919787 ISP0010.1177/0020764020919787International Journal of Social PsychiatryQuarshie et al. research-article2020 E CAMDEN SCHIZOPH Original Article International Journal of Online media reporting of suicidal Social Psychiatry2021, Vol. 67(3) 251 –259 © The Author(s) 2020 behaviour in Ghana: Analysis of adherence to the WHO guidelines Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions hDttOps:I/:/ d1o0i.o.1rg1/1707.1/10707/200027067464002200991199787787 journals.sagepub.com/home/isp Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie1,2 , Johnny Andoh-Arthur2,3, Kwaku Oppong Asante2,3,4 and Winifred Asare-Doku2,5 Abstract Background: Irresponsible media reporting of suicide is a potential risk for copycat suicide. There is a paucity of studies from sub-Saharan Africa on the quality of media reporting of suicide. Objectives: We assessed the compliance of Ghanaian online media outlets with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for media reporting of suicide. Methods: We searched 10 local media outlets with strong online presence in Ghana, to identify suicide-related news 2 reports from 2000 through 2019. We applied summative content analysis and chi-square (χ ) test to the data. Results: We included 288 news reports, of which 261 (90.6%) were completed suicides, 7 (2.4%) were attempted suicides and 20 (6.9%) were homicide suicides. Most of the news reports failed to comply with the WHO guidelines: 92.7% mentioned the specific method of the suicide act, 82.6% included ‘suicide’ in the headline and 55.6% included 2 photos of the victims. The χ tests indicated that privately owned media outlets were more likely than publicly owned 2 2 to post a photo of the victim, χ (1) = 17.37, p < .001, and report the incident location in the headline, χ (1) = 15.00, p < .001. However, generally, there were no statistically significant relationships between the quality of reporting and media outlet ownership. Each of the 288 reports failed to mention any of the potentially helpful features recommended by the WHO guidelines. Conclusion: Regardless of the ownership of the media outlet (whether private or publicly owned), mostly, the online reportage of suicidal behaviour in Ghana deviates sharply from the international recommended best practice by the WHO. Keywords Attempted suicide, completed suicide, Ghana, online media, sub-Saharan Africa, suicide reporting Introduction and young people (Cheng et al., 2018; Gould et al., 2014; O’Connor et al., 2014; Zalsman et al., 2016). Suicide is newsworthy (Machlin et al., 2013; Sullivan, 2007); The suicide reporting guidelines of the WHO provide however, irresponsible media reporting of the phenomenon standards for responsible media reporting of suicide has been implicated as a risk factor for death by suicide, around the world (WHO, 2000; WHO & IASP, 2017), particularly, in vulnerable groups within the population but several countries have developed context-specific (Niederkrotenthaler et al., 2009, 2010; Sinyor, Schaffer, Nishikawa, et al., 2018; Sisask & Värnik, 2012; World Health Organization [WHO], 2014). Studies have consist- 1School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK ently identified that persons experiencing suicidal crisis 2Centre for Suicide and Violence Research (CSVR), Accra, Ghana could become aware of suicide methods, which they might 3Department of Psychology, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana 4 have not thought about previously, through exposure to irre- D epartment of Psychology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa sponsible media reporting of suicide, thereby increasing the 5S chool of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, chances of copying the suicidal behaviour (Cheng et al., Callaghan, NSW, Australia 2017, 2018; Niederkrotenthaler et al., 2012; Nutt et al., 2015; Corresponding author: Pirkis, Burgess, et al., 2006; Tsai, 2010; WHO & International Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie, School of Psychology, University of Association for Suicide Prevention [IASP], 2017). This form Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, West Yorkshire, UK. of social learning has been found mainly among students Email: enquarshie@gmail.com 252 International Journal of Social Psychiatry 67(3) standard guidelines for professional media practitioners The majority of news reports on suicide in Korea men- (Mishara & Dargis, 2019; Pirkis, Blood, et al., 2006; tioned the method used and provided specific details about Samaritans, 2013; Sinyor, Schaffer, Heisel, et al., 2018; the location where the suicidal act took place, and almost Utterson et al., 2017). The WHO reporting guidelines out- half of the reports that were analysed mentioned the con- line certain potentially helpful features, which may help tents of suicide notes, while less than 3% of the news prevent suicide, and potentially harmful characteristics, reports provided information about helplines, research evi- which may provoke suicide, thereby providing a source of dence about suicide and suicide prevention (Chun et al., education on best practice for media practitioners (WHO, 2018). Similarly, in Bangladesh, most of the news reports 2000; WHO & IASP, 2017). Evidence from high-income mentioned the names of victims, victims’ occupations and countries suggests that guidelines on media reporting of provided details of the suicide method; others reported life suicide have been useful, although reliable evaluative evi- events and made monocausal attributions of suicide, the dence on the impact of the guidelines on professional term ‘suicide’ appeared in the headlines of the majority of practice of media practitioners and on suicide and suicidal the reports, some of the reports posted pictures of victims, behaviours remains limited (Bolzern et al., 2019; Marzano but no news report provided any potentially helpful recom- et al., 2018; Niederkrotenthaler et al., 2010; Pirkis, Blood, mended information – for example, expert opinion or et al., 2006; Pirkis et al., 2017; Stack, 2020; Utterson information about suicide prevention (Arafat et al., 2019, et al., 2017; Williams & Witte, 2018). 2020a, 2020b; Arafat, Khan, et al., 2020). Besides these In most low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs), breaches of the recommended reporting practices being the WHO reporting guidelines remain the main reference associated with increased chances of copycat suicide and document guiding media practitioners in reporting suicide. imitative suicidal behaviours among vulnerable groups Similar to research findings from many high-income coun- (Niederkrotenthaler et al., 2010, 2012; Pirkis, Blood, et al., tries (Bolzern et al., 2019; Marzano et al., 2018; McTernan 2006), loved ones and families bereaved by suicide and the et al., 2018; Stack, 2020; Utterson et al., 2017), recent evi- general public have reported being upset by the media pro- dence shows that adherence to the WHO’s recommendations viding details of the death, posting photos of the deceased and compliance with standard reporting guidelines are still and the general careless and insensitive nature of media lacking among journalists and media outlets in LAMICs reporting of suicide (Chang & Freedman, 2018; Chapple (Arafat et al., 2019; Armstrong et al., 2018; Chandra et al., et al., 2013; Gregory et al., 2020). 2014; Chang & Freedman, 2018; Cheng et al., 2017; Chiang Furthermore, the WHO and the IASP caution against et al., 2016; Chu et al., 2018; Chun et al., 2018; Yang et al., the use of the ‘c-word’ (‘committing’, ‘commits’ or ‘com- 2013). For example, quality assessment of media reporting mitted’ suicide), as the phrase ‘committed suicide’ con- of suicide in India, within the lens of the WHO reporting notes criminality and a moral sin and reinforces stigma guidelines, shows that reporting of potentially harmful fea- (WHO & IASP, 2017). In place of c-words, neutral terms tures (e.g. details of suicide method) is common, while rec- such as ‘ended/took her or his life’ are suggested (Beaton ommended helpful reporting practices are scarce – for et al., 2013). Despite this caution, there are reports that the example, providing contact details of available and accessi- use of the c-word with suicide is still common, particu- larly, in media reports of suicide (Beaton et al., 2013; ble suicide support services (Armstrong et al., 2018; Chandra Nielsen et al., 2016; WHO & IASP, 2017). et al., 2014). In Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, There is a paucity of studies from sub-Saharan African Korea, Sri Lanka and Taiwan, both online and newspaper countries on the quality of media reporting of suicide, while reporting of suicide have been found to fail in adhering to the no published study from Ghana has specifically examined WHO recommended reporting guidelines (Arafat et al., the quality and compliance of media reporting of suicidal 2019; Chandra et al., 2014; Chang & Freedman, 2018; Chu behaviours with any known standard reporting guidelines et al., 2018; Chun et al., 2018; Nisa et al., 2020; Sørensen (Akotia et al., 2019; Quarshie et al., 2015). In the present et al., 2019; Zangmo & Zangmo, 2019). study, we assessed the compliance of Ghanaian online Recent evidence from Bhutan, India, Indonesia and Sri media outlets with the WHO guidelines for media reporting Lanka indicates that although some media reports show of suicide, by performing a summative content analysis of some level of adherence to recommended reporting guide- the frequency and patterns of both breaches and recom- lines, the majority of the available media reports are non- mended contents of news reports on suicide, attempted sui- compliant (Chandra et al., 2014; Nisa et al., 2020; Sørensen cide and homicide suicide. et al., 2019; Zangmo & Zangmo, 2019). Frequently, they reported the method of self-harm and suicide in the head- line, included identifiable information (e.g. picture) of the Methods victim, used sensational and insensitive language and Design and data source attributed a single-factor cause to the self-harm or suicide, without providing any information on help-seeking and We reviewed the contents of news reports on suicide and available support services. suicidal behaviours in Ghana from 2000 through 2019. Quarshie et al. 253 Two authors (E.N.-B.Q. and W.A.-D.) performed keyword applied chi-square (χ2 ) test to compare the compliance of searches in January 2020 of the portals of 10 local media suicide reporting between public and privately owned outlets with strong online presence in Ghana. Three of the online media; we used Fisher’s exact test where a cell media outlets were publicly owned (Daily Graphic, Ghana expected frequency was <5 (Fleiss et al., 2003). The con- News Agency and Ghanaian Times), while seven were pri- ventional statistical threshold of p < .05 was used to deter- vately owned (Adom FM, Citi Newsroom, Daily Guide mine statistically significant results. Africa, GhanaWeb, MyJoyOnline, Peace FM and Starr FM). Previous studies have found the news portals of these Ethics media houses as having wider readership and listenership among Ghanaians (Quarshie et al., 2015, 2018). We The protocol guiding this study was not submitted to an retrieved eligible news reports about completed suicide, Institutional Review Board for ethical approval, as the attempted suicide and homicide suicide; we excluded news study did not include the recruitment and involvement of reports about euthanasia, and suicide bombing, as were human participants. However, in developing this article, also editorials and opinion pieces. English is the official we have preserved the ethical position of this study by language of Ghana and the language for all written media excluding identifying information of media outlets, and contents in the country. Across the review period, we iden- suicidal persons and their families mentioned in the tified a total of 513 potentially eligible news reports. We included news reports (e.g. names, address, place of work independently assessed the eligibility of the total hits and or school). identified 288 news reports included in the final analysis of this study. Results Data extraction, coding and analysis A total of 288 news reports drawn from public (n = 62 (21.5%)) and privately owned (n = 226 (78.5%)) online Consistent with the WHO guidelines for media reporting media outlets met the inclusion criteria for this study. of suicide (WHO, 2000; WHO & IASP, 2017), we fol- Of the 288 news reports, 261 (90.6%) were completed lowed the summative content analysis procedure recom- suicides, 7 (2.4%) were attempted suicides and 20 (6.9%) mended by Hsieh and Shannon (2005) to identify were homicide suicides. Of the 261 completed suicides, potentially harmful characteristics (breaches) and poten- 13 (5%) were identified as celebrity suicides. tially helpful characteristics (recommended features) in Table 1 presents the quality assessment of reporting each of the included 288 news reports. Potentially harm- compliance with WHO guidelines for media reporting of ful characteristics identified in the news reports were suicide. Generally, most of the included news reports related to breaches of the WHO reporting guidelines, for failed to comply with the WHO guidelines: 82.6% included example, mention of the term ‘suicide’ in the headline, the term ‘suicide’ in the headline, as was a ‘c-word’ provision of detailed account of suicide method used, giv- included in the headlines of 79.9%. While 92.7% of the ing monocausal explanation for suicidality, romanticising news reports mentioned the specific method of the suicide or glamorising suicide, mention of the age, name, school/ act, 66.3% provided detailed descriptions of the methods workplace of victims, posting a photo of the victim or a used for the act. Also, 92.7% of the news reports men- photo symbolic of self-harm/suicide (e.g. hangman’s tioned the specific place or location where the suicidal act noose) and inclusion of additional problematic online fea- took place. Furthermore, 83.7% reported the names of the tures (e.g. links to other articles/websites about suicide, victims, 55.6% included photos of the victims and 50.3% reader-generated comment threads). provided reader-generated comment threads. We also examined each news story for potentially help- Surprisingly, each of the 288 news reports analysed ful characteristics related to providing mental health liter- failed to mention any of the potentially helpful features rec- acy (e.g. dispelling common myths about suicide or ommended by the WHO reporting guidelines (e.g. provid- providing public education about the facts of suicide), ing public education about the facts of suicide, mentioning drawing on health experts’ views, research and data to a suicide prevention programme or support service, or inform public and promoting help-seeking behaviour (e.g. providing contact details for a suicide support service). The 2 raising awareness of crisis support or prevention services χ tests indicated that privately owned online media out- available). In accordance with the WHO reporting guide- lets were more likely than those publicly owned to report 2 lines, we included each of the identified breaches and rec- the incident location in the news headline, χ (1) = ommended features as the variables of the analysis, and 15.00, p < .001; include a photo of the victim, χ2 (1) = 17.37, coded absent (0) or present (1). p < .001; and provide a detailed account of the method used 2 Using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences for the suicidal act, χ (1) = 4.36, p < .05. However, gener- 2 (SPSS, Version 26.0, for Windows), we analysed the data ally, across the range of variables analysed, the χ results for the frequencies and patterns of both breaches and rec- did not show statistically significant relationships between ommended contents of the included news reports. We the quality of reporting and media outlet ownership. 254 International Journal of Social Psychiatry 67(3) Table 1. Quality assessment of reporting compliance with WHO suicide reporting guidelines. Potentially harmful breaches Absent Present χ2 test p value Total Public media Private media Total Public media Private media n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%) Headlines ‘Suicide’ in the headline 50 (17.4) 8 (16.0) 42 (84.0) 238 (82.6) 54 (22.7) 184 (77.3) 1.094 .296 Suicide method in the headline 187 (64.9) 57 (30.5) 130 (69.5) 101 (35.1) 5 (5.0) 96 (95.0) 25.304 .000 Life event(s) in the headline 216 (75.0) 50 (23.1) 166 (76.9) 72 (25.0) 12 (16.7) 60 (83.3) 1.343 .247 ‘C-word’ in the headlinea 58 (20.1) 8 (13.8) 50 (86.2) 230 (79.9) 54 (23.5) 176 (76.5) 2.572 .109 Incident location 151 (52.4) 46 (30.5) 105 (69.5) 137 (47.6) 16 (11.7) 121 (88.3) 15.004 .000 Suicidal act (as presented in the body of story) Suicide method reported 21 (7.3) 3 (14.3) 18 (85.7) 267 (92.7) 59 (22.1) 208 (77.9) 0.701 .437 Detailed account of method 97 (33.7) 14 (14.4) 83 (85.6) 191 (66.3) 48 (25.1) 143 (74.9) 4.358 .037 Place or public site named as location of a suicide death/attempt 21 (7.3) 3 (14.3) 18 (85.7) 267 (92.7) 59 (22.1) 208 (77.9) 0.701 .437 Time of the act (e.g. morning, afternoon, night) 142 (49.3) 33 (23.2) 109 (76.8) 146 (50.7) 29 (19.9) 117 (80.1) 0.486 .486 Suicidal behaviour described as ‘successful’ or ‘unsuccessful’ 232 (80.6) 62 (26.7) 170 (73.3) 56 (19.4) 0 56 (100) 19.071 .000 Causes of suicidality Monocausal explanation for suicidality 180 (62.5) 43 (23.9) 137 (76.1) 108 (37.5) 19 (17.6) 89 (82.4) 1.584 .208 Narrative brushes over the complex realities of suicide 232 (80.6) 52 (22.4) 180 (77.6) 56 (19.4) 10 (17.9) 46 (82.1) 0.554 .457 Contents/details from suicide note reported 267 (92.7) 58 (21.7) 209 (78.3) 21 (7.3) 4 (19.0) 17 (81.0) 0.082 .774 Consideration for bereaved persons Romanticising or glamorising suicide or over-emphasising family/ 217 (75.3) 48 (22.1) 169 (77.9) 71 (24.7) 14 (19.7) 57 (80.3) 0.183 .669 community expressions of grief Interview with bereaved persons (comments from survivors or 130 (45.1) 33 (25.4) 97 (74.6) 158 (54.9) 29 (18.4) 129 (81.6) 2.087 .149 bereaved) (Continued) Quarshie et al. 255 Table 1. (Continued) Potentially harmful breaches Absent Present χ2 test p value Total Public media Private media Total Public media Private media n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%) Disclosure of victim’s identity Name of suicidal person mentioned 47 (16.3) 9 (19.1) 38 (80.9) 241 (83.7) 53 (22.0) 188 (78.0) 0.188 .661 Age of suicidal person mentioned 53 (18.4) 15 (28.3) 38 (71.7) 235 (81.6) 47 (20.0) 188 (80.0) 1.764 .184 Occupation or student status mentioned 88 (30.6) 12 (13.6) 76 (86.4) 200 (69.4) 50 (25.0) 150 (75.0) 4.671 .031 Name of school or place of work mentioned 148 (51.4) 26 (17.6) 122 (82.4) 140 (48.6) 36 (25.7) 104 (74.3) 2.826 .093 Photo of victim 128 (44.4) 42 (32.8) 86 (67.2) 160 (55.6) 20 (12.5) 140 (87.5) 17.368 .000 Celebrity status Victim identified as a celebrity 275 (95.5) 60 (21.8) 215 (78.2) 13 (4.5) 2 (15.4) 11 (84.6) 0.303 .741 Victim related to or has link with a celebrity 283 (98.3) 61 (21.6) 222 (78.4) 5 (1.7) 1 (20.0) 4 (80.0) 0.007 1.000 Additional potentially harmful features Link(s) to other articles/websites about suicide 273 (94.8) 62 (22.7) 211 (77.3) 15 (5.2) 0 15 (100) 4.326 0.47 Reader-generated comment threads 143 (49.7) 25 (17.5) 118 (82.5) 145 (50.3) 37 (25.5) 108 (74.5) 2.751 .097 Suggests or encourages a suicide cluster 268 (93.1) 58 (21.6) 210 (78.4) 20 (6.9) 4 (20.0) 16 (80.0) 0.030 1.000 Potentially helpful features (recommended features) Mental health literacy Dispels the myths about suicide or educate the public about 288 (100) 62 (21.5) 226 (78.5) – – – – – the facts of suicide Draws on health experts, research and data to inform public 288 (100) 62 (21.5) 226 (78.5) – – – – – Promoting help-seeking behaviour Mentions a suicide prevention programme/support service 288 (100) 62 (21.5) 226 (78.5) – – – – – Provides contact details for a suicide support service 288 (100) 62 (21.5) 226 (78.5) – – – – – 2 Note: WHO: World Health Organization; χ : chi-square. aThe c-word criterion refers to the mention of ‘commit’ suicide, ‘committed’ suicide or ‘committing’ suicide in the headline of the news report. 256 International Journal of Social Psychiatry 67(3) Discussion as cause for concern. Narrative and systematic reviews have identified the existence of the Werther effects in vul- While it is relevant to compare the evidence of the present nerable groups (Blood et al., 2007; Cheng et al., 2017; study to findings of the large number of previous interna- Niederkrotenthaler et al., 2010, 2012; Pirkis et al., 2009; tional studies – mainly, from high-income countries – it Sisask & Värnik, 2012; Stack, 2003), while adolescents may be more meaningful to discuss the evidence of our with histories of self-harm have attributed their knowledge study in the light of the available evidence from LAMICs of self-harm methods to media reporting and portrayal of and the context of Ghana. The present study shows that, suicide (O’Connor et al., 2014). In online media reporting generally, the media reporting of suicidal behaviour in of suicide, the additional inclusion of links to other arti- Ghana does not comply with the WHO reporting guide- cles/websites about suicide and reader-generated comment lines. This evidence supports recent findings from other threads could be problematic (Utterson et al., 2017). LAMICs in Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Evidence suggests that the online discussion forums are Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Taiwan (Arafat et al., 2019; associated with suicidal behaviours in young people Chiang et al., 2016; Nisa et al., 2020; Sørensen et al., 2019; (Dunlop et al., 2011). Zangmo & Zangmo, 2019). The evidence also supports a Finally, the evidence of the present study that each of previous anecdotal observation that media coverage of sui- the 288 media reports analysed failed to mention any of cide in Ghana is sensational, overly simplistic and explicit the potentially helpful features recommended by the WHO (Quarshie et al., 2015). The predominant inclusion of the guidelines is worthy of some comments. This finding is c-word and the term ‘suicide’ in the headlines as evident in consistent with recent evidence from Bangladesh, India the present study is particularly troubling, even though not and Indonesia, where no news report analysed provided entirely surprising. Recent evidence indicates that news any potentially helpful information recommended by the editors in Ghana consider ‘suicide’ as a catchy term which WHO guidelines (Arafat et al., 2019, 2020a, 2020b; attracts reader attention (Akotia et al., 2019), while some Chandra et al., 2014; Nisa et al., 2020; Sørensen et al., emerging researchers of suicide in the country, without 2019). Perhaps in Ghana, this troubling evidence high- background training in suicidology, have been found to use lights the need for the country’s Ministry of Health to con- the c-word in scientific publications (e.g., Abdulai, 2020; sider launching stakeholder training programmes and Acheampong & Aziato, 2018; Der et al., 2016). As pertain- sustained awareness creation among media practitioners ing in many LAMICs (Mishara & Weisstub, 2016), suicide on the importance of adhering to recommended standard is highly stigmatised and morally tabooed, and attempted guidelines for media reporting of suicidal behaviour. suicide is criminalised in Ghana (Act 29 of Ghana, 1960; Adinkrah, 2013; Osafo et al., 2015). Thus, the inclusion of the c-word and ‘suicide’ in the headlines of news reports of Limitations and recommendations suicidal behaviour has implications for potential inadvert- The non-inclusion of media outlets with lesser online pres- ent deepening of the criminality and moral condemnation ence in Ghana might have limited the evidence of this of victims and survivors of (attempted) suicide and their study, regarding the extent and pattern of compliance with families (Beaton et al., 2013; Nielsen et al., 2016). or breaches of the WHO guidelines. The present study fails As found in other LAMICs (Chandra et al., 2014), gen- to assess the effects of non-compliant media reporting of erally, the present study found no statistically significant suicide on the actual rates of suicide and suicidal behav- relationships between the quality of reporting and media iours in Ghana. Future studies may consider the use of eco- outlet ownership – a plausible indication that the extent of logical approaches and longitudinal designs to examine non-compliance with recommended best practice tran- the copycat effects of non-compliant media reporting of scends the ownership of media outlets. It is possible that suicide in Ghana. today’s fiercely competitive media terrain and the extreme Responsible media reporting of suicide is now a key area commercial motive of media outlets could be responsible of focus for suicide prevention among vulnerable groups for this sensationalistic media practice – every media (Oexle et al., 2019; WHO, 2014; Zalsman et al., 2016). house, public or privately owned, wants to be the first to Thus, the WHO and leading researchers in the area of media break the news on suicide (Akotia et al., 2019; Yang et al., and suicide prevention have recommended the development 2013). Relatedly, the disclosure of victim’s identity (men- of media reporting guidelines by countries around the world tion of names, school, place of work or posting of photos) (Chu et al., 2018; Mishara & Dargis, 2019; Pirkis, Blood, remains a critical ethical issue; some researchers have et al., 2006; WHO, 2014). The key evidence of the present interpreted this practice to mean journalists and media out- study underscores the urgent need for mental health profes- lets exploiting the suicide event for commercial gains, sionals and key media role players in Ghana (the Ghana while remaining uncompassionate to the bereaved family Mental Health Authority, Ghana Psychological Council, (Akotia et al., 2019; Harshe et al., 2016). Ghana Media Commission, National Communication Furthermore, the mention and detailed description of Authority, the Ghana Journalists Association, training insti- the method and location of suicide have been identified tutions of media practitioners and the Centre for Suicide and Quarshie et al. 257 Violence Research) to collaborate towards the formulation, Arafat, S. M. Y., Mali, B., & Akter, H. (2019). Quality of online adoption and implementation of guidelines for responsible news reporting of suicidal behavior in Bangladesh against (online) media reporting of suicide in the country. World Health Organization guidelines. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 40, 126–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2018. 10.010 Conclusion Arafat, S. M. Y., Mali, B., & Akter, H. (2020a). Do Bangladeshi newspapers educate public while reporting suicide? A year The evidence of the present study shows that, in Ghana, round observation from content analysis of six national online media reporting of suicidal behaviour deviates newspapers. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 48, e101920. sharply from the international recommended best practice https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2019.101920 by the WHO; these reports use sensationalistic language Arafat, S. M. Y., Mali, B., & Akter, H. (2020b). Is suicide report- and crude practices that are insensitive to the needs of ing in Bangla online news portals sensible? A year-round loved ones and families bereaved by suicide and may have content analysis against World Health Organization guide- the inherent tendency of triggering copycat suicide in vul- lines. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 49, e101943. https://doi. nerable groups. org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.101943 Armstrong, G., Vijayakumar, L., Niederkrotenthaler, T., Author contributions Jayaseelan, M., Kannan, R., Pirkis, J., & Jorm, A. F. (2018). Assessing the quality of media reporting of suicide news in E.N.-B.Q helped in the conception and design. All authors con- India against World Health Organization guidelines: A con- tributed to the acquisition of data, drafting and critical revision of tent analysis study of nine major newspapers in Tamil Nadu. the manuscript, and the final approval of the manuscript. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 52(9), 856–863. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867418772343 Conflict of interest Beaton, S., Forster, P., & Maple, M. (2013). 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