Impact of a National Media Engagement Strategy in Canada on Suicide-related Media Reporting, Social Media Content and Suicide Rates

Suicide is a major public health issue accounting for at least 800,000 deaths worldwide every year and approximately 1.5% of all deaths in Canada. Evidence-based population-level interventions that can be disseminated widely are urgently needed to reduce suicide rates. One such intervention is a guideline for responsible reporting of suicide, like Canadian guidelines which were initially released by the Canadian Psychiatric Association in 2009. The basis for such guidelines is a substantial literature suggesting that certain ”putatively harmful” aspects of media reporting (e.g., front page or excessive coverage, details of suicide methods and coverage of celebrity suicide death) are associated with increased rates of suicide. This is thought to be mediated through social learning/contagion; some susceptible individuals who view such reports emulate the actions of the people in them. Recent studies have shown that “putatively protective” media reporting reflecting “mastery” of suicide crises, (e.g., describing a person who had a suicidal crisis but sought treatment and/or used other alternative coping strategies) may be associated with lower subsequent suicide rates, again presumably because some of those who are exposed to this reporting then model this behavior. 

Research by our group has shown that the 2009 Canadian guidelines resulted in modest improvements in reporting quality and no reduction in suicide rates in this country, largely because of their limited dissemination and the fact that media professionals reacted with skepticism to the science as well as with hostility to the notion that an external body might influence their reporting. This supports findings from other international groups which also identified the central importance of a comprehensive dissemination effort. In response, a national media engagement strategy was initiated in late 2015 to educate journalists about the need for these guidelines, to disseminate them more widely and to create revised guidelines with journalist input and endorsement (published in Canada in 2018). However, whether such a comprehensive strategy improves adherence to guidelines and results in fewer suicide deaths is as yet unknown and this is a scientific question of crucial import.

The primary objective of this study is to determine whether there was a change in suicide rates in Canada following implementation of the national media engagement strategy. We will also examine changes in adherence to guidelines in print and online coverage of suicide as well as in social media postings about suicide given evidence that the latter are strongly influenced by traditional media reports. Given recent evidence that overarching story narratives may have a substantial impact on subsequent suicide rates, exploratory analyses will focus on whether "putatively harmful" and "putatively protective" media narratives are associated with increases and decreases in subsequent suicide rates respectively. The results, which will build on previously AFSP-funded research, are crucial to understanding how to optimize implementation of responsible media guidelines. They will inform future efforts in Canada, the United States and around the world.