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... great pleasure to introduce the Honourable Jim Anderton to the mike.
[audience applause]
JIM ANDERTON: Good morning, and welcome.
I was very honoured to accept your invitation to speak at this,
which is the second in a series of three seminars organised by SPINZ,
to discuss the role of the news media in suicide prevention.
I understand that yesterday's seminar in Auckland provoked some spirited
and constructive debate, and I'm sure this won't be any exception.
I extend a warm welcome to our international guests:
Associate Professor Jane Pirkis, from the University of Melbourne,
we had a meeting last night which I enjoyed and learned a lot from.
Professor Pirkis is someone, you will know, is reknowned for her expertise in the area of
suicide and the media, and we're extremely fortunate to have her with us today.
I also welcome other speakers: Paul Thompson, from Fairfax,
Dr Sunny Collings from the University of Otago,
and Jenny Skinner from the Ministry of Health.
Paul Thompson, in particular, has taken a close interest in the topic of today's seminar,
and I acknowledge his support and contribution.
And we all have Merryn Statham to thank, from SPINZ,
for the effort that has gone into arranging these events,
a series of seminars focusing on suicide and the media is an innovative,
and, I think, pretty constructive way of marking World Suicide Prevention Day,
which I think was actually yesterday, is that right? Well, there we are.
This year, the theme of World Suicide Prevention Day is
"Think Globally, Plan Nationally, Act Locally."
Back in March this year, I launched the Suicide Prevention Action Plan,
a four-year plan that turns the New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy
into a blueprint for action.
It sets out what we will do, when we will do it,
and who is accountable for those actions.
This is an excellent example of thinking globally, planning nationally and acting locally.
One of the Action Plan's goals is to promote safe reporting
and portrayal of suicidal behaviour by the media.
Through collaboration, protocols, education and support,
the aim is to ensure best practice across all forms of media,
including print, television, film, radio, drama and the internet.
And across both fictional and non-fiction genres.
Although we've made a lot of good progress over recent years,
we have to acknowledge that, in my view,
we have some runs on the board, but there's still a long way to go,
and a lot of improvements to make.
Strategies and Action Plans are, of course, never enough on their own.
The real difference is made by the combined efforts and expertise
of people like you who are here today,
and the thousands who are not here, who also take the time and trouble to care about this issue.
We all appreciate the value and importance of a free media in a democratic society.
We should understand that media organisations and businesses,
with shareholders to satisfy,
must meet those requirements, as part of their business environment.
But we also, however, must understand, as they must,
the devastating impact of suicide,
not only on the immediate family, but on many people around the immediate family:
the workplace, and the community, and the extended family.
These seminars are important, therefore, because they bring together
media professionals, policy makers, researchers and health professionals
with the aim of exchanging information, respecting each other's views,
and increasing understanding towards the most worthy of all outcomes,
which is, put simply, saving lives.
If we can't do any good, we should be careful we don't do any harm, at the very least.
I think it's fair to say that the media industry has, on the whole,
with some notable exceptions, maintained its commitment
to ensuring coverage of suicide is appropriate, constructive,
balanced and comprehensive.
And I think we'd have to say that in fairness to those journalists,
editors and others in the media who take their role in this issue seriously.
The Commonwealth Press Union suicide reporting protocols have proven to be effective.
The news media is generally responsible in their approach
to the reporting and portrayal of suicide,
and I have to say, they need to be if lives are to be saved.
I've heard some in the media question whether there's any evidence of this.
And I think you'll hear from Professor Pirkis that there is.
And we need to listen up very carefully, the group that's here today.
Self-regulation in this area appears to be working,
I'm always in favour of people taking ownership of problems and solutions themselves,
rather than having them imposed, they tend to work better in the long run.
But it's something we need to constantly monitor.
And I think last week's events, sadly, show that.
And I wasn't going to say this, but I am.
Because I've had reported to me, the report in the Sunday News on the weekend.
Not only did the Sunday News name an attempted suicide,
it named the person, it photographed the location, it described the method,
it did everything, absolutely everything, that any responsible person
in the media who knows about these matters knows you should not do.
It's a long time learning, you know.
Fifteen years ago, I took an injunction against the Sunday News,
when they were going to run a front page story about my daughter.
I stopped them doing that. The court agreed with me.
Fifteen years later, they have learned nothing.
And it's about time the people in that stable took some action
to make sure they do learn.
I accept that journalists and editors are often in an unenviable position
when covering these issues.
They are trying to balance the desire of the public for information
with the need to treat bereaved, vulnerable, distressed and hurt individuals
and communities sensitively.
At the same time, they are dealing with tight deadlines,
the realities of the competitive media marketplace,
and, often, declining staff numbers.
This leads to a media environment that seems to be getting even more pressured and strained
and possibly, therefore, less able to accommodate the wider responsibilities
of good corporate citizenship.
And I think that's an issue for the media itself.
Despite this, my clear impression is that when journalists and editors
understand the issues surrounding suicide,
and I welcome the representatives of the media here today
in an attempt to extend that understanding and knowledge,
the result is, more often than not, well considered, safe and balanced reporting.
But there is always scope, as the example I gave, to do better.
For example, in an increasingly global culture,
one of the challenges is presenting news articles involving suicides
from overseas sources in a way that is safe for New Zealanders.
I'm aware that some local media make considerable efforts to reduce
the potentially harmful features of such overseas reporting.
But we need to do more to enlist the collaboration of others,
particularly editors and journalists,
not yet fully committed to that challenge.
We also need to consider the impact of rapid changes in technology
that is leading to a blurring of traditional media platforms.
For example, who would have thought 10 years ago
that we would have the internet and television on our phones.
Dare I mention it: BMW television screen.
You didn't get that, did you? Well, think about it.
Where would someone see a BMW television screen?
Who's a Minister of the Crown.
[audience laughter]
And of course, our cellphones and all of the archived news that's on demand now.
What will the media landscape be like in another few years?
And are our protocols and conventions robust enough to future-proof the media's contribution
in the struggle for suicide prevention?
We don't know everything about how to prevent suicide, of course.
If we did, we probably wouldn't have to have this seminar.
But we know enough to make a difference. That's the important point.
And every life we save has a value attached to it,
that cannot be calculated.
Suicide is complex, and its prevention requires a whole range of different actions.
By different, but complimentary sectors in society
including the media.
And I say that deliberately because the media have to see themselves,
and I'm sure they do, as part of that society.
They're not sort of observers from another planet,
they're part of what we are, and they have to take some responsibility
for being part of that community.
So insensitive and shoddy reporting and portrayal of suicide by the media
can, and does, I say that unequivocally, and does,
put vulnerable people at increased risk.
Of course, our biggest focus is on prevention and treatment of mental illness.
As it should be.
There was a time, when I took over the suicide prevention portfolio,
that we had a Youth Suicide Strategy, which was the responsibility of the Ministry for Youth Affairs.
When I saw the statistics, I realised that over 80% of all people who committed suicide
in New Zealand were over the age of 24.
So why on earth did we put suicide prevention in the Ministry of Youth Affairs,
when in fact it was a major health issue?
And it should have been, and is now, the responsibility of the Ministry of Health.
And improving, therefore, services for people who are experiencing suicidal thoughts,
or depression, is likely to make the biggest inroad into reducing suicide.
Alongside this, it's always useful for us all to have ongoing conversations
to increase our understanding about how suicide can and should be reported
and portrayed in ways that will reduce, not increase, the risk of copycat suicides.
Which anyone who knows the research in this area understands is a serious issue.
I'm told that media reporting makes only a relatively small contribution to our overall suicide rates.
The estimate is around five percent.
But it is, regardless, an area where lives can be saved.
If 400 lives are lost in New Zealand by suicide each year,
Five percent is 20. 20 lives is a lot of lives.
If you look at the individual human disasters that they represent,
if someone could say at the end of the year,
the way we dealt with this issue saved 20 people's lives,
that would be an enormous thing you could go to bed with
with an easy conscience, I can tell you.
Each of those people whose lives may be saved by intelligent, sensitive reporting
have family and friends, who will be damaged by the loss of their loved ones.
Each of those people is part of our community,
they deserve our protection and care,
because they're often our most vulnerable citizens,
especially when they're under threat of suicide.
And the ability of the news media to contribute to greater understanding
and the right kind of awareness cannot be underestimated.
I was just thinking of that figure of 20, you know,
in terms of road accidents, if there were 20 people being killed
on a particularly bad stretch of road,
that would meet the cost-benefit analysis for the Ministry of Transport
and you'd be spending... You'd be entitled under the ratios,
to be spending 50 or 60 million dollars a year on fixing the road.
So I think that tells you how much we should be valuing these attempts by us all,
collectively, and cumulatively, in an incremental gains sense, to make these steps forward.
Suicide is not like other health issues.
We cannot simply fund a social marketing campaign to raise awareness about suicide,
like you can, say, for road deaths.
Well, it's pretty simple. Put on a seat belt. Don't get drunk and drive your car.
These are very simple messages and if you do them, simple, lives will be saved. That's it.
Tell me how simple it will be to socially market a suicide prevention campaign.
Anyone who understands the complexities knows how hard that would be.
Most people with depression, certainly up until recently,
I think it's changing, to be fair,
but most people don't accept and don't look for help,
because of the stigma of depression and mental illness.
Indeed, the World Health Organization estimates
that the actual global suicide figures could be
ten times higher than the official reported rate of 1 million suicides per year.
And that's because of the stigma that's associated with this,
and the non-reporting of it, and all the rest of it.
But this estimate, when you think about it, makes deaths as a result of wars,
and terrorist activities, what, the Twin Towers, what, four and a half thousand people dead?
Look at the ramifications around the world for that!
But one million people kill themselves every year.
That's a staggering figure.
And if the World Health Organization is right, it could be ten times that figure.
Now, that is why, here in New Zealand, we ran the John Kirwan campaign
to raise awareness of depression,
where he talks candidly about his expression and experience around depression.
We know that mental illness, particularly depression,
is one of the biggest risk factors for suicide.
Far and away the biggest risk factor.
We know that the risk of suicide is increased 20 times
for those who suffer from serious depression.
So it stands to reason that encouraging people to seek help for depression,
and to support friends and family when they are depressed,
will make a significant contribution to suicide prevention.
I can tell you that I have stood in one of these helpline centres
when the John Kirwan ad has been screened on television,
and the lines that were silent before the ad,
melted down after the ad was screened. Literally.
You couldn't answer all the calls.
Mainly from men, who usually don't like expressing their concerns about themselves,
but after the John Kirwan ad, they get enough incentive or courage, or whatever it is,
to actually ring somebody and say,
"I need the sort of help that he says I can get."
Well, you know, incredible step forward, really.
So it stands to reason, as well, that reducing, and eventually eliminating
the stigma around issues of mental illness and depression
will be one of our greatest contributions to suicide prevention.
In fact, when I asked clinicians, as part of the last Budget round,
not this one, the one before,
what was the one thing we could do that would make the biggest difference in terms of suicide prevention,
they said, raising the awareness of depression.
Which is why we did the John Kirwan campaign.
So it's obvious to me that the enormous power of the media,
which is the medium we actually used here,
to influence and persuade, and the universal presence that it has these days,
in all ways,
means that sophisticated approaches are needed to live up to the responsibilities
inherent with that power.
Suicide prevention initiatives need to be based on evidence,
carefully planned and evaluated, and well coordinated.
This is no arena for the sort of enthusiastic amateur.
We need to know what we're doing and why we're doing it,
and how it's going to work and why it's going to work.
Moreover, this needs to be a multi-layered and collaborative effort,
and it needs to be as clever as we can possibly make it.
So I'm proud that we've launched the New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy,
and its accompanying Action Plan.
Together, they assist planning and coordination of suicide prevention activity,
and we fronted up as a Government with 23 million dollars to fund it.
When I took over as Minister for Suicide Prevention,
the operational budget of the Ministry of Youth Affairs was 28 thousand dollars.
I don't barely want to even think about it.
And as I said earlier, plans and strategies and even extra funding are not enough on their own.
The real difference is made by collaborative efforts of the people who are passionately
committed to suicide prevention.
Researchers, whom I give enormous credit to,
this is not a sexy area to work in.
Clinicians, community groups, DHBs, Government officials,
even, dare I say it, politicians,
and the news media.
I want to thank you all for your work, advice and support,
and I want to thank you for caring enough to be here today,
and to be working in this arena.
This is a timely and useful platform for us to come together
to discuss and consider the many issues thrown up by the role of the media in suicide prevention.
Together, you hold a vast wealth of knowledge and experience,
and this is a great opportunity for discussion, collaboration, learning
and the ability to make constructive further progress.
Thank you for your contribution, and I wish you well for the day's seminar.
[audience applause]