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. 2017 Oct 24:91:e201710040.

[Reporting on Suicide. WHO recommendations for the Media]

[Article in Spanish]
Francisco Javier Acosta Artiles  1   2   3 , Carlos Jesús Rodriguez Rodríguez-Caro  4 , María Rosario Cejas Méndez  5
Affiliations

[Reporting on Suicide. WHO recommendations for the Media]

[Article in Spanish]
Francisco Javier Acosta Artiles et al. Rev Esp Salud Publica. .

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Inappropriate reporting on suicide in the media may lead to a contagious effect or "Werther effect", while appropriate characteristics may have a protective effect or "Papageno effect". Therefore, the media can contribute to the prevention of suicide. For this reason, the WHO has developed three documents with recommendations for media professionals about how to report on suicide. However, only the first one has been translated into Spanish, they have overlaps and have a different structure. Therefore, Spanish-speaking media professionals in general, and Spanish ones in particular, can hardly have access to these WHO recommendations displayed in a clear and concise manner. The objective of this work was the elaboration and provision of a single and concise text that includes the recommendations of these documents. A formal and structured procedure was followed, combining scientific and linguistic criteria. The final text contains the recommendations grouped into three categories: "what to do", "what not to do" and "other recommendations". This document can be very useful for media professionals, for training activities to disseminate such recommendations for preventive purposes, and for research.

La exposición inadecuada en los medios de comunicación sobre suicidios puede producir un efecto contagio o efecto Werther, mientras que determinadas características adecuadas pueden tener un efecto protector o efecto Papageno. Por tanto, los medios de comunicación pueden contribuir a la prevención del suicidio. Por ello, la OMS ha elaborado tres documentos con una serie de recomendaciones dirigidas a los profesionales de los medios de comunicación, para el tratamiento de las noticias relacionadas con el suicidio. Sin embargo, solo se ha traducido al español el primero, ambos tienen solapamientos y poseen una estructura diferente. Esto supone que los profesionales de los medios de comunicación de habla hispana en general, y de España en particular, difícilmente pueden tener un acceso a estas recomendaciones de la OMS de una forma clara y concisa. El objetivo de este trabajo fue la elaboración y provisión de un texto único y sintético que recogiera las recomendaciones de estos documentos. Para su creación se siguió un procedimiento formal y estructurado, que aunó criterios científicos y lingüísticos. El texto final contiene las recomendaciones agrupadas en tres categorías: “qué hacer”, “qué no hacer” y “otras recomendaciones”. Este documento puede ser de gran utilidad para los profesionales de los medios de comunicación, para actividades formativas de difusión de tales recomendaciones con finalidad preventiva y para la investigación.

Keywords: Contagion effect; Guidelines as Topic; Imitative Behavior; Mass media; Papageno effect; Protective effect; Risk Factors; Spain; Suicide/prevention control; Werther effect; World Health Organization.

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