Paul Thompson is the Group Executive Editor of Fairfax Media, New Zealand's largest media company. He was formerly editor of The Press in Christchurch. As a journalist and editor, he has been closely involved in coverage of suicide as a public health issue.

1. Challenging the taboo: reporting
suicide effectively
September 11, 2008

4. News judgment
 Is it new?
 Is it interesting?
 Is it important?
 The human factor?
 Does it affect real people?
 What will the impact be?
 How do we tell the whole story?

6. What the protocol says:
“Individual suicides may be inherently
newsworthy and need to be reported. In such
cases, a responsible approach will consider
the potential for news coverage to both
contribute to cause further harm and to
communicate positive messages that may
save lives.”

9. An editor’s approach
 Call a suspected suicide a “suspected
suicide”
 Work with the Coroner – and families
 Be careful around placement, headlines,
detail
 Provide mental health information
 Link readers to support systems
 Provide balance and context