Assessing the quality of suicide reporting in Portugal: 6 case studies of celebrities and non-celebrities over 25 years

Figures & data

Table 1. Media sources consulted by case study.

Media	Case studies
	Triple youth suicide	Journalist Miguel Ganhão Pereira	Singer Cândida Branca Flor	Jeweler Gil Sousa	Fashion designer João Branco	Actor Pedro Lima
Newspapers (CM and Público) (1)	From February 5 to February 20, 1996.	From December 5 to December 12, 2000.	From July 12 to July 20, 2001.	From October 29 to November 5, 2018.	From December 17 to December 24, 2018.	From June 20 to June 30, 2020.
Radio stations (TSF, RR, and Antena 1)	TSF had ‘no files available.’			The TSF news bulletins available online were analyzed:		All the news bulletins of the three radio stations were made available for this research.
				From October 29 to November 5, 2018.	From December 17 to December 24, 2018 (2).
	RR had ‘no files available.’
	At Antena 1, ‘nothing was found’ in the archive.		At Antena 1, there were 3 newscasts available.	At Antena 1, ‘nothing was found’ in the archive.
Television channels (RTP, SIC, and TVI) (3)	RTP’s and TVI’s archives were consulted in analog cassette systems, under the guidance of one of the staff members responsible for the archive.			News bulletins broadcast at 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. were available on the RTP and TVI websites: RTP Play and TVI Media Player, respectively:
				From October 29 to November 5, 2018.	From December 17 to December 24, 2018.	From June 20 to June 28, 2020.
	At SIC, the archive was consulted in a digital system called Invenio, under the guidance of one of the staff members responsible for the archive. All news programs of SIC and SIC Notícias (SIC’s news channel) up until the date of the consultation were available.
Websites	Search for ‘triple suicide’ on the Público and CM websites. No news items found.	Search for ‘Miguel Ganhão Pereira’ on the Público and CM websites.	Search for ‘Cândida Branca Flor’ on the Público and CM websites.	Search for ‘Gil Sousa’ on Google. All news items up until the date of the search were selected.	Search for ‘João Branco’ on Google. All news items up until the date of the search were selected.	Search for ‘Pedro Lima’ on the Público and CM websites. All news items up until the date of the search were selected.

Note.

(1) Newspapers were consulted at a physical newspaper archive, called Hemeroteca, and on the newspapers’ websites.(2) ‘TSF Mornings’ from December 21 to 24, 2018, were not available online. The deputy director of TSF explained to us that any newscasts that were unavailable online and more than one year old would not be available elsewhere, since that is the legal period of retention of the records.

(3) The consultation of the television channels’ archives was coordinated by their respective file section managers, upon prior request by email.

Table 2. Analysis criteria drawn from the WHO guidelines.

Analyzed criteria	WHO recommendations for suicide reporting
A) Analysis of location and images
1. No prominent location (1)	Don’t place stories about suicide prominently. (2017)
2. No images of the dead 3. No images of the suicide method 4. No images of the suicide scene/place	Photographs of the deceased, of the method used and of the scene of the suicide are to be avoided. (2000)
B) Content analysis
5. The word suicide is not used in the title (2)	The word ‘suicide’ should not be used in the headline. (2017)
6. No use of sensationalist language/ sensational presentation of suicide (3)	Don’t use language which sensationalizes or normalizes suicide or presents it as a constructive solution to problems. (2017)
7. No glorification of suicide victims as martyrs or objects of adulation	Glorifying a celebrity’s death may suggest that society honors suicidal behavior. For this reason, particular care should be taken in reporting celebrity suicides. (2008)
8. Mention of the existence of a mental health problem (4)	Any mental health problem the celebrity may have had should also be acknowledged. (2000)
9. Citation of a mental health professional	Media professionals should seek advice from local suicide prevention experts when preparing stories about suicide. (2017)
10. Suicide is not presented as a solution to problems	Don’t use language which sensationalizes or normalizes suicide or presents it as a constructive solution to problems. (2017)
11. No simplistic reasons given for suicide	Language that misinforms the public about suicide, normalizes it or provides simplistic explanations for a suicide should also be avoided. (2017)
12. No use of language that normalizes suicide
13. The method of suicide is not described explicitly	Don’t explicitly describe the method used. (2017)
14. No detailed information about the location of the suicide	Don’t provide details about the site/location. (2017)
15. No citation of a suicide note	Suicide notes, final text messages, social media posts and emails from the deceased individual should not be published. (2017)
16. Suicide is either confirmed or not referred to (not presented as hypothesis)	Speculation about suicide on the part of the media can be harmful, and it is preferable to wait for the cause of death. (2008)
17. Due consideration for people bereaved by suicide	Show due consideration for people bereaved by suicide. (2008)
18. Support contacts or information on where to seek help are provided	Information about support resources should be provided at the end of all stories about suicide. (2017)
19. Alternatives to suicide are presented	Highlight alternatives to suicide. (2000)
20. The news piece educates the audience about suicide	Do educate the public about the facts of suicide and suicide prevention, without spreading myths. (2017)
21. Indication of risk factors and warning signs of suicidal behavior	Publicize risk indicators and warning signs of suicidal behavior. (2000)
22. There is an association between depression and suicidal behavior	Conveying the message that depression is often associated with suicidal behavior and that depression is a treatable condition. (2000)
23. Description of physical consequences of non-fatal suicide attempts	Describing the physical consequences of non-fatal suicide attempts (brain damage, paralysis, etc.) can act as a deterrent. (2000)
24. Stories about coping with stressors and suicidal thoughts are presented	Do report stories of how to cope with life stressors or suicidal thoughts, and how to get help. (2017)
C) Analysis of the repetition of news pieces about a reported suicide
25. Number of news items published 26. Number of days with news items published 27. Period of news coverage	Don’t unduly repeat stories about suicide. (2017)

Note.

(1) Regarding TV and radio news bulletins, we considered the beginning and the end, as well as the last news pieces to be shown before the breaks, as a prominent location.(2) We considered the title and pre-title as a unit of analysis.

(3) We deemed sensationalist the use of words such as ‘tragedy,’ ‘shock,’ and ‘devasted’; the overly detailed description of the suicide method; and the use of images that showed the suffering of bereaved family and friends. We also considered the rules of Luce (2016) to detect stigmatizing and sensationalistic reporting.

(4) We expanded the ‘Is the existence of a mental health problem mentioned?’ criterion to include not only the references to the mental health problems of the people who died by suicide but also the discussions around mental health elicited by those suicides.

Table 3. Compliance with the WHO guidelines by case study.

	Triple youth suicide (1996)	Miguel Ganhão Pereira (2000)	Cândida Branca Flor (2001)	Gil Sousa (2018)	João Branco (2018)	Pedro Lima (2020)	Total	Total news items analyzed
1. No prominent location (1)	37%	27%	60%	100%	100%	60%	55%	303
2. No images of the dead	97%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	99%	347
3. No images of the suicide method (If applicable)	79%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	96%	347
4. No images of the suicide scene/place	68%	100%	84%	100%	100%	86%	86%	347
5. The word suicide is not used in the title (If applicable)	25%	67%	100%	82%	88%	98%	91%	233
6. No use of sensationalist language/sensational presentation of suicide	27%	75%	96%	41%	72%	73%	65%	374
7. No glorification of suicide victims as martyrs or objects of adulation	100%	50%	80%	82%	70%	65%	73%	374
8. Mention of the existence of a mental health problem	5%	0%	28%	6%	4%	27%	19%	374
9. Citation of a mental health professional	13%	0%	0%	0%	0%	3%	4%	374
10. Suicide is not presented as a solution to problems	81%	100%	72%	76%	100%	99%	93%	374
11. No simplistic reasons given for suicide	57%	100%	52%	35%	100%	92%	82%	374
12. No use of language that normalizes suicide	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	374
13. The method of suicide is not described explicitly	35%	75%	68%	88%	87%	88%	77%	374
14. No detailed information about the location of the suicide	40%	75%	20%	29%	96%	44%	48%	374
15. No citation of a suicide note	40%	100%	100%	94%	100%	87%	82%	374
16. Suicide is either confirmed or not referred (not presented as hypothesis)	100%	100%	100%	94%	100%	94%	97%	374
17. Due consideration for people bereaved by suicide	56%	92%	96%	82%	100%	86%	83%	374
18. Support contacts or information on where to seek help are provided	2%	0%	0%	0%	2%	4%	3%	374
19. Alternatives to suicide are presented	14%	0%	0%	0%	0%	6%	6%	374
20. The news piece educates the audience about suicide	38%	8%	0%	0%	0%	11%	13%	374
21. Indication of risk factors and warning signs of suicidal behavior	60%	0%	0%	0%	0%	10%	16%	374
22. There is an association between depression and suicidal behavior	11%	0%	32%	6%	4%	25%	19%	374
23. Description of physical consequences of non-fatal suicide attempts	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	374
24. Stories about coping with stressors and suicidal thoughts are presented	2%	0%	0%	0%	0%	5%	3%	374

Note. (1) The links to internet news, apart from those of CM, do not provide any indication as to the positioning of those news in the corresponding websites. Therefore, it is not possible to assess whether they were published in a prominent place. The links to CM’s online news do contain the indication ‘highlights’ or ‘main highlights.’

Table 4. Compliance with the WHO guidelines by media outlet.

	TVI	RTP	SIC	Público	CM	Público website	CM website	Other websites	RR	Antena 1	TSF	Total	Total news items
1. No prominent location	50%	70%	43%	45%	38%	–	79%	–	7%	43%	50%	55%	303
2. No images of the dead	100%	82%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	–	–	–	99%	347
3. No images of the suicide method (If applicable)	95%	82%	84%	100%	98%	100%	100%	100%	–	–	–	96%	347
4. No images of the suicide scene/place	81%	64%	64%	100%	85%	100%	89%	100%	–	–	–	86%	347
5. The word suicide is not used in the title (If applicable)	–	–	–	55%	92%	79%	100%	84%	–	–	–	91%	233
6. No use of sensationalist language/ sensational presentation of suicide	59%	73%	68%	45%	42%	95%	69%	58%	93%	100%	100%	65%	374
7. No glorification of suicide victims as martyrs or objects of adulation	68%	64%	93%	73%	67%	74%	78%	72%	57%	29%	33%	73%	374
8. Mention of the existence of a mental health problem	0%	9%	14%	9%	29%	32%	38%	6%	0%	0%	0%	19%	374
9. Citation of a mental health professional	5%	9%	5%	18%	2%	21%	1%	0%	0%	0%	0%	4%	374
10. Suicide is not presented as a solution to problems	90%	100%	82%	73%	100%	89%	97%	94%	100%	100%	100%	93%	374
11. No simplistic reasons given for suicide	81%	100%	57%	64%	73%	84%	92%	82%	100%	100%	100%	82%	374
12. No use of language that normalizes suicide	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	374
13. The method of suicide is not described explicitly	69%	82%	70%	36%	71%	63%	85%	84%	100%	100%	100%	77%	374
14. No detailed information about the location of the suicide	54%	45%	43%	27%	54%	42%	46%	76%	14%	0%	0%	48%	374
15. No citation of a suicide note	69%	82%	66%	82%	83%	79%	84%	98%	100%	100%	100%	82%	374
16. Suicide is either confirmed or not referred (not presented as hypothesis)	100%	100%	93%	100%	98%	95%	93%	98%	100%	100%	100%	97%	374
17. Due consideration for people bereaved by suicide	88%	82%	70%	55%	75%	95%	81%	94%	100%	100%	100%	83%	374
18. Support contacts or information on where to seek help are provided	0%	0%	0%	9%	2%	53%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	3%	374
19. Alternatives to suicide are presented	7%	0%	5%	18%	6%	32%	4%	0%	0%	0%	0%	6%	374
20. The news piece educates the audience about suicide	27%	0%	9%	27%	10%	37%	12%	0%	0%	0%	0%	13%	374
21. Indication of risk factors and warning signs of suicidal behavior	42%	0%	14%	45%	15%	32%	10%	0%	0%	0%	0%	16%	374
22. There is an association between depression and suicidal behavior	5%	9%	16%	9%	29%	37%	32%	6%	0%	0%	0%	19%	374
23. Description of physical consequences of non-fatal suicide attempts	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	374
24. Stories about coping with stressors and suicidal thoughts are presented	0%	0%	2%	9%	4%	26%	3%	0%	0%	0%	0%	3%	374

Luce, A. (2016). The Bridgned Suicides: Suicide and the Media. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.