The impact of media coverage of the suicide of a well-known Quebec reporter: the case of Gaëtan Girouard

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Abstract

Evidence of a media impact on suicide is mixed and needs further research. The main objective of this article is to document the effects of the media coverage following the suicide of a well-known and popular television reporter in Quebec, Canada. A content analysis of the printed media and an analysis of suicide rates during the following year, of coroners’ records and of calls to Suicide Prevention Centres during the following 3 months was conducted. Most guidelines for responsible reporting of a suicide were not applied. The results showed a rise in the suicides rates immediately after the reporter's suicide, especially by hanging as in the original case. A cluster of six suicides by hanging also took place in the small municipality where the reporter's suicide occurred. There was also an indication of direct influence in the coroners’ records and a rise in calls to Suicide Prevention Centres. This research indicates that the reporting of the suicide of a popular figure preceded an important rise in the number of suicides. A possible theoretical explanation is that a positive role model appeared to suddenly fail to cope with life, thus creating high distress and cognitive dissonance in the audience. The news media should apply more caution and follow recommended guidelines in reporting this type of news.

Introduction

There have been several extensive reviews of the effects of media reports on suicide (Phillips, 1974; Phillips, Leysna, & Paight, 1992; Stack (2000a), Stack (2000b); Pirkis & Blood, 2001). They cover a wide range of situations: the suicide of well-known figures (mainly political and artistic), spectacular, unusual, or specific forms of suicide (subway, falls from bridges, romantic sites), murder-suicide, report of a new means (e.g. attacking a policeman in order to be killed by him), and daily reports of ordinary suicides.

The best documented studies of the effects of the suicide of a well-known figure involve popular artists. The suicide of Yokiko Okaoa in Japan in 1986 is thought to have led to an excess of 30 suicides during the 2 weeks following his death, most of them among teenagers for whom a 44% increase in suicide deaths was observed (Takahashi, 1998). In Hungary, the suicide of a 17 year-old Miss Hungary by an overdose of Lidocain, a medication for heart disease, was widely reported by the national press and was the theme of a multi-edition book, a film and a song (Fekete & Macsai, 1990). During the following 6-months, the number of suicides using Lidocain rose from 3 to 25, with peaks after the release of the film and of each new edition of the book. Data available from 13 of the 25 cases showed that 11 had read the book immediately before their death. In Switzerland, the suicide of the internationally known movie star Maria Schell in the spring of 1991 led to eight articles in four local newspapers, some hailing it as an heroic act (Frey, Michel, & Valach, 1996). The suicide rate during the following 3 weeks was the highest for any 3-week period during the previous 4 years, and this was an increase of 43% (18 more deaths) compared to the 3-week period preceding her death. In the United States, Phillips (1974) estimated that the suicide of Marilyn Monroe led to 197 extra suicides. Motto (1967) suggested that the increase was approximately 40% in Los Angeles during the month following her death, mainly among men, and he suggested that a reaction to the loss rather than an imitation effect had been instrumental. More recently, the suicide of Kurt Cobain did not produce an increase in suicide, presumably because the media had described his death in more negative terms and had mentioned that three of his uncles had also died by suicide (Berman, Jobes, & O’Carroll, 1998). There were however five well documented imitation cases and a rise in calls to crisis lines during the following 5 weeks (Jobes, Berman, O’Carroll, Eastgard, & Knickmeyer, 1996). On the other hand, accidental deaths of famous persons such as Princess Diana can have an effect on suicides and suicide attempts (Hawton et al., 2000).

Theories and explanations of a “contagion effect”, independent of the nature of the source model, have been proposed to account for the increases in suicides following media reports. The differential identification theory (Stack, 1987; Phillips et al., 1992) suggests that both a vertical (higher status) and a horizontal (similar status) identification are active, integrating both the extraordinary and the ordinary characteristics of the public suicide who is also seen as a hero. Social learning theory (Bandura, 1971) proposes that social facilitation from exposure to media reports and disinhibition mechanisms which make suicidal tendencies possible are both active. The effect should be higher if the report is repeated and, according to this theory, there will be greater effect if the report suggests positive rewards from committing suicide. The behavioural contagion theory (Wheeler, 1966) postulates that higher status models are more influential because they are more likely to be rewarded and less likely to be punished for their action. Finally, the priming effect or activation hypothesis (Berkowitz, 1984) suggests that suicide reports switch on an already pre-programmed set. Thus, the representation of a scenario by a media can trigger an imitation behaviour in the observer. This theory is more useful in explaining short-term media effects because the emotional impact of the message is likely to diminish with time.

Section snippets

Method

The population of the province of Quebec is approximately eight millions, 80% of whom are French-speaking. A majority reads local French newspapers and watches the four local French television channels.1

Press coverage

There were 98 articles in the printed media relating to Girouard's suicide. Of those, 30 were published in the first 2 days after his death and 35 others before the end of the first week. Twenty more articles appeared in the next 3 weeks. Roughly one half of the articles had a strong emotional overtone, describing the reactions of the family, friends, colleagues, other journalists, and lay readers. Moreover, 26 articles were accompanied by pictures of close family and friends expressing their

The impact on suicides

There was a significant rise in provincial suicide rates during the 4 weeks following Girouard's suicide and up to the end of year 1999. The higher rate throughout 1999 may not be entirely attributed to Girouard's death nor to its media coverage since the news coverage receded after 1 month. During the year 2000, the rate decreased and returned back to the level of the year 1998. The 1999 increase was associated with suicide by hanging, suggesting a modeling effect. These data suggest that a

Clinical implications

The impact of this public suicide should make clinicians more conscious of their patients’ vulnerability to collective drama and encourage them to discuss these issues, especially with patients who made a previous attempt or show significant distress. There is a need also for health professions to work with the press in order to develop means of decreasing the psychological impact of news, which may contribute to a feeling of helplessness in a large part of the readership.

Limitations

Despite the definitive impact of this suicide, it is not possible to accurately assess the number of suicides caused by the mediatization of Girouard's death, and especially the increase observed many months after January 14 . Furthermore, our conclusions and interpretations may only apply to coverage of suicides by public figures who have characteristics with which the audience can identify. Finally, the main impact on calls to SPC is limited to the first 2 weeks after the death, with

Conclusions

We cannot determine how much of the increase of 195 suicides in 1999 over 1998 may be attributed with Girouard's death and its coverage by the media. However, there is good reason to believe that the news of his death was instrumental in at least 50 of the suicides in the 4-week period immediately following January 14. Although we will never know the exact number, we feel that a part of the responsibility for the increased mortality is to be shared by the media, both written and television,

Acknowledgements

The research on which this article is based was funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The project received institutional review board approval from the University of Quebec in Montreal. We would like to thank the Quebec Coroner-in-Chief, Dr Serge Turmel, the Quebec Association of Suicide Prevention and its corporate members as well as Sonia Tenina, Denis Hamel, Stéphanie Trépanier Bogdan Balan and Anne-Julie Langdeau for their collaboration.

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