Media Practitioners’ Attitudes, Awareness, and Adherence to WHO Regulations on Suicide Prevention in Kenya

Abstract

Globally, media coverage of mental health issues, particularly suicides, has become a public concern. Studies show that how the media reports on sensitive health topics is likely to either raise awareness or lead to suicide incidences in any given society. This study examined the communication gaps in media reporting of suicides to recommend interventions to promote mental health awareness and wellness among the youth and the general public. This study used Media Representation, Cultivation, and Framing theories of mass communication to develop a theoretical framework. A relativist-constructivist paradigm was adopted. A qualitative research approach to get varied views from the participants of the study was used. Content analysis of suicide news from the two selected newspapers, namely Daily Nation and The Standard Newspapers, form the main sources of data. In-depth interviews were incorporated to complement the deeper understanding of the field of study. The study population was specific suicide cases from the two newspapers from 2018-2024. A sample size was of 25 key informants compromising youths, journalists, and mental health experts whose responses supplemented data from key sources from the two newspapers. The participants were chosen through snowballing and purposive sampling techniques. The key findings of this study were that Newspaper reports on suicide do not adhere to the WHO guidelines on suicide prevention since most journalists in the Kenyan media have limited knowledge of the regulations and the media houses lack regulatory policies and guidelines on suicide reporting and prevention in Kenya. Therefore, the study proposed that the Media Council of Kenya and media houses, in general, should come up with robust guidelines on suicide reporting and prevention to minimise harm among the general public.