Responsible Headline
Posted by Eoin in Irish Society, Media and Communications, Press Council, tags: Reporting suicide
Yesterday saw another milestone in the development of responsible journalism in Ireland. Joining the Press Council (blogged here) on the roster is Headline, which, according to its website:
… is Ireland’s national media monitoring programme, working to promote responsible and accurate coverage of mental health and suicide related issues within the Irish media.
Managed by Schizophrenia Ireland, Headline was set up by the Health Service Executive’s National Office for Suicide Prevention as part of Reach Out National Strategy for Action on Suicide Prevention (pdf). I learn from a piece by Carl O’Brien (who had launched the Headline website a fortnight ago with George Hook) in today’s Irish Times (sub req’d) that this important and welcome development is supported by the NUJ. Whether or not the media accept the prevasiveness of their influence, the fact that the initiative has the support of the NUJ is a welcome exercise of responsibility on their part.
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Headline is a very useful tool for people who want to contact the media to have their opinions heard and dont know who to go about it.
[...] has developed a set of sensitive guidelines on the reporting of suicide; and Headline (blogged here) is doing something similar in [...]