Media Messaging

Explore Other Work in the Priority Area:

How the news media covers suicide can either promote hope and help-seeking or increase hopelessness and the risk of contagion.

View the Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide

For media inquiries and Action Alliance recent news items, see our News & Media Inquiries page.

Our Collaboration with the News Media

The Action Alliance’s Changing the Conversation Priority Group has led the foundation in our work around changing the conversation about suicide. The group sought to improve messaging by focusing on three audiences: media and newsrooms, entertainment, and other organizations that disseminate messages about suicide prevention.

Past Action Alliance efforts addressing the news media included:

Supporting the adoption of the Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide. Developed by leading experts in suicide prevention, in collaboration with media organizations and many others, this website provides specific guidance to the news media on the accurate and responsible coverage of suicide.
- Cisco, in partnership with Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, released the News App for Suicide Reporting. For more information about this tool, check out this brief tutorial developed by the National Association of Broadcasters.
Working with the Poynter Institute to train reporters on ethical and safe reporting practices through a series of institutes supported by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Convening the expert panel series Stand Together: An Action Alliance Event Series, focusing on suicide in men in the middle years, teenagers and technology, and military/veterans. Broadcast on Google Hangouts, the series received significant attention on social media and attracted numerous participants, leading to rich discussions of suicide, mental health, and hope.
Bringing together influential communication leads from our national public-private partners to develop coordinated and consistent media messages about suicide prevention.