Health
THE book titled “The Morning After”, is centered on educating the media on the international standard of reporting suicide cases without inflection of more damage to the concerned parties.
The book, launched virtually on Saturday, was written by two authors – Martin’s Ifijeh, a US-based Health Journalist who worked with THISDAY newspaper and Dr Olufemi Oluwatayo, a Consultant Psychiatrist.
Ifijeh said he wrote the book to educate Nigerian Journalists on the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for reporting suicide cases.
Ifijeh said that suicide reportage in Nigeria and indeed Africa, most times was devoid of the stipulated WHO guidelines .
He said in reporting suicide cases, journalists usually fueled suicide stories thereby causing more damage to concerned parties and the society at large.
According to him, the objective is to acquaint the media with more contemporary ways of reporting.
He said, “Three things why I wrote the book; there have been a `WHO guidelines for suicide reporting’ which j,ournalists in Africa, particularly Nigerians are not aware of, but some other countries have been using it.
“In the last four years, 264 suicide cases have been reported in the media from January 2017 till late 2020. Checking those reports, non of the WHO guidelines were reflected in the reports.
“The reason why the guidelines were developed is simply because journalists shouldn’t fuel suicide incidents and there are specific ways of writing suicide reports.
“If we reflect on stories that have been written, we will discover that more damages have been done than good.
“We want to see how we can do good stories and research to uncover how our reports have affected our society generally, probably positively or negatively.”
According to him, when reporting suicide, the health angle should be reflected on rather than interviewing the Police alone on suicide matters.
“The health experts should also be interviewed.
“With this report, people will begin to consciously reason why suicide is a health issue and not criminal issue,” Ifijeh said.
Dr Olufemi Oluwatayo, a consultant Psychiatrist and Co-author of the book, said the book was highly recommended for all journalists to serve as a guide in reporting generally.
Oluwatayo said that necessary consultations, interviews, investigations, research and reviews were made before publication of the book.
“It took us a long journey to get here. We came about the title – ‘The Morning After’ when we were thinking about how to reflect the messages in the book.
“We want journalists to reflect on the content of the reporting when they write; when everyone wake up in the morning, to reflect on the previous day and reason the impact on the people, family, and society.
“The book has a lot of research evidence; many of them are WHO studies and studies in Nigeria,” he said.
Also, Ms Lade Olugbemi, the Covener of the Nous Organisation, expressed concern over the new media suicide reporters who had no journalism background and were not bound by journalism practices.
Olugbemi said that for any suicide or suicidal attempt, there was a medical reason for it, saying that majority of people who has committed suicide had a diagnosable psychiatric problems.
According to her, that means in reality, suicide is not a criminal condition but a medical condition, regretting that the current pattern in our society by which suicide is brought to public attention is through criminal reportage.
“We are not only concerned about the mainstream media but also the new media which has admitted a large number of citizen reporters who often do not get the facts.
“But, they speculate and they are not bound by journalistic practices.
“The mainstream also has a lot to attempt while reporting suicide cases as regards the family of the deceased and the society.
“For example, someone hanged himself and the media reportage entails all the details of the deceased.
“It won’t only affect the family but also the stigma attached by the community. These are some of the things the authors want to guide against,” she said.
Mrs Chioma Obinna, Health Journalist and President of Health Writers Association of Nigeria (HEWAN), said there was need for training for journalists to do better reporting of suicide and its prevention.
According to her, when suicide is inappropriately reported, it fuels stigma.
“From the book, we have been made to understand that when you use the word ‘commit’ it’s tagging suicide as a crime and not an health condition.
“Suicide cases are reported by crime reporters which should be done by health reporters, this is also a huge problem.
“According to WHO, if suicide is reported responsibly, it reduces suicidal behaviors in the society but unfortunately, in this part of the world, the media tends to “sensationalize” the headlines.
“These and more are why we are canvassing for training,” she said.
Dr Femi Olugbile, Consultant Psychiatrist and Supervisory Consultant/Quality Lead of the Retreat Healthcare Home, emphasised the need for caution and understanding in reporting incidents of suicide to protect families and communities.
According to him, it will guard against stigmatization and victimization.
Olugbile, who was a former Chief Medical Director of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), said that suicide or suicidal attempt should be seen as having a medical condition undertone.
“Majority of people who committed suicide had a diagnosable psychiatric error.
“ That means in reality, it’s not a criminal condition but a medical condition. But the current pattern in our society by which suicide is brought to public attention is through criminal reportage.
“The law in Nigeria needs to recognize suicide as an illness to ensure such person sees a doctor, and not a criminal offence .
“ This doesn’t help the matter. We need to take a medical and not a criminal view of suicide. All of these is why the book is very important to journalists,” he said.
Mr Olusegun Adeniyi, the Chair of THISDAY Editorial Board, congratulated the authors for the highly revealing book and recommended it as a “must have” for journalists. (NAN)
– May 22, 2021 @ 16:51 GMT
Tags: Book Launch: Educating Journalists on standardised suicide reportage
