Average. After the complaints about the Kellermayr and Jenewein case reports: what should be considered in the articles on (attempted) suicide?
Every journalist can suddenly be faced with a suicide in the course of their daily work. In the case of the suicides of Austrian singer Ludwig Hirsch (1946-2011) or DJ Avicii (1989-2018), the culture department reported, while the sports department reported on the suicide of German national team goalkeeper Robert Enke. The suicide of Dr. Marie-Luise Kellermayr and the attempted suicide of former FPÖ MP Hans-Jörg Jenewein also affect domestic politics.
The author
Dr Alessandro Warzilek is a lawyer and managing director of the Press Council; he is also a lecturer at the universities of Graz and Klagenfurt.
Why is the chronicle of suicides such a sensitive topic? People who work in the media are not used to it and may even find it paradoxical at first that news of a suicide should be confidential and that not all sought-after details can be described vividly. From an ethical point of view, however, this is absolutely necessary: it is not only important to consider the privacy of the suicide and his family members, but also the effects that reporting can have on other people at risk of suicide.
