Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and groups like the CDC and WHO have identified training journalists to responsibly report on the topic as a key priority for prevention.
Carter Center fellow Aneri Pattani (’19-’20) has helped create a free, online course to do just that. Through lectures, readings, and interactive practice activities, the course explains how certain types of news stories can contribute to suicide deaths in the community, and how journalists can mitigate that risk by safely framing ideas, interviewing sources, and producing stories.
The course can be started at any time and completed at your own pace. Most components are under 10 minutes and the full course takes less than one work day. It is meant for journalists in print, TV, and radio across all beats, as well as for journalism professors, who can incorporate certain elements into their classes.