Media reporting of railway suicides triggers imitative clusters (Werther effect)
#00147
Sensational or repetitive media coverage of railway suicides triggers short-term imitative clusters, raising same-method deaths after coverage — e.g. a +44% daily increase in railway suicidal acts and a +117% overall rise after a celebrity railway death.
#00156Adopt and enforce safe media-reporting guidelines for railway suicide
Work with news media to adopt and enforce responsible suicide-reporting guidelines — no method/location detail, no sensational or repetitive coverage, sign-posting help — to suppress imitative clusters, the best-evidenced non-physical rail-suicide intervention.