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      PRINTQUAL – A Measure for Assessing the Quality of Newspaper Reporting of Suicide

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          Abstract

          Background: Many studies have demonstrated a relationship between newspaper reporting of actual or fictional suicides and subsequent suicidal behaviors. Previous measures of the quality of reporting lack consistency concerning which specific elements should be included and how they should be weighted. Aims: To develop an instrument, PRINTQUAL, comprising two scales of the quality (poor and good) of newspaper reporting of suicide that can be used in future studies of reporting. Method: A first draft of the PRINTQUAL instrument was compiled, comprising items indicative of poor- and good-quality newspaper reporting based on guidelines and key sources of evidence. This was refined by team members and then circulated to a group of international experts in the field for further opinion and weighting of individual items. Results: The final instrument comprised 19 items in the poor-quality scale and four in the good-quality scale. Following training, agreement between raters was acceptably high for most items (κ ≥ .75) except for three items for which agreement was still acceptable (κ ≥ .60). Conclusion: The PRINTQUAL instrument for assessing the quality of newspaper reporting of suicide appears appropriate for use in research and monitoring in future studies.

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          Suicide in the media: a quantitative review of studies based on non-fictional stories.

          Research on the effect of suicide stories in the media on suicide in the real world has been marked by much debate and inconsistent findings. Recent narrative reviews have suggested that research based on nonfictional models is more apt to uncover imitative effects than research based on fictional models. There is, however, substantial variation in media effects within the research restricted to nonfictional accounts of suicide. The present analysis provides some explanations of the variation in findings in the work on nonfictional media. Logistic regression techniques applied to 419 findings from 55 studies determined that: (1) studies measuring the presence of either an entertainment or political celebrity were 5.27 times more likely to find a copycat effect, (2) studies focusing on stories that stressed negative definitions of suicide were 99% less likely to report a copycat effect, (3) research based on television stories (which receive less coverage than print stories) were 79% less likely to find a copycat effect, and (4) studies focusing on female suicide were 4.89 times more likely to report a copycat effect than other studies. The full logistic regression model correctly classified 77.3% of the findings from the 55 studies. Methodological differences among studies are associated with discrepancies in their results.
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            The relationship between media reporting of suicide and actual suicide in Australia.

            This study aimed to determine whether media items about suicide were associated with differential increases in actual suicides. Data were available on 4,635 suicide-related items appearing in Australian newspapers and on radio and television news and current affairs shows between March 2000 and February 2001. These data were combined with national data on completed suicides occurring during the same period, by a process that involved identifying the date and geographical reach of the media items and determining the number of suicides occurring in the same location in selected weeks pre- and post-item. Regression analyses were conducted to determine whether the likelihood of an increase in post-item suicides could be explained by particular item characteristics. We found that 39% of media items were followed by an increase in male suicides, and 31% by an increase in female suicides. Media items were more likely to be associated with increases in both male and female suicides if they occurred in the context of multiple other reports on suicide (versus occurring in isolation), if they were broadcast on television (versus other media), and if they were about completed suicide (versus attempted suicide or suicidal ideation). Different item content appeared to be influential for males and females, with an increase in male suicides being associated with items about an individual's experience of suicide and opinion pieces, and an increase in female suicides being associated with items about mass- or murder-suicide. Item prominence and quality were not differentially associated with increases in male or female suicides. Further research on this topic is required, but in the meantime there is a need to remain vigilant about how suicide news is reported. Mental health professionals and suicide experts should collaborate with media professionals to try to balance 'public interest' against the risk of harm.
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              Media impacts on suicide: a quantitative review of 293 findings

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                cri
                Crisis
                The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention
                Hogrefe Publishing
                0227-5910
                2151-2396
                September 2014
                2014
                : 35
                : 6
                : 431-435
                Affiliations
                [ 1 ] College of Medicine, Institute of Life Sciences 2, Swansea University, UK
                [ 2 ] Centre for Suicide Research, University Department of Psychiatry, Warnford Hospital, Oxford, UK
                [ 3 ] Institute for Media and Communication Research, Bournemouth University, UK
                [ 4 ] School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK
                [ 5 ] Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh Medical School, UK
                Author notes
                Ann John, College of Medicine, Swansea University, 3rd Floor ILS2, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK +44 (0)1792 60-2568 +44 (0)1792 51-3430 a.john@ 123456swansea.ac.uk
                Article
                cri_35_6_431
                10.1027/0227-5910/a000276
                fb2fe337-44c5-4342-8d53-51926848f00e
                Copyright @ 2014
                History
                : December 9, 2013
                : May 13, 2014
                : May 14, 2014
                Categories
                Short Report

                Emergency medicine & Trauma,Psychology,Health & Social care,Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry,Public health
                quality score,suicide,media

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