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The finding arose from a complaint that a segment on the program concerning the suicides of two teenagers, broadcast in April 2007, did not comply with the requirements for reports about suicide, set out in the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice (the code).
ACMA found that the segment contained a detailed description of the suicide method, and was not straightforward in its presentation of the facts. ACMA also found that while the segment contained a warning, it did not precede the segment, as the code requires.
‘Reports about suicide pose complex issues for the media,' said Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman. ‘While there are legitimate public interest reasons for covering certain incidents in news and current affairs programs, extreme care must be taken to ensure that stories of this nature do not inadvertently encourage vulnerable members of the community to imitate the behaviour.
