According to the World Health Organization, the likelihood of imitative suicides resulting from media coverage varies, depending in part on "the amount and prominence of coverage, with repeated coverage and ‘high impact' stories being most strongly associated with imitative behaviours. It is accentuated when the person described in the story and the reader or viewer are similar in some way....Particular subgroups in the population (e.g., young people, people suffering from depression) may be especially vulnerable to engaging in imitative suicidal behaviours... [and] overt description of suicide by a particular method may lead to increases in suicidal behaviour employing that method."
The plenitude of studies documenting a media version of "the Werther effect" have led many organizations to promulgate "best practices" for media reporting on suicide. The National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH), for instance, urges media organizations to avoid "Big or sensationalistic headlines, or prominent placement" of stories about suicide, and avoid using such terms as "epidemic," "skyrocketing," and so on when discussing suicide trends. Similarly, the World Health Organization warns that "Prominent placement and undue repetition of stories about suicide are more likely to lead to imitative behaviours than more subtle presentations."
NIMH also urges media to avoid "Including photos/videos of the location or method of death, grieving family, friends, memorials or funerals," since this can both lead others to identify more with the suicide victim -- thus increasing the likelihood of copycat behavior -- or lead people to focus on the idea that suicide will lead to positive attention ("After I'm gone, they'll finally appreciate me..."). The CDC concurs, noting that "News coverage is less likely to contribute to suicide contagion when reports of community expressions of grief (e.g., public eulogies, flying flags at half-mast, and erecting permanent public memorials) are minimized. Such actions may contribute to suicide contagion by suggesting to susceptible persons that society is honoring the suicidal behavior of the deceased person..."
So, how's the U.S. news media doing when it comes to reporting on suicide in the military?
Take this recent National Public Radio story. It flies in the face of the recommended best practices, offering details on the how and where (a soldier "was found dead in a west Tennessee motel room with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head") and highlighting his relatives' ongoing displays of devotion ("I wear his dog tags every day," his widow is quoted as saying).
Or consider this lurid piece from The Colorado Springs Gazette, which quotes extensively from the Facebook suicide messages of a Fort Carson soldier who appears to have died in a self-inflicted vehicle crash. Or this piece from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, also quoting extensively from the victim's suicide notes, and suggesting the victim was "driven" to suicide by disciplinary action taken against him by his superiors.
There are many responsible news stories about military suicide too, but you get the idea. Even as media stories suggest that DOD is "not doing enough" to prevent suicides, many of those very same media outlets are reporting on suicide in a way that may make the problem worse.
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