Which Suicides Get Media Attention and Which Don't.

I had a chance to speak with a veteran North Suburban writer this week regarding the media coverage of the Lake Forest and Barrington Suicides.  Being a Police Psychologist in the North Shore suburbs I often run into the reporters from various local publications including the Pioneer Press and the TribLocal.  Tuesdays before noon seem to be the optimum time for them to stop by the station and read through the daily call logs for the previous week.  As an aside, for those of you who fear being identified in the local crime blotter for the week (the most read section of the papers reportedly), it's best to have your run in on Tuesday's or Wednesday's as they are the oldest dates by the time the reporters read about them; just a thought.

In any event, when discussing the media coverage of the Lake Forest and Barrington suicides with the veteran (who, by the way, did not know about the most recent Lake Forest Metra suicide) I was told the factor used to judge whether a suburban suicide was published or not was the "street test."  Apparently the street test comes down to whether or not the body could be seen from the street.  All things being equal, those that occur out of public sight are not written about and those that can be seen from any street are written about.

While I can appreciate the attempt at sensitivity I'm left with wondering about the validity of any story written by reporters who know there is an appreciable difference between actual suicides on the North Shore and those that are reported.  This is especially true when they begin to use words like cluster or crisis.  In other words why, when you already know several suicides have occurred but are private do you then pull the trigger on sensationalizing those which are public?  Put another way, as a reporter you know there are suicides on a monthly basis and you refrain from writing about them but when 2 or 3 occur which are public, you make it a point to write ongoing stories for weeks and sometimes months?  And you use words like cluster or contagion?

I suspect I know the answer and it involves readership but you also know it's really not a valid or reliable basis for your conclusions?

Having been taught long ago not to pick fights with people who buy ink by the gallon or paper by the pound I have no interest in condemning you on the basis of this the practice but I do have an interest in utilizing some sanity and sensitivity in the process of public acknowledgement.  

I don't prescribe to the idea of hiding the facts regarding suicide and it's regular occurrence in the North Shore Suburbs of Chicago.  I just believe a greater adherence to guidelines that might inhibit suicide contagion is a good idea for all, especially when it comes to our children and adolescents or is suggestive that somehow our North Suburban Schools or Communities are in crisis when they are not.