BU Research Blog

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the Suicide Reporting Toolkit: For Journalists and Journalism Educators, available now at: http://www.suicidereportingtoolkit.com/

We know from research that reporting suicide responsibly requires sensitivity and compassion. Our journalism has the potential to cause harm to vulnerable people if we do not report suicide responsibly and ethically. This new toolkit offers practical resources for both journalists and journalism educators to make sure we do just that.

Created by Dr Ann Luce (Bournemouth University) and Dr Sallyanne Duncan (University of Strathclyde), the Responsible Suicide Reporting model enables journalists–and journalism students–to make ethical decisions about their storytelling whilst under pressure from various news processes. It embeds global media reporting guidelines on suicide—World Health Organisation (WHO), Samaritans, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ)—within journalism practice and functions within the storytelling process so journalists can question their choices as they produce content.

We’d be very grateful if you could share this resource through your own networks.  You can also follow us on Twitter: @SR_Toolkit

The Ethical Journalism Network has provided its international support to the project with an article here and podcast here.

For more information contact Ann Luce, Associate Professor in Journalism and Communication at: aluce@bournemouth.ac.uk