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Background: Media guidelines for suicide reporting are available in many countries. However, to what extent the mass media comply with the guidelines is unknown. Few studies are available that investigate systematically whether the mass media reflect the epidemiological reality of suicide deaths in their articles. Methods: Based on the WHO media guidelines, this study investigated the characteristics of newspaper articles of suicides in three Chinese communities, namely Hong Kong, Taiwan and Guangzhou. Epidemiological comparisons were conducted to identify the age and gender differences between the suicide victims as reported in the newspapers and the official records of suicide deaths in all three places. Results: The results found that one media characteristic complied with the WHO media guidelines (ie, only about 2% of the articles were printed on the front page), but there were a number of instances of non-compliance (ie, only 4--14% provided sources for help-seeking and 27--90% printed with photos). The epidemiological comparisons revealed an over-representation of younger suicides and an under-representation of late-life suicides in the newspapers of all three places. Furthermore, female suicides were found to be under-reported in Taiwan and Guangzhou newspapers, but not in Hong Kong papers. Conclusion: Non-compliant suicide articles are prevalent in the newspapers of these three Chinese settings. The observed media misrepresentations may potentially mislead the public and the policy makers about the actual risk for suicide in some demographic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess changes in the intensity of suicide news reporting in Taiwan's local newspapers after the arrival of a daily tabloid-type newspaper, Apple Daily (AD), and evaluate the impact of suicide news reporting on actual suicides and possible mutual causation. Methods: A counting process was used to estimate the intensity of daily suicide news items reported in the China Times (CT) and United Daily (UD) before and after the arrival of AD (2002--05). Poisson regression models were used to assess the impact of the intensity of suicide news reporting on the actual number of next day suicides. Granger's causation model was used to assess mutual causation between suicide news reporting and actual suicides. Results: There was a significant increase in reporting intensity of suicide news in the UD soon after the entry of the AD into Taiwan's media market, while a delayed increase of approximately 1 year was observed in the CT. After the arrival of the AD, the reporting intensity in the UD was significantly related to the occurrence of actual suicides (p<0.05), even after controlling for social variables, whereas no significant correlation was previously observed. Mutual causation between suicide news reporting and actual suicides was also observed. Conclusions: The presence of the AD in Taiwan has fuelled competitive reporting of suicide news among traditional newspapers. This increase in the intensity of suicide news reporting has consequently had an impact on the actual number of suicides. This provides further empirical support for improving media reporting as a key element in suicide prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The short-term effect of celebrity suicide on the overall suicide rate is widely known, but long-term effects remain unclear. Objective: To examine whether celebrity suicide is associated with suicidal ideation over a longer period. Design: This is a study on the effect of the suicide of a famous Hong Kong entertainment celebrity, who committed suicide on 1 April 2003, on suicide thoughts of the community. A population-based survey was conducted between December 2003 and July 2004. Respondents were asked about their suicidal ideation, psychological well-being, life events, and whether or not they had been affected by celebrity suicide. Setting: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the People's Republic of China. Participants: 2016 respondents aged between 20 and 59 years. Results: After controlling for some known suicide risk factors, celebrity suicide was shown to be independently associated with suicidal ideation. People who had indicated to have been affected by celebrity suicide were 5.93 times (95% CI 2.56% to 13.72%, p=0) more likely to have severe level of suicidal ideation (Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire score ≥31) than people who had not been affected. Respondents having greater anxiety symptoms, less reason for living and more focus on irrational values were also found to have had their suicide ideation affected by celebrity suicide. Conclusions: Celebrity suicide is a risk factor for suicidal ideation over a short term as well as over a long term. Raising awareness of the possible negative effect of celebrity suicide through suicide prevention programmes in the community is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]