Framing suicide: Investigating the news media and public’s use of the problematic suicide referents Freitod and Selbstmord in German-speaking countries

Background: In German-speaking countries, suicide experts recommend not using the suicide referents Freitod and Selbstmord, as their associative meanings relate to problematic concepts such as free will and crime. Aims: To investigate which terms – the neutral and recommended Suizid or Freitod and Selbstmord – have dominated news coverage and to reveal what terms the public actually used.

Method: A retrospective database study was undertaken on data from the period 2004–2016. First, we investigated how frequently the terms were used in news coverage via an automated content analysis. Second, we investigated how often individuals used the terms for information-seeking via Google’s search engine, since it can be used as an indicator of the popularity of a given term within a given period.

Results: Analyses revealed thatSelbstmord was the most frequently used term in the news and by the public. Importantly, the use of Suizidincreased in both datasets, nearly approaching the Selbstmord level in the later years. Although on a low level, the highly problematic term Freitod has also been in regular use.

Conclusion: Media interventions should continue trying to increase journalists’ awareness so that they use appropriate terms when reporting on suicide.