Research - Werther Effect

Research on harmful media effects, i.e. increases in suicides after the sensationalist or repetitive reporting about specific celebrity or non-celebrity suicides has made considerable advances in recent years, with many contributions from the Wiener Werkstaette. In particular, a high-quality meta-analysis on the associations of celebrity suicide reporting on suicide suggested a 13% increase in suicides in the aftermath of the reporting. Important novel evidence on the effects of suicide in entertainment media has emerged as well. As to mechanisms involved, it appears that both the media portrayals, as well as audience characteristics have an influence on the specific impact of any given media portrayal. Importantly, harmful effects from the reporting about specific suicide cases can be mitigated by following media guidelines for the reporting on suicide. The implementation of these recommendations has improved the quality of media reporting in Austria and elsewhere around the globe, and has also contributed to a reduction in suicides since the late 1980ies in Austria.