AAS Media Guidelines & Safe Messaging 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to safe messaging guidelines, how should news headlines about suicide be framed?
- Focus on the method and location to provide factual reporting
- Use language that emphasizes struggle and suffering to evoke empathy
- Avoid sensationalizing and focus on prevention resources and help-seeking (Correct answer)
- Include the victim's name prominently to personalize the story
Correct answer: Avoid sensationalizing and focus on prevention resources and help-seeking
Headlines should avoid sensationalism and instead direct audiences toward prevention resources and help-seeking behaviors.
Question 2: Which of the following is considered a 'contagion effect' risk factor in suicide media reporting?
- Reporting on mental health resources available in the community
- Detailed descriptions of the method used in a suicide (Correct answer)
- Interviewing crisis counselors about warning signs
- Publishing statistics about national suicide rates
Correct answer: Detailed descriptions of the method used in a suicide
Detailed method descriptions can trigger imitation behavior in vulnerable individuals, a phenomenon known as the Werther Effect.
Question 3: When covering a celebrity suicide, which approach aligns with safe messaging guidelines?
- Providing detailed coverage of the celebrity's emotional state before death
- Exploring the romantic relationships that may have contributed to the death
- Highlighting the celebrity's life achievements and referencing crisis resources (Correct answer)
- Speculating about undiagnosed mental illness to explain the death
Correct answer: Highlighting the celebrity's life achievements and referencing crisis resources
Safe messaging guidelines recommend focusing on life achievements rather than death details, and always including crisis resources.
Question 4: The 'Papageno Effect' in media reporting refers to:
- The increase in suicide rates following detailed media coverage
- The protective effect of stories showing coping and survival (Correct answer)
- The requirement to name crisis hotlines in all coverage
- The media blackout policy after high-profile suicides
Correct answer: The protective effect of stories showing coping and survival
The Papageno Effect describes how stories of people who overcame suicidal crises can reduce suicide risk in readers.
Question 5: Safe messaging guidelines recommend that crisis line numbers should appear in media coverage:
- Only in articles that discuss completed suicides
- At the end of any content that addresses suicide or mental health crisis (Correct answer)
- Only when requested by the mental health community
- Exclusively in television broadcasts, not print media
Correct answer: At the end of any content that addresses suicide or mental health crisis
Crisis resources like 988 should appear at the end of any content touching on suicide, regardless of medium.
Question 6: Which phrase should journalists AVOID when reporting on suicide according to AAS guidelines?
- "died by suicide"
- "took their own life"
- "committed suicide" (Correct answer)
- "lost their life to suicide"
Correct answer: "committed suicide"
"Committed suicide" implies criminality and stigma; preferred language is "died by suicide" or "lost their life to suicide."
Question 7: When should a journalist consult a suicide prevention expert during reporting?
- Only when covering cluster suicides in schools
- Only after the article is published to review accuracy
- Before publishing any story involving suicide to review for harmful content (Correct answer)
- Only when the subject is a public figure
Correct answer: Before publishing any story involving suicide to review for harmful content
Consulting prevention experts before publication helps identify and correct potentially harmful framing or details.
AAS Media Guidelines & Safe Messaging 2
According to safe messaging guidelines, how should news headlines about suicide be framed?