AKEED, Lana Kazkaz

Coverage of incidents of suicide is considered a sensitive matter in the profession of journalism. On the one hand, the public is interested in these cases and has the right to know about them. On the other, there are fears that the media could unwittingly encourage suicide through its depiction of such cases.

In the absence of clear and specific legislation in many countries on handling cases of suicide, press establishments have set their own standards for covering such issues. In some other countries, humanitarian organizations that are seeking to reduce suicide had a role in developing principles and rules on the best method for journalists to handle such cases. This is in view of the big role of the media in directing public opinion and the way in which the public reacts to incidents of suicide.

It is noticed that some local media outlets hasten to cover incidents of suicide and commit violations in writing sensational headlines, besides publishing explicit pictures of those involved in suicide attempts. Moreover, some news websites provide details of acts of suicide, such as tools that are used, method, and motives. However, newspapers and news websites in general do not mention names of persons who commit suicide or attempt to do so.

Since the beginning of 2018, official statistics have shown that 17 people committed suicide, besides nine attempts of suicide monitored by AKEED. The motives and reasons, according to media reports, had economic, psychological, and social dimensions. The ages of the people involved in suicide or attempted suicide ranged between 20 and 80. However, most cases were in the age group 20-30.

In 2016, there were 117 cases of suicide, while until September 2017, there were 104 cases of suicide, according to official statistics of the Criminal Information Administration at the Public Security Directorate. AKEED monitored the rest of the cases until the end of 2017. There were 10 more cases. Thus, the total was 114.

On local media handling of these cases since the beginning of the year, some websites published photos of a young man who committed suicide in a district in Amman under sensational headlines. In the attempted suicide of a woman, media outlets published a video and used headlines that focused on the publishing of a video and pictures in the report. Also, a video was published of a young man who attempted suicide in an Irbid district. The headlines focused on the pictures and video of the attempted suicide. Many pictures and videos were published of the attempt to dissuade a girl from committing suicide from the top of a building of one of the universities. Moreover, media outlets published a video of the man who tried to commit suicide inside a court building. Most of them highlighted the courage of the security man who prevented the man from committing suicide.

In a call with the Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED), Khaled Qudah, member of the Jordan Press Association Council, said that man is the center of attention of the media. The media is there to serve people, but the problem begins when man turns into material for the media in the case of suicide. He thinks that having a code of conduct to be agreed on by media establishments to make them return to their main role would reduce cases of suicide.

He added that the media must not link cases of suicide to general reasons, such as despair, difficult economic conditions, of failing in one's studies because any person who goes through these circumstances will adopt suicide as an alternative to reality or as an option. He said that cases of suicide started to take a serious turn. Previously, there were threats of suicide, followed by negotiations, which in most cases dissuaded people from committing suicide. However, we started seeing actual implementation of the idea of suicide.

Dr. Hussein Khuzae, professor of sociology, told AKEED that, based on following what is published in the media about suicide, the media is reporting incidents as news stories only, and nothing more. Here, it is not playing its educational role.

He thinks that it would have been better for the media to speak about suicide as a religiously prohibited act, social stigma, and aggressive behavior against a human being, whatever the motives. Besides, the media neglects a key point, which is that Jordanian law regards suspicions of suicide as a judicial case until proven otherwise. Therefore, no one can judge conclusively that it is a case of suicide immediately when it happens.

According to a specialized study, the greater the media coverage of suicide, the greater the cases of suicide, especially if it involves a celebrity. The highest rate of suicide cases was after the suicide of famous actress Marilyn Monroe as it increased by 12% in the same month.

Some fiction pieces could also encourage people to commit suicide. In 1774, The Sorrows of Young Werther, a novel by Goethe in which the protagonist commits suicide because of a failed romance, was banned. It was considered responsible for suicide cases in Italy, Leipzig, and Copenhagen.

When Final Exit, a book prescribing asphyxiation as the best means of suicide for patients, was published, the number of suicide cases in New York City rose by 313%, mostly by asphyxiation, according to forensic reports. Besides, a copy of the book was found at 27% of suicide sites.

The method of media coverage could have a great impact on cases of suicide. Therefore, the Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED) has developed a number of ethical guidelines for media coverage of cases of suicide. These include the following:

- The media should limit the scope of coverage of suicide and avoid sensational reporting. No detailed information about the method of suicide or the place where it happened should be provided. The media should not exaggerate cases of suicide and should avoid excessive positive depiction of the deceased.

- The media should discuss the complicated factors that led to suicide, which mostly involve extremely complex psychological problems. It must not oversimplify the cause of suicide or attribute it to a single factor, such as financial problems, disconnected family ties, or failure in examinations.

- The media should avoid dramatizing its reports and should not depict the act of suicide, the tools that were used, and the method used by the person who committed suicide.

- The media should use the words "died due to suicide," just as we say died due to a heart attack, in a bid to say that suicide was the cause of death, and nothing more. When we say "killed himself" or "ended his life" we give other dimensions to the subject that go beyond the question of death.

- The media should not link the causes of suicide to conditions in society, by attributing, for example, a case of suicide to rising unemployment or rising divorce rates.

- The media should avoid attributing suicide to simple problems (such as divorce, sickness, and family problems) as this could encourage other people to copy the same behavior. The more details people learn about cases of suicide, the greater the chances of finding things in common with persons who commit suicide.