A core part of Headline’s work is delivering training to media professionals and students in newsrooms and universities across the country.

Workshops for Media Professionals

For professionals, we offer a range of workshops designed to support their work when reporting on mental illness and suicide. We deliver in-person and online training on Samaritans’ guidelines to individual newsrooms, as well as providing stand alone sessions which are accessible to freelancers. The training covers reporting on challenging topics related to mental health such as murder-suicide, working with contributors and bereaved families, and the mental health of media professionals.

Online Drop-In Sessions

Our online drop-in workshops take place on the first Wednesday of every month. They are condensed and comprehensive sessions on the guidelines, and are available to both media professionals and students. Please see our Upcoming Training page for further information. Newsroom managers or other media professionals who are interested in our professional training, please fill in our contact form.

Student Workshops

Our student workshops are available to journalism and media students across the country. These 2.5 hour workshops include a presentation on the guidelines  with up-to-date print and broadcast examples. The training covers challenging stories such as the suicide of a high-profile person,  murder-suicide, court reporting, and working with contributors. The students engage with a case study in small groups, where they work on a fictional story relating to mental illness. This allows them to use their editorial judgement. The workshop also features a documentary section, to highlight the challenges creating mental health content for TV, and the sessions cover well-being for journalists and media professionals.

We ask any lecturers who are interested in our student training to visit our FAQ page. To book the student workshop, please contact Headline’s Education       Officer Sinéad Keating– skeating@headline.ie