PMID32188637: Media coverage of celebrity suicides, during the near-term (one week to two months), is associated with an overall increase in suicide deaths (in the measured audience) of 8–18%. Method-specific deaths go up 18–44%. News reports about non-celebrity suicide deaths has no real effect on overall suicide numbers. General news/non-fiction media content about suicide has no effect. Does not mention hotlines.
Perhaps at-risk people self-identify with celebrities but not with non-celebrities, so the death of an unknown person in your city does not produce a risk, but the death of a celebrity you admire could prompt thoughts of emulation. Ignores the effect of a suicide death on the decedent's own family and friends.
PMID22470283: Says that internet-facilitated sharing of information makes cause-and-effect research much harder than it was in the 1990s, as it's easier for people to look up the news that they want, rather than being restricted to the local newspaper(s). Heavily reported deaths of same-age, same-gender celebrities are the most risky. Says one-size-fits-all "universal approaches are less promising". Concerned about publication bias. Recommends media guidelines for films.
Does not address social media. What's the value of not reporting the suicide method in a newspaper, if everyone's already talking extensively about the exact details on Facebook or Whatsapp or an internet forum?
Audience matters. Teenage girls don't usually seek to emulate Robin Williams' death, but a middle-aged white American man might.
PMID22713977 (2012): Media guidelines were prompted by "sensational media reporting".
Quote: "There is also a debate about what the role of media professionals ought to be. The media reports the news, but one may ask whether the media should be in the business of disseminating suicide prevention information with every report? Even if media reporting does have an influence on suicide rates, is that a reason to suppress reports? Mass murder may be an example of an event that may result in contagion,15 but the media universally covers these anyway. Regardless, do traditional media have much control given that suicide is widely disseminated by the public itself on social media?"
The Mindframe website says that they have evidence that advertising crisis lines in information about suicide prompts people to call, but they do not say that prompting people to call has a net beneficial effect on attempts or deaths.
doi:10.1002/hpja.316: 58% of Australia's twelve professional media codes of practice recommend inclusion of crisis hotlines and similar sources.
Automatically spamming in "If you're in crisis, call them" is cheaper and easier than factors with proven protective value, such as providing accurate educational information about risk factors and warning signs or writing stories about people overcoming suicidality.
