Suicide and the Media: Pending New Zealand

Research.

Brian McKenna,

Centre of Mental Health Research,

University of Auckland

Media and mental illness

• Coverdale, Nairn, & Classen (2002).

• Nairn (1999).

• Mental Health Commission

(2000; 2005).

McKenna, Thom and Simpson (2007)

• Media Coverage of Homicide Involving Mentally Disordered Offenders: A Matched Comparison Study

• International Journal of Forensic Mental Health. Vol. 6(1), 57-63

The Myth

• Deinstitutionalisation of the mentally ill has contributed to the increase of homicide.

Homicide Perpetrators from 1970 to 2000 Year

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Year

Hom

icid

e P

erpe

trat

ors

per

1M p

opul

atio

n

Mentally abnormal perpetrators of homicide rate per 100,000 population by year

Mentally Abnormal Perpetrators of Homicide by Year

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Year

Per

petr

ator

s pe

r 10

0,00

0 po

pula

tion

Percentage of Perpetrators of Homicides who were Mentally Abnormal

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Year

Perc

enta

ge

Role of the media in perpetuating the myth?

• 10 cases of (NGRI) from 1996 to 2000.

• Matched to 10 cases of convicted homicide.

NGRI prominence characteristics

• On the front page

• The lead article on any page,

• Alarmist heading e.g

“Scissor-death mother found to be insane”

(NZ Herald, February 8, 2000).

Making public the private lives of mentally ill offenders

• Social dysfunction.

• Private psychiatric history made public

The use of photographs

Conclusion

• Certainly treated differently

• Impact on the public psyche?

• Etched in the public memory .

Ministry of Health (1998; 1999)

• Preventing Suicide: Guidelines for the Media on the Reporting of Suicide

Tully, J. and Elsaka, N. (2004).

• A study of the media response to Suicide and the Media: The reporting and portrayal of suicide in the media

Aims

• To investigate the nature, reporting and portrayal of suicide in non-fiction media.

• Replicates the Australia study and adds the internet.

• Adapted to NZ (Maori or Pacific Island).

Design

• Media items over 12 months

• Using recognised search terms .

• Source - media retrieval company.

• Screening for appropriateness.

Extract identifying and descriptive information.

• E.g. newspapers • Total number of articles• Newspaper type: e.g metropolitan, suburban or

regional.• Month of publication.• Where placed.• Who wrote the article. • What was the content about.• Geographical reference. • Demographics of those involved• Suicide method

Quality ratings of 10% of randomly selected media items

in each division

• MOH guidelines

• Coroner’s Act

• Quality indicators - Australian study.

• Binary determination .

In depth framing analysis.

• Five case studies.

• Qualitative research

• Factors that shape news selection and presentation.

Data analysis

• Quantitative analysis - SPSS.

• Qualitative analysis - NVIVO.

Sample

• 262 media types

• Newspaper print media - 186

• Radio stations –18 stations:

• Television - 9 free-to-air and paid networks.

• Internet - 49 news sites

Research Team

• Brian McKenna.

• Tony O’Brien, Senior lecturer.

• Katey Thom. Research Fellow.

• Dr Raymond Nairn.

• Gareth Edwards. • Ingrid Leary.

Expert Reference Group .

• Dr Simon Hatcher.

• Ata Suma.

• Dr Terryann Clark.

Report

• Next October.

First Month of Data Collection

• Newspaper - 134

• Internet - 41

• Radio - 22

• Television - 7

Potential Framing Themes

• Youth issues - “Net Safety” and Text bullying.

• Murder suicide.• Determination at 3 months.