Ravish Kumar: ‘Do we have appropriate words to write or talk about mental illnesses?’
Actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has sparked a controversy on the ethics of reporting suicide in Indian media, especially for television news channels.
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After actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death by suicide, television media in particular has been called out for its insensitivity. NDTV India’s news anchor Ravish Kumar’s Monday primetime episode focused on how an irresponsible choice of words only worsens the situation.
In his show, Kumar mentioned the rise in the number of social media experts who start presenting unsolicited opinions as soon as an incident like Rajput’s death occurs. He also called out sensationalised reporting, talking of the “Werther effect”, a phenomenon where accounts or media coverage of one suicide set off a cascade.