THE APPLICATION OF WHO GUIDELINES IN MAJOR LEBANESE PRINT MEDIA SUICIDE REPORTS: COMPLIANCE AND DISCREPANCIES

Abstract

Suicide deaths rates are among the top twenty leading causes of death worldwide resulting in more than 700,000 deaths every year (WHO, 2019). In Lebanon, it is estimated that someone dies by suicide every 2.1 days, and every 6 hours someone attempts suicide (Embrace, 2021). Appropriate circulation of information, responsible reporting and public education are primary factors in the success of suicide prevention programs. Reporting on suicide by media outlets has been an important field of study, due to widely spread belief that media reports on suicide may lead to imitative or copycat acts especially by vulnerable individuals. These studies compelled international health organizations to develop guidelines for media professionals to regulate suicide reports and enhance the quality of information delivered to the public. In 2000 the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), developed a set of guidelines for media professionals entitled: “Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals” (WHO, 2019). This resource serves as a guide for media professionals across the globe on how to responsibly report suicide and has been updated in 2017 to adapt to new forms of media, particularly online media. With the goal of improving the mental health care scene in Lebanon, the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) as well as other local NGOs developed several initiatives to raise awareness on suicide and control the increase in suicidal rates. In May 2014, the MOPH with the support of WHO, UNICEF, and International Medical Corps (IMC) launched the National Mental Health Program (NMHP). In 2019, the NMHP developed a set of guidelines based on the WHO guidelines for media professionals to be able to produce healthy content on mental health and substance use, accompanied with trainings and collaboration with media professionals (MOPH, 2019). This project focused on 2 major suicide cases in Lebanon that occurred between 2016 and 2020 through articles published in 6 major Lebanese Newspapers pertaining to the two cases. The articles were collected through accessing AUB print archives, the newspapers’ websites, and Lexis Nexis research tool. Through textual analysis, this project aims to reveal the compliance or non-compliance of the media reports with the WHO guidelines and reflect on how the reporting practices have changed in the past 4 years. The textual analysis pinpoints words/statements/terminologies and practices that reveal the presence or absence of the implementation of the WHO guidelines. The findings reveal the discrepancies present in the articles when it comes to reporting suicide in a healthy and ethical manner in Lebanese newspapers.

The project discussed the findings, relating to research done in the field of suicide and media along with theories that serve to support the discussion. The project findings are reflected in a media campaign targeted at media professionals, as a call towards more objective and responsible journalism especially when it comes to sensitive topics like suicide.