Media Guidelines & Safe Messaging Flashcards
7 cards from real AAS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Media Guidelines & Safe Messaging flashcards as text
Which organization publishes widely-used media reporting guidelines on suicide in the United States?
Answer: AFSP, SAMHSA, and reporting on suicide organizations collaboratively
Organizations like AFSP, SAMHSA, and ReportingOnSuicide.org collaborate to produce and disseminate safe messaging guidelines for journalists.
When a fictional TV show character dies by suicide, the MOST harmful element would be:
Answer: An on-screen visualization of the suicide method
On-screen visualization of suicide methods is associated with increased suicidal ideation and behavior in vulnerable viewers.
Safe messaging guidelines advise against framing suicide as:
Answer: A 'solution' or 'escape' from life's problems
Framing suicide as an escape or solution can normalize it as a coping strategy for vulnerable individuals experiencing distress.
A newsroom editor reviewing a story about a suicide cluster in a high school should REMOVE which element?
Answer: A list of the students' names and their methods of death
Naming victims alongside their methods compounds contagion risk by creating models of identification and imitation.
According to safe messaging best practices, which person is MOST appropriate to interview for a suicide-related news story?
Answer: A mental health clinician specializing in suicide prevention
Mental health clinicians can provide accurate, de-stigmatizing context and prevention information without sharing potentially harmful details.
Which type of media content has been shown to have a PROTECTIVE effect against suicide?
Answer: Celebrity accounts of suicidal crises and subsequent recovery
Celebrity accounts of surviving suicidal crises and seeking help are associated with increased help-seeking behavior in their audiences.
Safe messaging training for journalists most critically emphasizes which core principle?
Answer: Responsible reporting can save lives by connecting readers to resources and reducing stigma
The core message of safe messaging training is that thoughtful, responsible journalism can actively prevent suicide rather than cause harm.