeit pixelated).
A major English daily, on the other hand, used a picture of a cordoned-off crime scene with a large splatter of blood edited on top.
FocusM takes a look at existing guidelines in Malaysia on ethical media reporting on suicide to see what the “big deal” is.
Suicide cases on the rise
According to the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and Befrienders KL, worries and anxiety surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic caused a severe strain on people’s mental health and wellbeing.
Suicide cases have also been on the rise since the pandemic struck. In 2019, 609 cases were reported to the police. The following year, there were 631 cases.
In the first five months of 2021, meanwhile, the police recorded 468 suicide cases, reaching nearly 75% of the total number of cases reported in 2020.
Befrienders also received a 52% jump in calls from March to May 2021 (10,412). During the same period in 2020, they only received 6,858 calls.
Why is unethical suicide reporting problematic?
According to CIJ and Befrienders, “copycat suicides” took place after victims read stories about celebrity suicides.
The headlines of these stories mentioned the suicide methods used, while the reports themselves included statements that “made suicide seem inevitable”.
Publishing graphic images can also be “triggering and traumatising”, with Befrienders receiving feedback from many who were triggered and emotionally disturbed after reading or seeing photos in the news or social media posts about suicide.
For example, fans of the late K-Pop star Kim Jong-hyun wrote to Befrienders KL about how the musician’s death had affected them emotionally after learning he had died by suicide in 2017.
What will ethical suicide reporting achieve?
CIJ and Befrienders said responsible reporting on suicide and mentions of non-suicide alternatives to crises can help to reduce suicide rates, citing the “Papageno effect”.
The effect is named after a character in Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute, who contemplated suicide but was dissuaded by other characters who offered alternatives to overcome his mental anguish.
Ethical reporting also serves to “acknowledge the problem and emanate positive messages” to individuals struggling with suicidal ideation, CIJ and Befrienders said.
As such, they recommended that the media include help and support call lines in their suicide reporting and highlight stories of survivors.
Media do’s and don’ts
Note: The graphics and information in this write-up have been repurposed from CIJ and Befrienders’ Guidelines on Ethical and Responsible Reporting on Suicide, issued last October. – Aug 2, 2022
Main photo credit: Nikkei Asia
