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Predicting Sensationalism in Suicide Story Headlines
Sarah A McInerney1, Anna C Robertson1, Alekx Schneeback1
1Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, CO, USA.
Crisis
|February 6, 2024
Summary
Media reporting on celebrity suicides often fails to adhere to U.S. guidelines, with sensationalized content predicting headline sensationalism. This may expose the public to harmful information about suicide.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Media Studies
- Psychology
Background:
- Suicide is a significant public health concern in the U.S.
- Media coverage influences suicide rates.
- U.S. guidelines exist for responsible suicide reporting.
Purpose of the Study:
- Evaluate adherence to suicide reporting guidelines in news articles about celebrity deaths.
- Determine if nonadherent reporting predicts sensational headlines.
Main Methods:
- Content analysis of newspaper and newswire articles (2013-2018) on nine celebrity suicides.
- Two-step hierarchical linear regression to assess predictors of headline sensationalism.
Main Results:
- Moderate adherence to reporting guidelines was observed.
- Disclosure of suicide method/location and note contents predicted headline sensationalism (R² = 22%).
- Article body sensationalism and other factors further predicted headline sensationalism (R² = 55%).
Conclusions:
- Sensationalism within articles and other factors significantly contribute to sensationalized headlines.
- Harmful content inconsistent with reporting recommendations may attract readers via sensational headlines.
- This highlights a potential public health risk associated with media reporting on celebrity suicides.
Keywords:
content analysisrecommended guidelines for media reporting of suicidesuicidesuicide and mediasuicide riskMore Related Videos
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