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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research article

Fidelity assessment of the suicide reporting guidelines in Korean newspapers

Authors: JongSerl Chun, Jinyung Kim, Serim Lee

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

With the dishonor of being the highest suicide rated country in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, South Korea should take more initiatives in suicide prevention. Although the role of the media and its relation to actual suicide attempts has been tested and supported by many studies, the suicide reporting guidelines are not well followed. The purpose of this study is to examine how well Korean newspapers adhere to existing guidelines and to suggest limitation and improvements for the current guidelines.

Methods

Five mainstream newspapers in South Korea, namely, Kyunghyang Shinmun, Hankyoreh, Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Daily, and Dong-A Ilbo, were chosen for the analysis. Using the Naver news search engine, articles dated from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2017, were selected with the keyword “suicide” and advanced option “printed newspaper.” However, articles, columns, opinions, and reviews that utilized the word “suicide” in a general context were excluded from the final analysis. Finally, the number of cases was narrowed down to 368. Each article was analyzed using the guideline framework consisting of 13 items: sensational coverage, overstatement, direct wording, method used, details about site/location, photographs, suicide note, generalization, speculation, romanticization, interviews with the bereaved, help-seeking information, and public education.

Results

More than 60% of the articles included direct wording (63.9%), mentioned the method used (68.2%), and provided details about the site or location (74.5%). Nearly half of the articles revealed the contents of the suicide note (44.6%). Less than 3% of the suicide reports had information about hotline logo or phone numbers (1.4%) and facts regarding suicide and suicide prevention (2.2%).

Conclusions

Our study revealed that the guidelines were ineffective in their monitoring role and that most of the newspapers were incompliant with many significant guideline items in South Korea. Our findings not only explore the limitations of the current guidelines but also provide an important rationale as to why there should be stronger suicide monitoring regulation or an agency with sufficient authority to prevent suicide in a nation-wide scale.
Footnotes
1
The Songpa family suicide tragedy: A family consisting of two daughters and their mother committed suicide on February 26, 2014. Even though they were experiencing hardship (chronic illness, economic difficulty), there was no proper social safety net to help them recover. This event became the trigger point to reach out to vulnerable groups located within the blind spot of the Korean social welfare system.
 
2
According to the Korea Fair Trade Commission report in 2017, the Lotte Group is the fifth largest corporate in South Korea in terms of its total assets.
 
3
Danwon High School: The school involved in the Sewol Ferry disaster. The Sewol Ferry sank off Jindo island, South Korea, on 16 April 2014, killing 304 people, almost all of them Danwon high school students.
 
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Metadata
Title
Fidelity assessment of the suicide reporting guidelines in Korean newspapers
Authors
JongSerl Chun
Jinyung Kim
Serim Lee
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6014-4

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