Nearly two years ago, in “Copycat Japanese“, I wrote about how I thought the media’s sensationalistic reporting of teenage suicides was to blame for spurring on more suicides. Recently, this suspicion was confirmed when I found out about researcher David Phillips’ studies from the 1970’s that showed a significant increase in not only suicides, but also car accidents and plane crashes in the days after a suicide is reported in the mass media. The explanation for all the traffic accidents is attributed to those wishing to commit suicide without placing a burden of guilt on family or friends.
I bring this up because of a recent teenage suicide in the U.K. A 17-year old boy, threatening to leap from the roof of a public building, was goaded into jumping by youths in the street below. The article I read, but won’t link to, gave an in-depth analysis with full color pictures of the victim and location, and the title included a disgusting quote from one of the youths in the street below. It may have been a quote, but it is stuck in my head and keeps reminding me of the article.
The story has triggered the usual public criticism of modern society in Britain, with the government, the education system and the parents being handed the blame. Yet all this publicity, as David Phillips showed, is only likely to encourage more suicides.
Are we to believe the media don’t know they influence copycat incidents? That can’t be the case because many countries have journalism codes to control the reporting of suicides. No. We have to accept that the media is well aware of the consequences of its actions and is putting profit before people, and that is simply unforgivable.
