Suicide by Media

By Timothy Lau and Natasha Fernandes

September 21, 2018

On Tuesday, Convivium.ca published Peter Menzies’ plea for journalists to stop hurting journalism with reckless opinion-mongering. Today, Dr. Natasha Fernandes and Dr. Timothy Lau cite even more grievous media malfeasance: romanticized reporting of euthanasia spreading the contagion of suicide.

For example, media guidelines for suicide reporting ask that suicides not be romanticized Grounded in social learning theory, it is thought that fragile individuals who read stories romanticizing suicide are led to believe it’s a viable way to end suffering

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