In all the reports written by the students on what they learned from this specific seminar they all cited the role play exercises as being very beneficial. The majority of the students said that these exercises helped them to decide how they would report on these specific cases, in a supportive and reflective environment before the pressures of working in an actual newsroom sets in.

The most impressive part of the seminar was definitely the practical element where we worked in groups of three to make decisions on how to report scenarios. I felt this was a really good example of some of the challenges we will have to deal with when reporting on mental health issues.

Our Journalism students found the Headline workshop very informative. The awareness Sinead made of how certain ‘buzz’ words can be very misleading especially when it comes to reporting on Suicide and Mental Health disorders. We look forward to welcoming Sinead and the Headline Organisation back each year.

I really enjoyed the workshop, as it helped me improve on how to report mental health and suicide in the media. The case studies we were given were challenging, but that’s what made it more beneficial for us, because as journalists, we might have to report on stories like those in the future.

…the workshop was brilliant and very informative, the information given was interesting and the activities were a nice challenge.