Abstract: Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide but accurate statistics on police suicides in Canada are limited [1], [2]. Statistics from the Ontario Provincial Police show that police suicides may be on the rise with an increase from 1 per year between 1989 to 2012 to 1.7 per year between 2013 to 2019 [3], [4]. How the media portrays police suicide can affect public opinion surrounding the officer and their service and can even affect the suicide rates, known as the Werther effect [5], [6]. This study seeks to examine how police services and specific officers are portrayed in articles concerning police suicides in news media during 2019 in Canada.
Data was collected from news media outlets in Canada including The Globe and Mail, CBC News and The Toronto Star among others. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted on 43 news articles regarding police suicide. Each article was looked at using a three-point system to determine whether the tone was positive, neutral or negative towards the police officer and their service. It is hypothesized that media articles will portray the officers who died in a positive tone but their police service in a negative tone. The findings can be useful as a foundation for future research with the ultimate goal of helping to reduce and prevent police suicides. Implications and direction for future research are also discussed.
Keywords: Media, Police, Police Officer, Police Service, Suicide.
Title: Media Portrayal of Police Suicides
Author: Brandon Berriault, Brandon Frazer, Eleanor Gittens
International Journal of Thesis Projects and Dissertations (IJTPD)
Vol. 10, Issue 2, April 2022 - June 2022
Page No: 6-15
Research Publish Journals (Publisher)
Website: www.researchpublish.com
Published Date: 02-May-2022
