Assessing the quality of media reporting of suicide deaths in Pakistan against international guidelines

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In Pakistan, there is lack of official suicide data due to associated stigma and socio-cultural factors. Although, suicide incidents are regularly reported in newspapers there are no official suicide reporting guidelines. AIMS: The aim was to study the quality of suicide reporting in Pakistani newspapers and compare it to international media guidelines. METHOD: Newspaper reports on suicide deaths were searched in four Pakistani national newspapers from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2020. Data was extracted using templates based on World Health Organization and Reporting on Suicide media guidelines. RESULTS: There were total 2,295 suicides reported in 2 years. The word 'suicide' was mentioned in title of 2,113 (92.06%) reports. In 70.37% news articles, motive for suicide was reduced to a single factor. Method was mentioned in 95.6% suicides. Pictures accompanied 103 (4.4%) news reports. Only 13 (0.57%) the news stories recognized the link between substance abuse and suicide. None of the reports provided education to public about suicide or mentioned resources to seek help. CONCLUSIONS: The articles reporting on suicide deaths were regularly featured in Pakistani newspapers with strikingly low level of adherence to suicide reporting guidelines.