August 8, 2012
This morning the Irish Daily Mirror printed a series of graphic step-by-step images of a man attempting to take his life by jumping from a building.
To print any photograph of a person ending their life is not only inappropriate but extremely irresponsible.
- The Media Guidelines for Reporting on Suicide and Self Harm , produced by the Irish Association of Suicidology and Samaritans, advise against the use of dramatic photographs related to suicide as this may have a triggering effect on vulnerable individuals and give them the information they need to end their lives.
- Moreover, such image may cause harm to families and friends who have lost loved-ones to suicide.
The following text entitled “China plight” is the description that accompanied the images in the Irish Daily Mirror; "A woman looks on in horror as a man falls to his death in an apparent suicide in a chilling series of pictures which have emerged from China. The woman reaches out in vain as the unknown man, in jeans and t-shirt, plunges past apartment windows to the ground yesterday. It is thought he threw himself from the residential building in the city of Harbin, in north-east China.”
If you feel the publications of these photographs are inappropriate please contact the editor and picture desk of the Irish Daily Mirror and to make your comments known.
Please copy in info@headline.ie in any of your correspondence.
There are step by step instructions and template letters on here in the have your say section if you need any help or you can call 01 8279022 or email us in Headline at info@Headline.ie.
Remember one call, email, or letter can change the way the media portray suicide in the future.
Contact details for Irish Daily Mirror:
Article title: “China Plight”
Editor: Mr. John Kierans (E: j.kierans@mgn.co.uk)
Picture desk: irishphotos@mirror.co.uk
Postal Address: Irish Daily Mirror, 4th Floor, Park House, 191-197 North Circular Road, Dublin 7.
Phone: 01 868 8600
