- Title
- Attitudes towards and uptake of evidence-informed guidelines for media reporting of suicide in Australia
- Creator
- Skehan, Jaelea
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2019
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- The use of evidence-informed decision making has been considered an integral part of health policy and practice. Nevertheless, the significant gap between evidence and use of that evidence has been repeatedly acknowledged as a major challenge. This can be magnified in areas like suicide prevention, where evidence for effective interventions to reduce suicide is still emerging and where the evidence needs to be applied across diverse settings, within health and also outside of health settings. One of the universal, or community-level, interventions in suicide prevention that has been highlighted consistently in suicide prevention frameworks relates to responsible and safe media reporting of suicide. There is a large body of evidence demonstrating the association between media reporting of suicide and suicidal behaviour and there have been international resources allocated to the development of guidelines for media reporting of suicide. There are significant gaps in the evidence, however, related to factors that may influence attitudes towards and uptake of the guidelines into policy and practice. This thesis presents a coherent body of research that investigates attitudes towards and uptake of evidence-informed guidelines for media reporting suicide in Australia. The research builds on more than fifteen years of work conducted by the candidate and colleagues to develop and implement the Mindframe initiative in Australia, which is a multi-component initiative aimed at improving the way the media and those who work with the media report on, portray and communicate about suicide. While other countries have developed media guidelines for reporting suicide, the Australian approach has included an active implementation strategy that not only targets media professionals but also those who work with and pitch stories to the media, including professional communicators. Prior research in Australia has indicated that media reporting of suicide was more aligned with evidence-informed guidelines following implementation of the Mindframe guidelines and research conducted by the candidate has demonstrated that media in Australia were aware of and used the guidelines and valued face-to-face briefings provided by the project team disseminating the guidelines. There has, however, been limited research conducted to understand some of the individual and environmental enablers that may have supported those changes with media professionals and there is no research examining the attitudes of others involved in shaping media reporting of suicide, including professional communicators and those with lived experience of suicide. The research presented in this thesis seeks to address a number of the existing gaps in the evidence to inform future practice in Australia and internationally. It aims to examine the attitudes that media professionals, professional communicators and those bereaved by suicide have towards evidence-informed guidelines for reporting suicide and assesses the update of media guidelines within media policies and reporting practice in Australia. The thesis includes five separate studies, three presented as non-published chapters and two presented as chapters based on peer-reviewed publications, as summarised below. 1. A quantitative study of attitudes towards evidence-informed guidelines for reporting suicide, and the factors associated with these attitudes (Chapter 2), presents results from a cross-sectional survey completed by 262 media professionals and 260 professional communicators in Australia during 2015. The study uses linear regression analyses to examine factors associated with attitudes that are aligned to evidence-informed guidelines. 2. A qualitative study of attitudes towards reporting suicide and evidence-informed guidelines for reporting suicide (Chapter 3), presents the results of thematic analysis conducted on one open ended-question included in the cross-sectional survey described in Chapter 2 to further explore attitudes towards reporting suicide and associated guidelines. 3. Suicide bereavement and the media: a qualitative investigation of attitudes and experiences (Chapter 4), presents the results of thematic analysis applied to a series of key informant interviews with those bereaved by suicide, journalists, postvention workers, police and coronial staff (part 1) and focus groups conducted with people bereaved by suicide (part 2) to examine the views and attitudes of those bereaved by suicide towards media reporting of suicide. 4. The uptake of evidence-informed guidelines for reporting suicide into media codes of practice and policies in Australia (Chapter 5), presents the results of a content analysis of relevant documents obtained from 12 media agencies in Australia to examine the extent to which media-led policies in Australia align with the Mindframe guidelines. 5. Media use of evidence-informed guidelines when covering a suicide prevention campaign (Chapter 6), examines the extent to which media professionals in Australia apply evidence-informed guidelines for reporting suicide in broadcast reports associated with the largest suicide prevention campaign in Australia, R U OK? Day. Factors associated with the quality of reporting (as determined by adherence to guidelines), were also examined. Each of the studies presented in this thesis, notwithstanding some limitations, provide a unique contribution to the international body of research investigating attitudes towards and uptake of media guidelines for reporting suicide. Combined, the studies provide some insights to inform future knowledge translation, here in Australia and internationally.
- Subject
- suicide prevention; media reporting; public health
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1408794
- Identifier
- uon:35887
- Rights
- Copyright 2019 Jaelea Skehan
- Language
- eng
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 445 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |