Hard News: The Suicide Question
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I've been quite shocked today about the reporting of homicide on the front page of the Herald, I must say.
and Denis Welch on the weekend newspaper market
He is tremendous value, isn't he? You should have him more often.
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I've been quite shocked today about the reporting of homicide on the front page of the Herald, I must say.
Yep, that illustration certainly made me go WTH into my morning coffee. With that in mind, Russell's question:
And do we trust news organisations in this fevered age to use any new freedoms responsibly
is certainly valid.
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He is tremendous value, isn't he? You should have him more often.
We thought the same thing ourselves.
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One thing that has irritated me both the times I've heard the topic discussed on Mediawatch is the appeal to a study showing that the New Zealand media are apparently more sensitive than those overseas about reporting suicide as a reason to loosen the restriction
Um, of course they're more sensitive. They're legally obliged to be.
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We'll also be looking at smoking on screen in the wake of the US Centre for Disease Control's call for an R rating on any movies that depict tobacco use. Prudent public health policy or social engineering?
I suppose that means I should finish this-here column on smoking censorship...
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And do we trust news organisations in this fevered age to use any new freedoms responsibly
Probably not -- but I've got to admit every time I hear that out of Jim Anderton's mouth, I qestion whether MPs can be trusted to use parliamentary privilege responsibly. There's ample evidence that the answer is "hell no".
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And he writes beautiful novels. (Well, one). Best book I ever did read. Human Remains . Just gorgeous.
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Sorry that was about Denis Welch. Not Jim Anderton.
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former New Zealand Labour Party president Mike Williams?
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former New Zealand Labour Party president Mike Williams?
Whoops. And heh.
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We'll also be looking at smoking on screen in the wake of the US Centre for Disease Control's call for an R rating on any movies that depict tobacco use. Prudent public health policy or social engineering?
None of the above: "fucking stupid" is closer to the mark. So, the DVD of Coco Avant Channel sitting next to the television (which has an MPAA rating of PG-13 for two or three softcore sex scenes tamer than your average episode of True Blood) would be on the same level as Piranha 3-D? The highlight of that "hard R" masterpiece is a man's cock being chewed off and squabbled over by carnivorous goldfish. (The glorious cap to that scene is the bulimic winner puking up the tasty morsel in the direction of the camera.)
Really? Everyone who thinks this won't turn into an utter farce should be strapped to a chair and forced to watch Kiby Dick's This Film Is Not Yet Raited, Clockwork Orange-style.
(Side bar: I've seen Requiem for a Dream , Drugstore Cowboy and Cronenberg's Naked Lunch several times apiece. Shouldn't I be a twitching junkie on a crime spree by now?)
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The weirdest thing about the Herald's death porn (see Dr Tiso's comment above) is that the stand-in for the dead man appears to be Nat Torkington...
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I've been quite shocked today about the reporting of homicide on the front page of the Herald, I must say.
It's all over the radio too, I'm surprised this isn't all sub judice till after a court case or coronial hearing...
...but this is the paper that "reported" a missing woman's body might be "cut up" while saying it didn't have to give any reason for the speculation, isn't it?
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the stand-in for the dead man appears to be Nat Torkington.
The bloke applying the squeeze also reminds me of front-row forward I can't quite place.
Incidentally, James Hollings writes carefully and does his research, even if some of his journalists colleagues don't. I have just written a chapter on NZ journalists with him, for a new edition of The Global Journalist (Routledge, forthcoming).
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the stand-in for the dead man appears to be Nat Torkington...
Can't be, I've just seen Nat Torkington win an Emmy
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The highlight of that "hard R" masterpiece is
You know, I avoid going to that sort of movie so I don't have to know what's in it. Although I generally agree with your point.
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...Piranha 3-D , whose highlight is a chap getting his cock chewed off and squabbled over by carnivorous goldfish? (The glorious cap to that scene is the bulimic winner puking up the tasty morsel in the direction of the camera.
It's been a long time since I've laughed at much at a film. Another highlight - the 3D spew, and Jerry O'Connell's 3D tongue. Absolutely glorious.
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I've just seen Nat Torkington win an Emmy
Nah, can't be - not enough swearing :)
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It's all over the radio too, I'm surprised this isn't all sub judice till after a court case or coronial hearing...
I think they've decided to go back to practicing journalism in the mould of Cary Grant in His Girl Friday - but without the class.
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I have always had a problem with the regulation of reporting suicide.
The problem seems to be the fear of copycats. I can understand worrying about copycat instances of Murder, Rape, Abduction. Even Drug taking, Drinking , Smoking, whatever But suicide?
If you feel life is so bad your only answer is killing yourself surely it is better to know that you are not the only one and that it is not that weird to think about it,. All those other instances are things that some people may do once, regret and, hopefully, never do again and be prevented from continuing by a responsible society. Suicide, on the other hand, is a one off. It is unique amongst behavioural problems and needs treating with compassion and understanding. This cannot be helped by pretending it doesn't happen. -
I may be mistaken but I recall a similiar line of logic many moons ago of portrayal provoking anorexia and so I imagine for other forms of self-harming, suicide the ultimate (pardon my tautology).
Vulnerable people may be susceptable to self-harm from many sources, too many to protect them from but hopefully enough to give us opportunities to reach out.
Caveat: The potential of well meant misguidedness is large. Celebrity boxing matches for youth suicide miss the mark much..?
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Jackie Clark - acknowledging that different books appeal to different readers, I have to say "Human Remains" was most disappointing for me- I expected way better from an experienced writer, especially at least *trying* to make plausible his scenario. The characters - hey! I cant remember a thing about them! Not even a name! (And I can for a lot of ANZ short stories, let alone novels...)
At least it was better that the Michael Lhaws thing that came out round about the same year(s) - but there, anything scraped on toilet paper would be...
o, I bought copies of both books. They moulder away somewhere out in the garage or one of the sheds.
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If you feel life is so bad your only answer is killing yourself surely it is better to know that you are not the only one and that it is not that weird to think about it
Well OTOH a person who is contemplating suicide is often acutely aware of their situation in magnified agonising detail. And their self appraisal is often correct. Its just the way out that calls out for outside assistance, and I mean ASSISTANCE.
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This reminds me of a recent Johann Hari article, in which he criticised the reporting of the Blackburn serial shooter Raoul Moat. In it, Hari relies on the same media effects model of intensive coverage as a causal factor in social behaviour that is at stake here:
This is what Hari had to say about the media effects of reporting suicide in that column:
"The evidence is clearer still when it comes to suicides. We have known for a long time that when the media reports on a high-profile suicide in detail, there will be a significant surge in the suicide rate. In the month after Marilyn Monroe killed herself, the suicide rate in the US rose by 12 percent. There are over 42 scientific studies showing that this is part of a general trend: the more intense and detailed the coverage, the more copycats you create. In the week after an episode of Casualty prominently showed a character taking an overdose, the overdosing rate in Britain rose by 17 per cent.
It works the other way, too: when the media shows restraint in reporting suicide, there is a dramatic decline. For example, from 1983 to 1986 there was a huge rise in people hurling themselves in front of trains on the Vienna subway system. Each jumper provoked a rash of lurid news stories recounting the victim's life at length. Finally the press, urged by the Austrian Association for Suicide Prevention, agreed to stop reporting on suicides. Within a year, the rate had fallen by more than 50 per cent, and it has never gone back.
Obviously, the media doesn't make people suicidal: nobody is that distressed by an episode of Casualty. But it does provide people who were already feeling suicidal with several tools – a method for doing it, a role model, and a narrative where suicide seems inevitable and suffering finally ends. This helps to erode their internal resistance. It pushes many that last fatal inch."
Hari cites a Dr Park Deitz as an authority in this context earlier in his column.
Craig Y -
Andin, several people in my family are - or have been - severely clincally depressed. Their meds - varying - generally work (some of them are lifelong) BUT we were warned as a family that, when the meds start working and the person feels 'better' - keep being there. Because, with renewed self-empowerment, some people think it is better for *everyone* just to commit suicide.
It has only been with massive family & medical system involvment that my whanau members are still - wonderfully! Thankfully! Joyously! - with us.
We can do this in functioning families- the people I am distressed about are those who *do not have functioning families.*
Would giving free help-phone/email/text numbers, preferably for trained non-religious (or otherwise-committed to viewpoint) people - and other pertinent info - along with any report of a suicide - be a good idea?
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