Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

Covering Suicide: New Science, New Guidelines

By Bruce Shapiro

We know more about suicide than ever before, says epidemiologist Madelyn Gould. New recommendations tell journalists how to use that knowledge, and a classroom guide tells journalism educators how to teach it.

Covering Campus Suicide

By Randal Beam and Will T. Mari

A three-part curriculum to help prepare journalism students for the difficult process of covering suicide on or near a college campus.

Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide

Suggestions for responsibly covering suicide while balancing concerns of privacy, stigma and avoiding copycat incidents.

The Power of a Bully

By Bruce Shapiro

When treading the fragile landscape of teen suicide, empathic, scientifically grounded reporting can save lives. So why are some journalists getting the bullying and suicide story so wrong?

Covering Teen Suicide

By Brian Slodysko

Suicide is a leading cause of teenage deaths, but is often treated as a journalistic taboo. Reporters and researchers break down the complicated ethical issues reporters must face to get the story right.

Suicide

Fighting the Stigma

By Meg Spratt

Journalists continue to struggle with effective, sensitive, and consistent reporting on suicide. In this three-part series, Meg Spratt, with Dart Fellow Liisa Hyvarinen, Dart Executive Committee Chair Emeritus Frank Ochberg, and others, explore the issues and complexities of responsible coverage.

Experts Unite on Early Trauma Support

Should journalists and other witnesses of traumatic or violent events receive mandatory counseling or debriefing in the immediate aftermath?

Suicide Coverage Can Amplify Problem

By Sherry Ricchiardi

A national panel of experts in suicide, behavioral science and the media cautions and advises journalists on how to report this sensitive subject.

Suicide and Depression

What Journalists Should Know

By Frank Ochberg

Clinical psychiatrist and trauma expert Frank Ochberg discusses medical aspects of depression and suicide.

Mentally Unfit, Forced to Fight

By Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kaufman

The U.S. military is sending troops with serious psychological problems into Iraq and is keeping soldiers in combat even after superiors have been alerted to suicide warnings and other signs of mental illness, a Courant investigation has found. Originally published in the Hartford Courant, May 2006.