Quality of newspaper reporting of suicide in Odisha, India, against the World Health Organization guidelines

BACKGROUND: Imbalanced media reporting of suicide may increase suicide risk among vulnerable individuals. AIM: This study aims to assess the quality of suicide reporting in print newspapers of Odisha, a high suicide burden state in Eastern India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed all eligible media reports of suicide in selected English and local language printed newspapers of Odisha between October 1, 2019, and September 30, 2020. Quality assessment was carried out against international as well as local reporting guidelines. RESULTS: A total of 248 news reports were analyzed. Majority of the articles reported identifying details (such as name [74.2%], age [60.9%], and gender [98.4%] of deceased) as well as a detailed description about the suicide event (suicide method [87.5%] and location [84.3%]). More than half (54.8%) of the reports attributed suicide to a single cause. CONCLUSION: Suicide reports in print newspapers of Odisha are poorly adherent to local and international suicide reporting guidelines.