Are suicides not reported on the news?

[spinbaby]

A man committed suicide in a very public and messy way near where I work today. I was watching for it on the news but not a peep. My husband said that he thought that suicides were generally not reported so as not to encourage more suicides. Does anyone know?

[Dookus]

1. Generally not reported

any more than any other deaths, unless somehow other people were involved (e.g., jumping in front of a train, tying up traffic on a bridge, etc.)

[trotsky]

2. I think there's some truth to that.

A few years ago up here in the Twin Cities, a man killed himself by jumping off one of the tall downtown buildings into an atrium-like area known as the Crystal Court. With a name like that, you can imagine all the glass. It was never reported on the local news, but the story spread word-of-mouth. Ghastly scene, from what I heard.

[RedFireDiamonds]

3. In my experience...

Teen suicides are really not talked about or shown in the news. And, generally, I think most families don't like to release that information when a loved one commits suicide because they feel guilty or embarrassed, or just because suicide is a really personal family death, as opposed to say, a car accident.

[amazona]

4. in my area not reported as they are not news

Suicide is very common here and it is not considered news worth reporting. Heck, plenty of out and out murders are not reported, much less suicides.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[AlCzervik]

5. unless they happen in a jail cell...no

there were to sucides in the sacramento country jail this week alone, both hangings.