Dr. Shubha’s address to professional journalists on sensitive and responsible reporting of suicides

Dr. Shubha H.S., Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Media Studies, was invited as the resource person for a special seminar on ‘Suicide Prevention and Social Responsibility’ on 7 October, 2021. This special seminar was jointly organized by Dr. A.V. Baliga Memorial Hospital, Udupi, Rotary Manipal, and Udupi District Working Journalists Association (UDWJA).

Dr. Shubha in her address to the journalists drew their attention to the need for them to be sensitive when they report suicides. Her talk stressed the need to need to look at suicide reports as health-related reports and not as crime reports. Dr. Shubha provided the journalists valuable tips for practicing socially-responsible reporting of suicides. These tips included replacing the phrase, ‘committed suicide’ which considers suicide as a crime with more humane words.