Abstract of the report
For two centuries the media have taken root in society firmly, it is constantly experiencing progress, is changing and evolving, however still violated internationally recognized ethical standards. It often becomes the inspiration for discrimination, the establishment of dogmas, and stereotypes in society. In Georgian TV space, author, entertainment, or various types of programs it is common to use discriminatory words or expressions on various sensitive issues.
We often encounter complaints or articles about the violation of the standard of coverage of the topic of suicide on the websites of ‘’Media Checker’’ and the ‘’Charter of Journalistic Ethics.’’ There are frequent linguistic mistakes in Georgian online publications, which mislead the reader or make the fact very frightening.
At the same time, media representatives are not changing anything in this regard and continue working as usual. Each year, more than 800,000 people committing suicide, it would be wrong to cover every case. One of the reasons for the observations is why the media chose to cover certain cases and how correct this decision was. In my opinion, suicide is the most horrific way to end life, and Georgian internet and television broadcasts never hesitate to cover suicide cases. The aim of the study is to explore how well the media do this, as suicide is the most sensitive topic, though not inviolable. Often the coverage of the community serves to raise public awareness, which can be crucial at the right time. So it’s interesting – how well is the topic of suicide covered in the media?
Value
The study is only at the initial stage, so there are no conclusions yet. However, there are expectations that many violations will be found, even in well-known and trusted media platforms.
Because the suicidal cases are very sensitive for everyone, even for the journalist, the are few cases where journalists reveal his attitude. If we rely on the guidelines of the charter of journalistic ethics, showing own position or gestures is a gross mistake. I will consider the research successful if my report, would raise the awareness of journalists about this issue. Suicide coverage is different from all other cases, you need to select all the details and words correctly and carefully and deliver them to the public in this way.
Secondary source
The media coverage of suicide topics is regulated by the rules developed by the Charter of Journalistic Ethics. Suicide is a sensitive topic for the public, therefore special caution is needed when covering it, as a journalist has to solve many ethical dilemmas at the same time.
None of the media outlets are immune to the mistakes made in covering the topic of suicide. According to UNICEF, the guidelines for covering issues related to children should not lead to unhealthy interest. She/he, who committed suicide, should not become a hero. The event should not become attractive.
In the course of my research, I got acquainted with the few basic principles, developed by the Charter of Journalistic Ethics, and as the secondary source is the guidelines for Suicide Coverage. According to the publication, before covering the topic, the journalist should understand the following provision “suicide is not a crime” and this topic is not taboo.
First of all, the purpose of coverage may be to identify the cause of suicide and prevent it, in addition to covering the topic may be the growing statistics of cases, at which time the focus should be on the main reasons.
The next and not less important step is to define the goal – why do you cover the topic? We can divide this issue into two main points:
- General cause – help the public identify the signs of suicide to prevent it.
- Individual
Ignorance of the details can be considered a violation as well as the provision of specific information. It is not allowed to disclose the place and details of the suicide. Linguistic mistakes may make the reader think that suicide is the way to solve a problem and it is justified.
There are certain cases when a journalist tries to establish an interconnection. Suicide is considered by journalists in a religious and cultural context, which is considered a violation.
When creating an article, it is recommended that you do not use the victim’s photo, scandalous, sensational title.
There are some specific guidelines for collecting information. For example, it is considered a gross violation of ethics if the respondent asks the question “why did he/she do it”?
Caution is necessary for dealing with loved ones, as researches have shown that we should try to refrain from interviewing family members because they are considered incompetent respondents due to the stress they endure.
The media should not contribute to the deepening of myths with gestures, mispronunciations, incompetent respondents, and photos. Information should be provided in a dry manner, based only on verified facts. It is important to talk about prevention in the article. It is advisable to talk to the service about the centers, where it is possible to help people prone to suicide.
Structure / Methodology/ Results
For monitoring, I chose six online platforms, for four months From September 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019. These are Tabula, reportiori.ge on.ge netgazeti.ge ipn.ge ambebi.ge These websites have the trust of the people and it is important to know how the media is telling the story of the suicide incident to the audience, what mistakes they have made and whether they are correcting those mistakes.
I used content analysis in the study. I recorded the number of violations, what kind of violations were recorded, and analyzed them. This method of content analysis is qualitative.
In total, I have reviewed 120 articles from 6 online media platforms during this period.
In on.ge I found 5 article,
IPN -12 article,
Tabula -28 article,
Reportiori – 9 article,
Netgazeti – article,
Ambebi.ge – 31 article.
In On.ge I found 1 article( https://bit.ly/37w5YRu), where is ethical mistakes. Violations on IPN were found in 2 articles(https://bit.ly/2UKhjZi), On Tabula in 8 articles (for instance https://bit.ly/2N3z8y9 ), Reportiori.ge was found in 2 article(https://bit.ly/30KbHSz).There was no violation on Netgazati.ge, In Ambebi.ge Violation was founded in 13 articles (https://bit.ly/37yefEE).
Limitations of research (gaps) / impact
Of course, there will be gaps, since the research period is limited and covers only 4 months.
The research question is the subject of qualitative research. For monitoring, I chose six online platforms, for four months. These are Tabula, reportiori.ge on.ge netgazeti.ge ipn.ge ambebi.ge These websites have the trust of the people and it is important to know how the media is telling the story of the suicide incident to the audience, what mistakes they have made and whether they are correcting those mistakes.
KEY FINDINGS/Conclusions
The main goal of our study was to determine how ethically online media outlets covered suicide-related topics and whether they adhered to the standards set by the ethics charter to cover this topic.
In the course of the study, we selected six online media outlets that more or less adhered to ethical standards.
It is noteworthy that none of the online publications had gross violations during the coverage of the topic.
Most linguistic errors are recorded with the news. In media researcher’s opinions, it is not necessary to consider all the individual cases on the topic. Also, according to the rules of the Ethics Charter, the story must either have one specific focus or must be of high public interest. Online media often covered individual cases.
One of the main findings is that none of the media outlets have indicated service centers, which is a recommendation of the ethics charter when covering suicide.
Let’s move on to a review of specific examples: The topic of suicide is less frequently covered on the ON.ge website than on the IPN.
During the period I selected, the news was only about “Luka Siradze”. The public interest was high on the issue and other problems of suicide were also raised. As for IPN, I think this site wrote about cases that may not have needed to be covered. For instance this article https://bit.ly/3hzncC7
According to the ethics guideline, a journalist should not provide readers with the details and information that explain to the reader how to do it themselves. Such mistakes are often made by the reportiori.ge (https://bit.ly/3fuloJ2 )This site, I think, violates standards and provides readers with unverified information.
Now about tabula, this site covers news quit quickly, Tabula adheres to standards much better than a reportiori.ge. But in a few cases, they broke the standards roughly. Let’s
Consider one of the articles.
‘’A young woman was found hanged in Zugdidi, the family does not believe in the version of suicide’’ https://bit.ly/3fAHh9g
- “In Zugdidi, in the village of Shamgona, a young woman was found hanged in cow barn’’ – The principle of describing the method, according to which it is inadmissible to make public the place and details of the suicide, is violated.
“The brother of the deceased does not believe in the version of suicide. According to him, the woman has injuries, which is why Nukri Mikava suggests that she was killed first and then “hung on a rope”.– Caution is necessary for dealing with loved ones, as researches have shown that we should try to refrain from interviewing family members because they are considered incompetent respondents due to the stress they endure. The respondent shares his / her version with the journalist without facts, and the article does not show any arguments to prove the fact.
Netgazeti and Ambebi.ge are very different news platforms. It should be noted that unlike Netgazeti, the news of Ambebi.ge is distinguished by the so-called by clickbait technique. Title formation is focused on allowing the user to open the article and read it and not on the fact that the user is receiving information for their well-being.(for instance this article https://bit.ly/3eada8o) Also, the articles of Ambebi.ge are distinguished by useless information, that is, I personally, as a reader, get tired of reading the article and do not even read it to the end. In the case of Netgazeti, the information is laconic and specifically written, without unnecessary information( https://netgazeti.ge/news/415739/).
To sum up briefly The number of violations allowed in the articles looks like this.
The number of mistakes in the title of the article was 6. Linguistic mistakes-8. Incompetent respondents(relative)-1. Inappropriate visual material-5. Description of the suicide method-6
Keywords
1. Suicide
2. Mental illness
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