From the Editor
“Hemingway Dead of Shotgun Wound; Wife Says He Was Cleaning Weapon.” So reads the headline from the front page of The New York Times reporting the death of author Ernest Hemingway. It quotes Frank Hewitt, the Blaine County Sheriff, who comments that the death “looks like an accident… There is no evidence of foul play.”
It is well known that writer Ernest Hemingway died by suicide – the sheriff didn’t want to say it. As we as a society discuss mental illness more and more, how do we discuss topics like suicide? For years, of course, we didn’t – or, if we did, reporting was often insensitive.
In last month’s Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Hospital’s Mark Sinyor and his co-authors, including other psychiatrists and journalists, suggest guidelines for the reporting of suicide. The effort provides an update of a past report, and includes recommendations for social media.
In this Reading we look at the guidelines, and consider the opportunities and problems of the Twitter era.
DG
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