Crumbling Walls - Blog of the Day
9 May 2007
I’ve never understood why the mainstream media does not report suicides in a more open manner. I’m not saying we need to hear personal details of such tragedies every night on the television news but there could be significantly more done to raise awareness of the high rates of suicide in Australia.
I know the theory is that the media don’t want to encourage more instances, I just don’t think that argument holds any weight. Especially when organisations like Beyond Blue or Reach Out! always advocate that individuals openly discuss thoughts of taking one’s life. Yet when a unfortunate situation does occur, the mainstream media embargo the incident as the big pink elephant in the room that no one is willing to talk about.
I’ve had two people from my circle of friends commit suicide and in one other occurrence, closely observed the media’s uncertainty when reporting suicide. Last year, the school captain at my former high school in the regional city of Toowoomba took his own life. Brisbane Channel 9 television news was the only media outlet to report it. The Courier Mail newspaper, Channel 7, Network 10 as well as the local WIN TV and Toowomba Chronicle newspaper all chose not to run the story. This left me unable to understand what was the correct way for the media to deal with such an event.
Which is why when I recently found Crumbling Walls via a blogroll I immediately marked it as a Blog of the Day.
Crumbling Walls is a blog that has been written for the last 12 months by a mother as she grieves over the loss of her 18 year old son to suicide.
I think this is an incredible example that shows the power of personal publishing in giving voice to a story that would have most likely been lost and not heard by the wider community. It’s an emotional and powerful blog to read but gives an extraordinary insight into what families go through when they are confronted with a suicide by one of their loved ones. There is not much more I can say about it other than that I can highly Crumbling Walls as our Blog of the Day.
Posted by Anthony at 10:28am 09/05/2007
3 comments… read them below or add one
im glad you have chosen crumblings walls to be blog of the day. barry henderson was my best friend and when he committed suicide i didnt know why and i felt as if i had noone to talk to but when karen started writing the blog i felt as if it was a way for me to connect to her and it has helped me to deal with the grief….i read it everyday and will continue to read it as it is my way to feel closer to barry…
The power of a blog is a wonderful thing. Thanks for sharing your story.
A
You say:
Having worked in the mainstream media (ABC radio for 7+ years, and others), I can confirm this is exactly the reason.
It’s not just a “theory†either — it’s borne out by the statistics. If you report specifics of a suicide, there will be copycats the next day as people “on the edge” finally cross the boundary. Sad but true.
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