Australian media professionals’ views on reporting suicide and evidence-informed guidelines: a qualitative study

Collaborating with media to promote safe reporting of suicide is recognized as a promising population-level prevention strategy. While Australian media professionals are broadly aware of, and supportive of, existing guidelines for reporting suicide, variability in agreement with specific recommendations suggests a need to further explore underlying views and perceptions about reporting suicide and associated guidelines. This study analyzed responses from 83 media professionals responding to an open-ended question within a national cross-sectional survey. Using inductive thematic analysis, three key themes were collaboratively constructed: (i) reporting suicide can provide community benefits; (ii) tension exists between applying guidelines and concerns they may restrict media reporting; and (iii) there is an interaction between lived experience of suicide and media professionals’ views about reporting. Findings highlight the complexity of balancing public health objectives with media practices and underscore the importance of nuanced engagement with media professionals to strengthen guideline implementation.