Assessment of the Quality of Media Reporting of the Suicide of a British Female Television Celebrity.

Background

International media guidelines aim to promote responsible reporting of suicide, acknowledging the influence of sensationalist press coverage on population suicide rates. Studies investigating guideline adherence have focused on reporting of male celebrity suicide, often demonstrating poor quality of reporting. Aims: To investigate the quality of media reporting of the suicide of a female celebrity. Method: We measured the quality of reporting in the United Kingdom (UK) on the suicide of Caroline Flack, a British television celebrity, over the 14-month period after her death using the PRINTQUAL (print content) and PRINTQUAL-web (online content). Using paired t-tests, we compared scores on the negative/poor-quality subscale and positive/good-quality subscale for each tool.

Results

We identified 467 eligible news articles, the majority online (n = 342) versus print (n = 125), with 41% published in the week after her death, and 10% around the inquest into her death. Overall, negative/poor-quality subscale scores were significantly higher for online content than for print content, indicating poorer quality reporting for those parameters online: (t(165.95) = 5.65; p < .001). Positive/good-quality subscale scores were also significantly higher for online content than for print content, suggesting better quality reporting for those parameters online (t(236.46) = 8.15; p < .001). Limitations: The analysis did not include radio, television, and social media reporting of suicide.

Conclusions

While online reporting showed poorer guideline adherence than print reporting in relation to potentially damaging content, online reporting was also more likely to feature positive aspects, such as inclusion of sources of information and advice. There is clear scope for the training of online and print news journalists to improve awareness of and adherence to media guidelines to mitigate negative impacts on vulnerable individuals.