For my dissertation I decided on the title “Suicide to Sidewalk: A critical analysis of whether suicide is ethically portrayed within the British media” and have been researching the topic in great detail over the past few months. When I started looking in to the reporting of suicide, the main areas I was going to focus on were the reports surrounding David Kelly’s death, reports of young people and the 9/11 “falling man” photograph… however then came Bridgend.
The suicides which have taken place in Bridgend, Wales have provided some classic examples of how to and how not to report suicide. Following one of the victim’s mothers speech on the media’s influence which she claimed led to his death, the media has been finding itself under scrutiny. So of course, I dropped a lot of the research I was conducting and went about researching the Bridgend suicides which now form the main part of my dissertation.
As part of my dissertation I am surveying journalists, the public, mental health workers, professionals… anybody who reads a newspaper really and asking them how ethically they think newspapers report suicide. I have also asked what words people think are acceptable/unacceptable to use when reporting suicide, the main reason the alleged connotations behind using “committed suicide” in a report.
The link to the survey is http://www.eSurveysPro.com/Survey.aspx?id=bbe536df-06ed-45f8-8d93-d392e32b9229 if you could spare a few minutes and answer the questions that would be brilliant.
If anyone is able to help me with my research then please do get in touch at williams.emmajane@gmail.com
Will keep you up to date with how the write up is coming.
