දිවි තොර කර ගැනීම් සහ මාධ්‍ය ආචාර ධර්ම​

Abstract

During the months of July and August 2023, several Sinhala, Tamil and English newspapers, i.e. Aruna, Dinamina, Divaina, Lankadeepa, Mawbima, Thamilan, Virakesari and Daily News, published several articles which contained the following ethical violations. No helplines were mentioned, the method of suicide reported, linked to previous suicides, the reason for the suicide reported, suicide was prominently reported, suicide was sensationalised, the suicide note was published, and the suicide method was described descriptively. On August 9th 2023, Aruna published an article on a murder-suicide in Nuwara Eliya, but Dinamina and Mawbima reported the same news as a suspicious death instead of a murder-suicide. The Hiru TV news, which aired on 17 August 2023, also violated some of the guidelines mentioned above while reporting a suicide incident. Meanwhile, on 16th August 2023, in Ada newspaper, an article was published that highlighted the appropriate and ethical manner in which the media should report on suicide. On the 3rd of August 2023, Siyatha TV included suicide prevention helplines in their coverage, which is commendable. This also includes two infographics comparing how the Sinhala and Tamil newspapers reported the suicides in Jaffna and Talawakele.