The media and suicide prevention: An open letter

Jo-Ann and Merrill Clark lost their son, Army Spec. Christopher Journeau, to suicide in 2010. /Rich Beauchesne photo, seacoastonline.com

Open letter:

The media and suicide prevention

When Jo-Ann Clark invited me into her Stratham home in September to share the story of her soldier son, her first words could have come from any mother who lost a child to suicide: "I don't want him forgotten."

I’ll never forget Army Spec. Chris Journeau. His story was a worst-case scenario for veterans who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD and TBI.

I’ll also never forget the level of cooperation achieved in the seven-week Portsmouth Herald effort to report on suicide among N.H. veterans. Members of the N.H. suicide prevention community inside and outside the military were active participants in the project. I was handed all of the information needed to write compelling, informative and valuable stories.

One of the top lessons of the Portsmouth Herald project is the need for the media to play a constructive role in suicide prevention. An informed and engaged media could significantly reduce stigma about mental illness and educate the public about suicide prevention.

Amber Alerts transformed the relationship between the media and public safety officials in missing children cases. A similar spirit of partnership between the media and suicide prevention officials would help address this gravely serious mental health challenge.

In the Portsmouth Herald’s military suicide project, the essential elements that fueled cooperation were time and trust. I had the time to speak with many people and learn the complexities involved in suicide. A shared commitment to helping prevent suicide made creation of partnerships based on trust easy to build.

Other lessons and recommendations

• Journalists should be familiar with the media guidelines for reporting on suicide available at www.ReportingOnSuicide.org. The guidelines include a concise “factbox” on suicide prevention including warning signs that should be part of in-depth media reports on suicide.
• The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline contact information (800-273-8255) should be included as a “tagline” at the end of most media reports on suicide. In many media outlets, this kind of information is routinely provided for good causes and as part of crime coverage.
• Media reports should avoid glamorizing, normalizing or sensationalizing a suicide.
• Suicides are the result of a complex set of circumstances. It takes time to unravel the individual strands that snare someone in suicide. Media reports should avoid portraying suicides as linked to a single cause or moment where someone “snapped.”
• Maintaining periodic and constructive coverage of suicide should be part of prevention officials’ outreach and education efforts. Steps include developing media contacts who are experienced in reporting on suicide; providing timely notice of accomplishments, initiatives and new information linked to suicide prevention; and building partnerships with media outlets.

A complex set of circumstances drove Chris Journeau to take his life in June 2010, including PTSD, isolation, the Great Recession and alcohol abuse. /Rich Beauchesne photo, seacoastonline.com

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