Students trained in suicide-related reporting
Ajournalist and Website Officer of The Nation Newspaper, Ibrahim Adam, has trained students of Journalism at Lagos State University of Science and Technology’s (LASUSTECH) Mass Communication Department in Ikorodu on how to report suicide and trauma-related incidents.
Speaking during the session in the department newsroom, the journalist said the training was intended to reduce the number of suicides in the country.
Ibrahim added that the seminar was also designed to promote safe reporting and the impact of incidents on journalists.
He emphasised that suicide stories should not be glamorised. This, he said, may cause readers or viewers dealing with mental health issues to take on the approach used by the victim to harm themselves.
He advised students to follow the rules of safe reporting and discourage individuals considering suicide.
However, the speaker admitted that secondary trauma has an emotional and psychological impact on journalists as a result of experiencing incidents or hearing people’s tales.
He proposed a checklist of what to do while interviewing survivors, emphasising the importance of building trust and avoiding possible triggers.
“The reason we’re all here today is to end the way we report suicide. I opted for students so that you are well-informed before joining this industry. We’ve seen and heard about students committing suicide, and it’s all over social media, newspapers, and television, featuring their faces, notes left behind, and the media celebrating it.These are wrong.
“When reporting suicide cases, we should avoid sensationalism. Instead of identifying the method and place of the incident, we should describe it as death and leave the location unspecified. We should not reveal the contents of the report, only mention that a note was discovered and is being reviewed. Do not include specific information about the victim; instead, use a single name, or do not reveal the person’s identity. Also, please do not draw attention to this type of report by posting it on the front page; instead, it should be placed inside the paper.
“When interviewing a survivor, you must be careful not to worsen his or her problem. They will always weep, especially females, but the best thing you can do is build trust with him or her. Develop empathic listening skills, respect their limits when they say no, and avoid anything that would make them furious. You must also be aware of nonverbal communication and provide assistance options.
“As journalists, we are human. We go through a lot after reporting such incidents and it often results in secondary trauma. Imagine reporting a story of a fully loaded container that fell on a ‘Danfo’, killing everyone on board. You get home and start to feel something. This is one of the reasons why journalists must learn to put their mental health first.
“You see journalists having secondary trauma with signs like emotional exhaustion, intrusive thoughts, increased irritability, sleep disturbance, avoidance behaviour, loss of purpose, etc,” he said.
One of the lecturers, Samuel Ogunsanya, commended the journalist for trying to improve students’ skills in safe reporting.
He added that the training will help the students plan for the future.
