Do Tamil newspapers educate the public about suicide? Content analysis from a high suicide Union Territory in India

Abstract

Background: Responsible media reporting of suicide is a key population-level suicide prevention strategy. Thus far, there has been no systematic analysis of media reporting of suicide in Puducherry, a consistently high suicide burden state in India. Aim: To evaluate the adherence of media reports of suicide against the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines in Puducherry. Method: We conducted a year-round content analysis of all suicide-related reports in the two most widely read vernacular dailies of Puducherry. We used a pre-defined data extraction form and coded each item based on the WHO reporting guidelines. Results: A total of 318 suicide reports were retrieved. Harmful reporting practices such as mentioning the method of suicide (99.1%), description of the steps involved (68.2%) and location of suicide (86.5%), monocausal explanations (91.8%), and inciting life events (52.5%) were common. Helpful practices such as mentioning warning signs (1.3%), recognizing links with mental health disorders (3.8%) and effects on bereaved persons (2.2%) were rare. Only one article (0.31%) included any content related to educational/preventive aspects of suicide. Conclusion: Media reporting of suicide in Puducherry, India, does not adhere to reporting guidelines and there is very little focus on educating the public about preventive aspects of suicide. Urgent efforts are warranted to improve the quality of media reporting which should include the development of national guidelines on suicide reporting and collaborative efforts that take into account barriers and perspectives of media professionals.