First-Ever Recommendations For Reporting On Mass Shootings And Blogging On Suicide Best Practice Tools Released

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education) leads international expert task forces and develops new tools to improve public messaging on suicide. 

The new tools come at a time when mental health and suicide have received increased attention resulting from recent mass shootings.  Prominent deaths by suicide and/or the inundation of news coverage that follows mass shootings raises major concerns for suicide prevention and mental health experts and research finds a contagion effect resulting in more deaths.  "Almost immediately when there is a mass shooting reports include speculation on the perpetrator having a mental illness" said suicide prevention expert Dr. Dan Reidenberg of SAVE.  "When pairing a mental illness with violence it reduces the likelihood others will seek out help when needed, thus increasing their risk of worsening mental health conditions and potentially suicide," Reidenberg said.

Kelly McBride, Poynter Vice President, said, "Mass shootings have been with us for decades and they show no sign of declining. These standards will help journalists and other information providers educate the public, hold accountable those with power to change public policy and minimize the risk of contagion."

With the increasing use of social media that surrounds news and often creates news, there is viral messaging that occurs about suicides, mass shootings and murder-suicides.  "The new best practices for blogging will help reduce the risk of contagion and misinformation the public sees about mental health and suicide," said Alicia Raimundo of Canada who blogs and writes for Huffington Post and the Mighty.

SAVE and The Poynter Institute will be offering a free webinar on March 30, 2017 a 2:00 pm ET for media professionals interested in learning more about these resources and how to use them: http://www.newsu.org/courses/best-practices-reporting-mass-shootings.

Reporting on Mass Shootings Recommendations can be found at:  www.reportingonmassshootings.org.
Blogging on Suicide Recommendations can be found at:  www.bloggingonsuicide.org

SAVE (www.save.org) is the leading national nonprofit suicide prevention organization and has been at the forefront of suicide prevention and public messaging for 25 years.

The Poynter Institute (www.poynter.org) is the global leader in journalism.  It is the world's leading instructor, innovator, convener and resource for anyone who aspires to engage and inform citizens in 21st Century democracies.

Alicia Raimundo is a blogger and writer for Huffington Post and the Mighty.  She has educated over 1,000,000 people on mental health and suicide, spoke at TEDx, The UN and One Young World.

Collaborating partners include :  the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (www.afsp.org), IASP Media Task Force (Austria, Australia, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland), The Jed Foundation (JED) (www.jedfoundation.org), MindYourMind Canada (www.mindyourmind.ca); NAMI-NH (www.naminh.org), New York Psychiatric Institute, The Poynter Institute (www.poynter.org), Reingold, Inc. (www.reingold.com), Samaritans UK (www.samaritans.org); Suicide Prevention Resource Center (www.sprc.org), University of Melbourne.

CONTACT: Dr. Daniel J. Reidenberg, PsyD
612-741-1354 [email protected]  

SOURCE SAVE - Suicide Awareness Voices of Education

Related Links

http://www.save.org