Introduction

Suicide rates in India are among the highest in the world, equating to over 200,000 suicide deaths annually. Crime reports of suicide incidents routinely feature in the Indian mass media, with minimal coverage of suicide as a broader public health issue. To supplement our recently published content analysis study, we undertook qualitative interviews to examine media professionals' perspectives and experiences in relation to media reporting of suicide-related news in India.

Materials and methods

In 2017–18, semi-structured qualitative interviews with twenty-eight print media and television media professionals with experience reporting on suicide-related news were undertaken across north (New Delhi and Chandigarh) and south (Chennai) India. A semi-structured interview guide was designed to initiate discussions around; 1) perspectives on why suicide incidents are regularly reported on by mass media in India, 2) a description of experiences and processes of covering suicide incidents on the crime beat; and 3) perspectives on the emergence of health reporter coverage of suicide. Interviews were digitally audio-recorded and transcribed. A deductive and inductive thematic analytic approach was used, supported by the use of NVivo.

Results

Suicides were typically seen as being highly newsworthy and of interest to the audience, particularly the suicides of high-status people and those who somewhat matched the middle-class profile of the core audience. Socio-cultural factors played a major role in determining the newsworthiness of a particular incident. The capacity to link a suicide incident to compelling social narratives, potentially detrimental social/policy issues, and placing the suicide as a form of protest/martyrdom increased newsworthiness. Reporters on the crime beat worked in close partnership with police to produce routine and simplified incident report-style coverage of suicide incidents, with the process influenced by: informal police contacts supporting the crime beat, the speed of breaking news, extremely tight word limits and a deeply fraught engagement with bereaved family members. It was articulated that a public health and/or mental health framing of suicide was an emerging perspective, which sought to focus more on broader trends and suicide prevention programs rather than individual incidents. Important challenges were identified around the complexity of adopting a mental health framing of suicide, given the perceived pervasive influence of socioeconomic and cultural issues (rather than individual psychopathology) on suicide in India.

Conclusions

Our findings delve into the complexity of reporting on suicide in India and can be used to support constructive partnerships between media professionals and suicide prevention experts in India. Policymakers need to acknowledge the socio-cultural context of suicide reporting in India when adapting international guidelines for the Indian media.

中文翻译：

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“这是一场争夺战，自杀是一场诱饵”：印度媒体报道自杀的经历。

介绍

印度的自杀率是世界上最高的，相当于每年20万以上的自杀死亡。关于自杀事件的犯罪报道在印度大众媒体中屡见不鲜，作为一个更广泛的公共卫生问题，自杀的报道很少。为了补充我们最近发布的内容分析研究，我们进行了定性访谈，以检查媒体专业人员在印度媒体报道的自杀相关新闻方面的观点和经验。

材料和方法

在2017-18年度，印度北部（新德里和昌迪加尔）和南部（金奈）对28名平面媒体和电视媒体专业人士进行了半结构化的定性采访，他们对自杀相关新闻都有报道。设计了一个半结构化的采访指南，以引发周围的讨论；1）关于印度大众媒体为何定期报道自杀事件的观点，2）描述了涵盖犯罪活动中自杀事件的经验和过程；3）对健康记者自杀报道的观点。对采访进行数字录音和转录。在NVivo的支持下，使用了演绎和归纳主题分析方法。

结果

自杀通常被认为具有很高的新闻价值，并且引起了观众的兴趣，特别是地位高的人和与核心听众的中产阶级形象相匹配的人的自杀。社会文化因素在确定特定事件的新闻价值方面起着重要作用。将自杀事件与令人信服的社会叙事，潜在有害的社会/政策问题联系起来的能力，以及将自杀作为抗议/ yr难的一种形式，可以提高新闻价值。打击犯罪行为的记者与警方密切合作，制作了常规的，简化的事件报告式自杀事件报道，其过程受到以下方面的影响：非正式的警方联系支持犯罪行为，突发新闻的速度，字词限制非常严格，并且与失去亲人的家人深感忧虑。有人指出，自杀的公共卫生和/或精神卫生框架是一个新兴的观点，它试图将重点更多地放在更广泛的趋势和自杀预防方案上，而不是个别事件上。考虑到社会经济和文化问题（而非个人心理病理学）对印度自杀的普遍影响，围绕自杀的心理健康框架的复杂性确定了重大挑战。

结论

我们的发现深入探讨了印度自杀报道的复杂性，可用于支持印度媒体专业人员和预防自杀专家之间的建设性合作关系。在为印度媒体改编国际准则时，决策者需要承认印度自杀报道的社会文化背景。