Suicides rarely get covered in the news media, unless they involve a high-profile person, crime or location. If a news crew shows up at a crime scene and an officer indicates the case is probably a suicide, we frequently just take off and move on to another story.
I can count on one hand the number of suicide-related deaths I have covered in close to 30 years on the crime beat. Starting tonight, with a report on an uptick in number of suicides being seen by some local medical examiners this year, I am about to go down a different path regarding how, and when, to cover suicides. I have had several discussions with our news director, Scott Libin, who shares my belief that we must do more than simply ignore such an important problem. Our challenge is to produce suicide-related reports in a meaningful way that balances sensitivity and context with important, relevant information.
Researching this story, my thinking has evolved from considering the topic a painful, very private matter to my current position that we need to devote a lot more attention to suicide education and awareness. I was surprised to learn that the most recent number of suicide cases in Minnesota for one year was more that four times the number for homicides.
The importance of using our resources in the media to educate people about suicide risks and prevention came home in a very personal way when I recently interviewed a mom who lost her teenage son to suicide. As Janet Benz showed me her son Christopher's photos, high school diploma and baseball glove and medals, I thought of cleaning out my own son's drawer full of similar memorabilia, just a few days before our interview. Going through Michael's things, I was a bit sad to reflect on how soon he had grown up and moved to California. It helped to know he was coming home to visit in a few weeks. I can't imagine what it must be like for moms like Janet whose children will never come home again.
Janet, who is a nurse, is committed to using her loss to educate other parents about the warning signs of suicide. She is getting a master's degree with a focus on this topic and works closely with SAVE to help raise awareness. To this end, Janet is also hosting a baseball tournament July 11 in her son's memory. Three people who received organs from Christopher will be on hand for the event.
As I said earlier, I am committed to use my position as a reporter at WCCO to keep up the suicide education piece. No, I won't be reporting on each and every suicide case we hear about in the future. But I will look for trends and individual stories, like Janet's, to share with our viewers and Web readers to help lift the veil on this somewhat off-limits topic.
We have posted a number of resources which you may find helpful if you have a friend or loved one who might be vulnerable. We have seen what public education has done to raise awareness about important topics like breast cancer, DWI and AIDS. By lifting the veil on suicide, I hope to take some small steps toward raising awareness about this "taboo" topic. Done right, I am confident that, done right, our reports can help save lives.
I welcome any story ideas or resources you can share with us to help prevent these deaths.
Suicide Victims' Contacts With Physicians During The Year Before Death (PDF)
JAMA: Reducing Suicidal Ideation And Depressive Symptoms In Depressed Older Primary Care Patients (PDF)
MDH: Mortality
