AAS Media Guidelines & Safe Messaging 5

Question 1

Which organization publishes widely-used media reporting guidelines on suicide in the United States?

Accepted Answer

AFSP, SAMHSA, and reporting on suicide organizations collaboratively

Answer

Organizations like AFSP, SAMHSA, and ReportingOnSuicide.org collaborate to produce and disseminate safe messaging guidelines for journalists.

Question 2

When a fictional TV show character dies by suicide, the MOST harmful element would be:

Accepted Answer

An on-screen visualization of the suicide method

Answer

On-screen visualization of suicide methods is associated with increased suicidal ideation and behavior in vulnerable viewers.

Question 3

Safe messaging guidelines advise against framing suicide as:

Accepted Answer

A 'solution' or 'escape' from life's problems

Answer

Framing suicide as an escape or solution can normalize it as a coping strategy for vulnerable individuals experiencing distress.

Question 4

A newsroom editor reviewing a story about a suicide cluster in a high school should REMOVE which element?

Accepted Answer

A list of the students' names and their methods of death

Answer

Naming victims alongside their methods compounds contagion risk by creating models of identification and imitation.

Question 5

According to safe messaging best practices, which person is MOST appropriate to interview for a suicide-related news story?

Accepted Answer

A mental health clinician specializing in suicide prevention

Answer

Mental health clinicians can provide accurate, de-stigmatizing context and prevention information without sharing potentially harmful details.

(AAS) American Association of Suicidology Certification Practice Test