The quality of online media reporting of celebrity suicide in India and its association with subsequent online suicide-related search behaviour among general population: An infodemiology study

"Dressed like boys, hair trimmed, a nalla kutti otherwise": construction of queer suicide in Indian online news media

Suicide is a significant newsworthy event, and the media often cover cases involving queer individuals. However, there is a notable lack of research on the quality of reporting of queer suicide cases within the Indian context. This article aims to address the existing gap in Indian online news media by investigating the portrayal of queer suicide via content analysis. Content analysis involves qualitatively condensing and interpreting data to extract key consistencies and meanings from a plethora of qualitative material. The newspapers considered span from 2005 to 2022, with data collection conducted in 2023. The author alone identified news articles on queer suicide and conducted the subsequent content analysis. The study reveals that reporting on queer suicide tends to divide queer couples into the gender binary and describes what it deems to be careless sexual conduct driven by obsessive queer love, which, in turn, is blamed for the suicide. Moreover, these reports often do the following: feature families who refuse to accept their children's identities, adopt dread-filled tones, and cite experts who provide incorrect information while engaging in victim blaming. As a result, the quality of queer suicide reporting in Indian newspapers is deemed substandard and offensive. To address this issue, the study proposes the need for training and curriculum updates in journalistic courses. This way, reporters can develop the skills necessary to sensitively and respectfully report on queer individuals in general and on queer suicide in particular.

Media's influence on suicide: Building a safer online world for all

In 1999, World Health Organization (WHO) initiated a global campaign focused on suicide prevention. In collaboration with International Association for Suicide Prevention, WHO compiled recommendations and resources intended to educate various societal and groups with the potential to impact suicide prevention, and this included the media. In order to combat the alarmingly high incidence of suicides (Tandon and Nathani, 2018), it is imperative to institute guidelines outlining how the social media forums ought to disseminate altruistic, essential educational content while. This work is a step toward achieving the same by laying down guidelines that could potentially reduce the suicide rate.

Long-Term Changes in the Quality of Media Reporting of Suicide Following a Celebrity Suicide in India

Online portals of selected English and local language newspapers and television channels were searched to identify suicide news reports published one year after the celebrity suicide (ACS). These reports (n = 1952) were compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, immediately following the celebrity suicide (ICS) (n = 2486), and a three-month period before the celebrity suicide (BCS) (n = 1381) to assess longitudinal changes in quality of media reporting. There was a decline in reporting of several potentially harmful characteristics over time such as mentioning the deceased's age and gender (p < .001 for both), and location of suicide (p < .001). The quality of media reporting of suicide was significantly better at one year compared to the period immediately following celebrity suicide. This change was mainly driven by an improvement in the reporting quality of English news reports while local language reports continued to remain poorly adherent to reporting guidelines.

Suicide reporting of LGBTQI+ population in India: An analysis of online media reports of the past decade

BACKGROUND

Imbalanced portrayal of suicide by the media can have adverse public health consequences. We aimed to evaluate the psychosocial context, as well as the quality of media reporting, of suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) population.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate online news reports discussing the suicide of LGBTQI+ persons published between January 2011 and January 2021. Psychosocial factors associated with suicide were extracted from the reports. Quality of suicide reporting was checked against international as well as locally relevant reporting guidelines.

RESULTS

A total of 135 suicide reports from five newspapers were analyzed. Multiple psychosocial stressors were reported in 54.5% of the suicides. Social stigma was the most common factor associated with LGBTQI+ suicide. Several breaches of reporting were noted in relation to mentioning the identity (55.6%) and method of suicide (54.3%) in the title of report and inclusion of the deceased's photograph (20.4%). Potentially helpful reporting characteristics, such as including educational information (2.2%), mentioning warning signs (12.6%) and suicide support service details (3.7%), were rarely practiced. Local language news articles displayed more frequent and serious violations compared to English news reports.

CONCLUSION

Indian media reporting of suicide among LGBTQI+ persons is poorly adherent to reporting guidelines.

Impact of Celebrity Suicides on mental health of vulnerable population

Suicide is culminating into a grave public health concern. Approximately 800,000 people worldwide commit suicide annually, with 3/4th owing to low- middle-income countries.(1) In 2016, the suicide rate in India was 16.5, exceeding the global average of 10.5/1,00,000.(1) Suicide is the deliberate ending of one's own life(2) and primarily done due to persistent sense of despair, depression, drug misuse, and various personal and financial stress factors. One such trigger is suicide by an eminent figure, also known as werthering effect, modelling effect, or copycat suicide. This phenomenon commonly affects the adolescent and younger adults. In India, the 15-29 age group were found most vulnerable.(1) Nearly 5% of consecutive suicides occur after a celebrity death primarily among young, female, and unemployed without being prompted by adverse life circumstances.(3)  Given the global gravity of suicide and India's contribution to it, it is critical to identify the psychopathology and risk factors behind it.

Quality of Media Reporting of Suicide in Nepal

Objectives. Suicide is a major public health concern. Sensible media reporting of suicide is one of the important prevention strategies. There has been no report assessing the quality of media reporting of suicide in Nepal. We aimed to assess the quality of newspaper reporting of suicide in Nepal against the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting guidelines. Methods. We undertook a content analysis study of articles from the online archives on reporting of suicide deaths in six English language (daily or weekly) newspapers published in Nepal over the two-year duration from a period between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020. Also, we compared them with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Results. A total of 165 English newspaper articles reporting on suicide were analyzed. 163 (98.8%) of news were published in the main section of the newspaper, and the mean length was 17.6 sentences. The name and age of the person who died of suicide were mentioned in about 69.1% ( $n=114$ ) and 53.3% ( $n=88$ ) articles, respectively. The most common method of suicide reported in the news articles was hanging (45.5%, $n=75$ ), followed by poisoning (11.5%, $n=19$ ). About 97.6% ( $n=161$ ) of news articles violated the recommendation provided in the WHO guidelines. Conclusions. The adherence to the WHO guidelines for media reporting of suicide in Nepal was found to be poor, with a large majority of news reports having at least one potentially harmful media characteristic. Only a small minority of news reports included potentially helpful information to prevent suicide.

The national suicide prevention strategy in India: context and considerations for urgent action

India reports the highest number of suicide deaths in the world. At this time when the Indian Government is formulating a national suicide prevention strategy, we have reviewed the current status of suicides in India, focusing on epidemiology, risk factors, and existing suicide prevention strategies to identify key challenges and priorities for suicide prevention. The suicide rate among Indian girls and women continues to be twice the global rate. Suicide accounts for most deaths in the 15-39 years age group compared with other causes of death. Hanging is the most common method of suicide, followed by pesticides poisoning, medicine overdose, and self-immolation. In addition to depression and alcohol use disorders as risk factors, several social and cultural factors appear to increase risk of suicide. The absence of a national suicide prevention strategy, inappropriate media reporting, legal conflicts in the interpretation of suicide being punishable, and inadequate multisectoral engagement are major barriers to effective suicide prevention. A scaffolding approach is useful to reduce suicide rates, as interventions provided at the right time, intensity, and duration can help navigate situations in which a person might be susceptible to and at risk of suicide. In addition to outlining research and data priorities, we provide recommendations that emphasise multilevel action priorities for suicide prevention across various sectors. We call for urgent action in India by integrating suicide prevention measures at every level of public health, with special focus on the finalisation and implementation of the national suicide prevention strategy.

Do online media adhere to the responsible suicide reporting guidelines? A cross sectional study from India

BACKGROUND

The content and nature of media reports could influence suicide prevention measures.

AIM

To evaluate contemporary online media reports' compliance with guidelines for responsible reporting of suicidal acts from Indian resources.

METHODS

We included English and Hindi articles for reports concerning suicide, published by local and national media sources for 30 consecutive days from the day of death of a celebrity by alleged suicide. The search was performed in Google News with predefined search queries and selection criteria. Two independent investigators did data extraction. Subsequently, each news report was assessed against guidelines for the responsible reporting of suicide by the WHO and the Press Council of India.

RESULTS

We identified 295 articles (Hindi n = 172, English n = 123). Results showed more than 80% of the media reports deviated from at least one criterion of the recommendations. A maximum breach was seen in the news article's headlines, sensational reportage and detailed suicide methods description. Significant differences were seen in the quality of English and Hindi reporting and reporting celebrity and noncelebrity suicide. Additional items revealed were reporting suicide pacts, linking multiple suicides in a single news report, allowing user-generated threads and linking Religion and suicide.

CONCLUSION

Measures are required to implement reporting recommendations in the framework of a national suicide prevention strategy.

Media reporting on deaths due to suicide attributed to gaming in digital news: A case of misrepresentation and missed opportunities

INTRODUCTION

We aimed to study the attributes of the digital media reports on death due to suicide attributed to gaming. We also aimed to assess the overlap between the 'gaming' and 'gambling' activities in these media reports.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The online media reports on the theme of deaths due to suicides attributed to digital gaming in India were retrieved using the Google News online platform. The news reports were searched in the tor browser using the keywords "gaming suicide India" or "gaming death India".

RESULTS

Gaming was identified as the direct reason for death due to suicide in an overwhelming majority (94.8%) of news reports. A large proportion of the reports failed to report death due to suicide in a responsible manner following the guidelines for responsible media reporting of suicide given by the World Health Organization (WHO). Stakeholders' views and opinions mentioned in the news reports included parents, caregivers or friends (17.5%), other gamers (3.1%), gaming industry (8.3%), and mental health professionals (5.2%). Around 24 per cent reports advocated a ban on 'gaming'.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on our observations we recommend responsible reporting on death due to suicide in the online news. Also, there should be a more rigorous and systematic attempt before reaching at the conclusion while attributing these deaths to gaming. Finally, the news reports should ensure that the boundaries between 'gaming' and 'gambling' do not get blurred.

Changing trends in quality of media reporting of suicide in the community following a celebrity suicide in India

OBJECTIVE

Little is known about changes in quality of media reporting of suicide in the community following a celebrity suicide. Our objective was to compare trends in quality of media reporting of suicide, before and after the suicide of an Indian entertainment celebrity, against the World Health Organization suicide reporting guidelines.

METHOD

Online news portals of English and local language newspapers, as well as television channels, were searched to identify relevant suicide-related news articles. Comparison of reporting characteristics before and after the celebrity suicide was performed using chi-square test or Fisher's exact test.

RESULTS

A total of 3867 eligible news reports were retrieved. There was a significant increase in harmful reporting characteristics, such as reporting the name, age and gender of the deceased (p < 0.001 for all comparisons), mentioning the location (p < 0.001) and reason for suicide (p = 0.04) and including photos of the deceased (p = 0.002) following the celebrity suicide. Helpful reporting practices were less affected; there was a significant rise in inclusion of expert opinion (p = 0.04) and mention of suicide-related warning signs (p = 0.02).

CONCLUSION

Following a celebrity suicide, significant changes in the quality of media reporting of suicide were noted with an increase in several potentially harmful reporting characteristics.

Appropriate Strategies for Reducing the Negative Impact of Online Reports of Suicide and Public Opinion From Social Media in China

Suicide events may have a negative impact on all of society. The media plays a significant role in suicide prevention. Therefore, the aims of this study are (a) to understand the association between characteristics of suicide events and characteristics of who committed suicide, and event impact indexes (EIIs) of suicide reported on the internet; (b) to analyze violation of recommendations for reporting suicide by Weibo, and (c) to investigate the effect of online reports of suicide on public opinion. We carried out a content analysis of online reports of suicide. This study analyzed 113 suicide events, 300 news reports of suicide, and 2,654 Weibo comments about suicide collected from the WeiboReach between 2015 and 2020. We used a t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to explore the potential factors associated with the EIIs of suicide events. The results found that (a) The suicide events reported on the internet during COVID-19 and those related to celebrities and students tend to have higher EIIs; (b) suicide reports on Weibo frequently violated WHO recommendations for suicide reporting in the media; and (c) public opinion of suicide reporting in the online media was mostly emotional and irrational, which is not beneficial for public mental health and suicide prevention. In conclusion, first, the situation of many people working from home or studying from home and spreading more time online during COVID-19 may lead to suicide events obtain more public attention. Online media could further improve public responsible reporting and daily media-content surveillance, especially taking particular care in those suicide events during COVID-19, and related to celebrities and students, which may have a higher event impact on the internet. Second, health managers should regular assessment of observance of the WHO recommendations for suicide reporting by online social media to prevent suicide. Third, health communication managers should use big data to identify, assess, and manage harmful information about suicide; and track anyone affected by suicide-related reports on social media to reduce the negative impact of public opinion to intervene suicide in the early stage of suicide.

Addressing Mental Health Stigma in Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries: A New Frontier for Digital Mental Health

BACKGROUND

Mental health stigma is a major barrier to seeking help, and leads to poor quality of life and social withdrawal for individuals living with mental illness. These concerns are especially severe in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) that face a disproportionate share of the global burden of mental illnesses. With growing access to digital technologies in LMICs, there may be new opportunities to address mental health stigma. This review considers the potential for emerging digital technologies to advance efforts to challenge mental health stigma in LMICs.

METHODS

Promising digital strategies to reduce mental health stigma were identified through searching the peer-reviewed literature. Drawing from the Mental Illness Stigma Framework, these studies of digital strategies were grouped into three categories: 1) protest; 2) education, and 3) contact.

RESULTS

These three categories align with established stigma reduction programs. Digital strategies could expand the reach of or complement existing efforts. There are challenges with digital stigma reduction strategies, including the need for cultural adaptation of these programs to diverse contexts and settings, consideration of reliable measurement of mental health related stigma, and risks that digital media could perpetuate the spread of misinformation and exacerbate concerns pertaining to mental health stigma.

CONCLUSION

This review highlights the promise of technology for addressing mental health stigma in LMICs. This is imperative in the face of growing demand for mental health services owing to the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the increasing reliance on digital platforms among individuals in most countries.

Portrayal of mental illness in Indian newspapers: A cross-sectional analysis of online media reports

BACKGROUND

Media portrayal of mental illness may influence public stigma and service utilization.

AIM

This study aims to explore the overall tone and content of the news articles on mental illnesses in India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on online English and Hindi news portals for articles which made reference to mental illness, published by local and national media sources between September 2019 and August 2020. The search was performed using location and news-only filters in the "Google" search engine; we used predefined search queries and selection criteria. A previously published checklist was used for the content analysis; it was done by two independent investigators.

RESULTS

A total of 273 news reports met inclusion criteria (Hindi n = 164, English n = 109). Results showed that more than half (54.9%) had a positive tone. Nearly a third (30.8%) of these articles were stigmatizing in tone. Persons with mental illness were portrayed as violent, unreliable, and unpredictable. Uses of blanket terms (33.3%) such as mentally ill, mentally unstable, mentally retarded, and stigmatizing photographs (36.9%) were also common. Overall, Hindi media had a significantly better quality of reporting than the English language media. National media reports had a less negative and stigmatizing tone than local articles.

CONCLUSION

There is a need for a concerted attempt to improve the quality of media reporting of mental illness in India.

Mental Health Issues in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Responses in Bangladesh: View Point of Media Reporting

Background: The negative impact of COVID-19 on mental health has been reported by media throughout the world, although this role is not well-understood in low-and middle-income countries (LMIC). We examined the reporting of mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh and initiatives undertaken to support mental health reported from the viewpoint of media. Methods: We reviewed articles published in 10 local newspapers, including seven Bangla and three English newspapers, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. News topics were identified through discussions among the team members, with searches across online newspapers and portals. Data extrapolated from newspapers were documented in an Excel spreadsheet. A mixed-method approach was used following a framework analysis for analyzing data. Recurring issues and commonly emerging topics were generated from the data. Descriptive statistics were applied for analyzing quantitative data. Results: Between March 2020 and March 2021, we have identified 201 reports on mental health issues including 45 reports (22.4%) focused on stress due to the associated financial crisis, unemployment and loneliness, 50 reports (24.9%) of 80 apparent suicides linked to family issues, disharmony in conjugal relationships, harassment, sexual violence, emotional breakdown, financial crisis, and stigma due to COVID-19.There were 77 reports (38.3%) concerning domestic violence during the pandemic. Twenty-nine reports (14.4%) referenced actions taken by different organizations to address mental health issues in response to the pandemic in Bangladesh. Conclusion: News coverage has the scope to highlight important issues that can emerge as a consequence of the COVID-pandemic, such as mental health, in a low resource setting. Capacity building of the media on the way to report mental health issues during emergency situations could be a useful strategy for more credible reporting on mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic for raising awareness of the public and policymakers about the negative consequences on mental health of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. Adopting policies to support essential mental health care and promoting the local organizations to take timely public health measures will be imperative for averting the negative consequences of mental health due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.

Celebrity drug use reporting in Indian media and its impact on drug-related online search behavior: An infodemiology study

AIM

We aimed to examine and interpret the changes in internet search volumes for keywords representing different drug use-related themes before and after the drug use started being discussed in the Indian news media during recent celebrity drug trials.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data were extracted using Google Trends framework in health-related research. Search keywords were prepared under four broad themes: General interest in cannabis use, drug use being a criminal/unlawful act, help seeking for cannabis use, and help-seeking for drug-related problems. The mean relative search volume was analyzed and compared pre- and post-media discussion about celebrity drug use using SPSS V23.0.

RESULTS

A significant increase was noted in online search interest for keywords related to themes of general interest in cannabis use and drug use being a criminal/unlawful act once the media discussion on the celebrity drug use started. However, no corresponding increase was noted in online search interest for themes of help seeking for drug-related problems in general and cannabis use in particular.

CONCLUSION

Media discussions on celebrity drug use may impact the online search behavior of the general public adversely. There is an need to develop and adhere to drug use reporting guidelines by media professionals.