Suicide and the media

Around 100 studies have been conducted to examine the ‘Werther effect’ – the phenomenon whereby there is an increased rate of completed or attempted suicide following the depiction of an individual’s suicide in the media. These ‘media influence studies’ provide strong evidence for the existence of the Werther effect in the news media, and equivocal evidence for its existence in the entertainment media. Having established this, there is now a need to complement these media influence studies with inter-related studies that draw on approaches from a range of disciplines, particularly that of communication. The studies can be thought of as investigating the full spectrum of news and entertainment media processes and content, from how suicide stories are produced (news/entertainment production studies), to what information they contain and how this is framed (content analysis studies), to how this information is received and perceived (audience reception studies). This will assist in explicating the mechanisms by which the Werther effect might operate, and in designing and evaluating interventions to improve the practices of news and entertainment media professionals.