Minister supports launch of new media guidelines

Date:   Monday 28 September 2009  
Contact: Suzanne Costello
Phone: +353 1 6710071
Email: s.costello@samaritans.org

Samaritans joins forces with Irish Association of Suicidology to promote responsible reporting of suicide

Today (Thursday 1 October 2009) the Minister for Equality, Disability and Mental Health, John Moloney, launches updated media guidelines to support journalists in their reporting of suicide and self-harm.

The latest guidelines, published by Samaritans in partnership with the Irish Association of Suicidology (IAS), feature new sections on the causes of copycat suicides and the reporting of murder-suicide.  Other key areas of guidance include information on working with bereaved families, understanding suicide and up-to-date facts and statistics.

With over 650 suicides every year in Ireland, suicide is a subject that will continue to attract widespread media interest but extensive research shows that media portrayal can trigger imitative suicidal behaviour, particularly amongst young and vulnerable people.1  

Speaking ahead of the conference the Minister for Equality, Disability and Mental Health, John Moloney said: “One of my priorities is to break the taboo which often surrounds mental health and encourage people in distress to seek help from friends, family, or health professionals.  The media can play an important part in raising awareness about mental health and suicide.  It is important, however, that public debate and media coverage of suicide and mental health issues remains measured, well informed and sensitive to the needs and well-being of people in distress and indeed their families and friends. In this regard, I welcome the publication of the revised media guidelines being launched today.”

Suzanne Costello, Director of Samaritans’ Ireland said: “Research shows that responsible reporting of suicide by the media has the power to reduce the risk of copycat suicides occurring. The media also plays a vital role in directing distressed and suicidal people to Samaritans and other organisations that can offer support. Samaritans takes more than 300,000 calls each year in Ireland”.

Jane Arigho at Headline said: “We were delighted to be part of updating the media guidelines.  We feel that media guidelines are a vital tool which will support media professionals when reporting on suicide and self-harm related issues. The guidelines will enable the media to be better prepared to manage the difficult task of reporting on these serious issues.”

The launch of the updated IAS/Samaritans’ media guidelines will take place on Thursday 1 October 2009, at the IAS’s 13th Annual conference: Conference Centre, Dunraven Arms, Advare, Co. Limerick from 9 – 9:45am. If you would like to attend, order a copy of the guidelines or arrange to interview a Samaritans’ or IAS spokesperson please contact Gina Phillips, Tel: +353 1 6710071, email g.phillips@samaritans.org

Download the 2009 Media Guidelines for Ireland (1.5MB PDF document)

Notes to editors

The guidelines have been endorsed by John Maloney, Minister for Equality, Disability and Mental Health, Professor Keith Hawton, Director of the Centre for Suicide Research, Oxford University, the Press Council for Ireland, the National Office for Suicide Prevention, Headline, the Belfast News Letter, the Irish Film Classification Office, the Irish National Union of Journalists and The Irish Sunday Times.

Samaritans in Ireland receives over 311,371 contacts a year by phone, email, letter and face-to-face.

It is the aim of Samaritans to make emotional health a mainstream issue.  Samaritans' vision is for a society where fewer people die by suicide because people are able to share feelings of emotional distress openly without fear of being judged.  Samaritans believes that offering people the opportunity to be listened to in confidence, and accepted without prejudice, can alleviate despair and suicidal feelings.

Samaritans is a registered charity, founded in 1953, which offers 24-hour confidential emotional support to anyone in emotional distress.  The service is offered by 2,427 (as of the end of June 2009) trained volunteers and is entirely dependent on voluntary support.  You can call Samaritans on 1850 60 90 90 in the Republic of Ireland  and 08457 90 90 90 in Northern Ireland, email jo@samaritans.org, write to Samaritans at Chris, PO Box 9090, Stirling, FK8 2SA, or if you are deaf or hard of hearing use the single national minicom number 08457 90 91 92. Log on to www.samaritans.org for more information. Calls from BT will be charged at up to 2 pence per minute at all times. A call set-up fee of 7 pence applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers' charges may vary.

1. Blood, R.W., Pirkis, J. & Holland, K. Media Reporting of Suicide Methods. Crisis 2007; Vol. 28 (suppl.1): 64-69.