AKEED, Aya Khawaldeh

Several Jordanian media outlets have continued to publish news about incidents involving suspected suicide without heeding legal, ethical, and professional rules that govern the coverage of such incidents. Usually, these incidents are open to all possibilities and hypotheses, which investigating agencies come up with.

The Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED) has been following Jordanian media outlets in their coverage of incidents involving suspected suicide. It issued a report early last month that includes tips for covering incidents of suicide.

Yesterday morning, Wednesday, social media sites were abuzz with reports, taken from news sites, about the suspected suicide of an employee at a daily newspaper. Conflicting reports were published about it; some media outlets confirmed that it was an act of suicide, while others reported that it was natural death. Other outlets elaborated on the motives of the suicide before the issuance of any official statement by the investigating agencies.

This news is part of media coverage of crimes and cases related to investigations conducted by security agencies. Usually, the coverage is governed by a set of legal and professional rules, key of which is not to influence the progress of the investigation, preventing provocation of public opinion and passing judgment beforehand, the right to respect privacy, protecting the dignity of individuals and families, and mitigating damage.

According to Dr. Sakhr Khasawneh, professor of media legislation, covering incidents that bear the suspicion of suicide must be done without explaining the cause of death or the method that was followed "because this could make those who have motives to commit suicide imitate this behavior and use the same methods."

In a statement to the Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED), he pointed out that publishing a report confirming suicide obstructs justice, especially if there are criminal suspicions around it.

The AKEED report on tips for covering incidents of suicide, which was issued by the organization Samaritans, included a number of tips to journalists while covering incidents of suicide to help them provide press reports without committing legal or ethical mistakes.

Based on the monitoring carried out by AKEED of media coverage of news about suspected suicide, after publishing the above report, the following observations can be made:

First: Confirming Suicide Without Taking Criminal Suspicions Into Consideration

Incidents of suicide are considered controversial issues that could include criminal suspicions. Therefore, media outlets must not judge them quickly when publishing news and must give enough room for security investigations to decide on this aspect. The following are some positive examples that abided by this rule:

"Accountant in Al Ghad Dies Inside Newspaper Building," "Death of 20-Year-Old Woman Under Investigation in Al Hashemi," "Suspected Suicide in Death of 20-Year-Old Woman at Famous Shawarma Restaurant in Al Hashemi," "Investigation Into Death of Girl Found Hanged at Restautant in Amman."

Second: Mentioning Method of Suicide in Headline

Many local media outlets committed the mistake of mentioning the method of suicide in the headline. This could suggest that this is the most important, easiest, and most common method followed in suicide. Other outlets spoke about new and unfamiliar methods, including suicide by using a wool shawl or metal wire. It would have been better to say "death by hanging." Following are some of these headlines:

"Girl Commits Suicide Inside Restaurant in Al Hashemi Al Shamali," "Girl Commits Suicide Inside Restaurant in Amman…Security Conducting Investigation," "Mentally Disturbed Person Commits Suicide by Cutting Veins in Jabal Al Nadhif,"Sexagenarian Man Commits Suicide by Cutting Veins of Hand in Jabal Al Nadhif," "Syrian Refugee Commits Suicide by Hanging Himself on Fence of Al Azraq Camp," "Girl Commits Suicide by Hanging Herself by Shawl," "Syrian Refugee Commits Suicide in Al Azraq by Hanging Himself With Scarf," "He Hanged Himself by Wool Scarf," "Syrian Commits Suicide by Hanging Himself With Metal Wire in Al Mafraq," "Young Man Commits Suicide in Abu Alanda by Hanging."

Third: Providing Information That Is Unimportant for Readers

Some monitored reports included information that is unimportant for readers, including mentioning details of the method of suicide, such as taking medication for hypertension, committing suicide by a shawl, or using an electric wire or a ceiling fan. When writing news, such details should be avoided so that they would not be imitated (the method was mentioned in this report to provide examples).

Fourth: Linking Circumstances of Suicide Victim to Motives for Suicide

Some media outlets established a connection between the circumstances of the suicide victim and the reasons for his suicide, while it is not certain. The media must be wary of this behavior because it triggers the danger of "imitative behavior." Some persons find common features between themselves and suicide victims.

Some journalists provided the reasons for suicide. This was the case in news about the suicide of a Tawjihi student in Bani Kinanah, as her death was linked to her failure in the General Secondary Examination. This is in addition to news about the death of an employee at a daily newspaper, which media outlets linked to his inability to have children or some financial problems. This could push people who face the same circumstances to behave in the same way.

Fifth: Choosing Inappropriate Photos To Illustrate Incident

Photos used in news about suicide must be chosen very carefully. Personal photos of victims must not be included. Photos play an important role in frightening those who think about committing suicide. Therefore, dramatic or emotional pictures must not be published as these make suicide look normal and all too familiar.  Here, some websites committed a mistake by publishing an illustration of a beautiful wool shawl arranged in an elegant manner as if suicide takes place by elegant means.

A daily newspaper published an illustrative photo of suicide, which is a hand smeared with blood placed next to a knife. The photo depicts the instrument of suicide artistically, which reduces the horrendous nature of the incident and does not help to frighten those who think of committing suicide.

Other media outlets published a photo of the previous incident, in which they showed a sharp instrument "blade," saying that it was his method of suicide. This is a depiction of the method followed in such incidents.

AKEED urges journalists to follow professional and ethical tips when conducting sensitive coverage related to suspected suicide and not to provide information that does not serve the public interest and that hurts the family of the suicide victim or negatively reflects on people"s behavior.