Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Palgrave Macmillan
Book cover

The Bridgend Suicides

Suicide and the Media

  • Book
  • © 2016

Overview

Authors:
  1. Ann Luce

    1. The Media School, Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Only book on the market that deals specifically with the Bridgend suicides, the issue of suicide and the way the media reports or depicts this
  • Exposes the five main categories that journalists use to report and stigmatise suicide
  • Examines the role of social networking sites and new media in the reporting of suicide and the impact that has on how audiences engage with suicide stories

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Ann Luce
    Pages 1-25

  3. Production Processes of the British Press

    • Ann Luce
    Pages 27-68

  4. Foundation for a Suicidal Culture

    • Ann Luce
    Pages 69-116

  5. The Bridgend Suicides

    • Ann Luce
    Pages 117-145

  6. Discursive Practices in Suicide Reporting

    • Ann Luce
    Pages 147-185

  7. Bridgend in Film

    • Ann Luce
    Pages 187-197

  8. Conclusion

    • Ann Luce
    Pages 199-206

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 207-216
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This in depth analysis looks at how suicide was represented in the British press when 20 young people between the ages of 15 and 29 took their own lives in the South Wales Borough of Bridgend in 2008. The chapters highlight specific categories of description that journalists use to explain suicide to their readers. The study also examines the discourses that emerged around suicide that continue to perpetuate stigma and shame when suicide occurs today. Using her own experience of having lost a loved one to suicide, coupled with original research, the author gives a very frank explanation of why suicide is not accepted in society today.

Reviews

“Journalists and media practitioners worldwide should read this significant book on suicide. Ann Luce draws on an insightful media analysis of the tragic 2008 deaths by suicide at Bridgend in South Wales, and on her own journalistic practice, to explore the social, cultural and ethical dimensions of this continuing global health issue. This important work is a timely reminder of the responsibilities of the media in health reporting and communication.” (Emeritus Professor R. Warwick Blood, News & Media Research Centre, University of Canberra, Australia)

“The Bridgend Suicides offers a compelling account of how local press reporting of a succession of suicides by children and young people in Bridgend in 2008, created a feeding frenzy in national and international news media. Ann Luce, a journalist turned academic, offers a meticulously detailed, rare and extremely valuable case study of journalists’ framing of suicide, newspapers’ sensationalist coverage, and how both militate against public understanding of this significant issue for health and social policy. Written with compassion and academic rigour, The Bridgend Suicides is an important book for students, scholars and lay readers alike. Its contribution to the literatures of Journalism and Media Studies is substantial. It risks becoming a classic text; and deservedly so.” (Bob Franklin, Professor of Journalism Studies, The Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Wales)

Authors and Affiliations

  • The Media School, Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom

    Ann Luce

About the author

Ann Luce is Senior Lecturer in Journalism and Communication at Bournemouth University, UK. She worked for nearly 10 years in newspaper and magazine journalism in the United States. Much of her research focuses on the reporting of suicide, but she has also worked on projects around representations of midwifery in the media, as well as teaching disabled people how to become citizen journalists. 

Bibliographic Information

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation