Suicide contagion and the reporting of suicide: Recommendations from a national workshop

From Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, April 22, 1994 / 43(RR-6);9-18. In November 1989, a national workshop that included suicidologists, public health officials, researchers, psychiatrists, psychologists, and news media professionals was held to address general concerns about, and specific recommendations for, reducing the possibility of media-related suicide contagion. These recommendations, which are endorsed by CDC, outline general issues that public officials and health and media professionals should consider when reporting about suicide. These recommendations include a depiction of those aspects of news coverage that can promote suicide contagion, and they describe ways by which community efforts to address this problem can be strengthened through specific types of news coverage