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Campaign material Public relations, broad public Media guidelines
The media relations work established in EAAD intervention regions also comprises the education of media professionals concerning the media coverage of suicidal acts. Special guidelines and recommendations for journalists on how to handle the topic suicide sensitively in order to prevent copycat suicides are being distributed by several partners.
„The Werther Effect“: What’s it about?
Media coverage on suicide can trigger imitational actions: Certain kinds of media reports on suicides can provoke succeeding suicidal actions - due to imitation. Scientific literature calls this a “Werther-Effect”. After the publication of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s famous novel “The woes of the young Werther“ copycat suicides of young men occurred all over Europe. The suicides very much followed the novel’s pattern and model.
Darrera Actualització: 19.08.2010
