Headline Website Launched

Headline, Ireland's new national media monitoring programme for mental health and suicide launched its website www.Headline.ie on Thursday 19th April in the National Concert Hall. The website was launched by George Hook, Broadcaster, & Carl O'Brien, Social Affairs Correspondent with the Irish Times.

Headline has been established by the HSE's National Office for Suicide Prevention as part of Reach Out, the National Strategy for Action on Suicide Prevention and works to promote greater awareness and understanding of mental health and suicide by encouraging responsible and accurate coverage within the Irish media. Headline is managed by Schizophrenia Ireland and represents the interests of the HSE's press office, Aware, Bodywhys, GROW, the Irish Advocacy Network, Mental Health Ireland, Samaritans.

The Headline website will serve as a useful tool for journalists, and media and communications students offering information on mental health and suicide, along with media guidelines both Irish and international. It will also give helpful tips and examples of negative reporting. Reach Out will also be sponsoring awards for responsible and positive reporting through the 2007 Smedia awards.

The website will act as a lobbying platform for the general public to become involved in helping to monitor news stories relating to mental health and suicide. By signing up for Headline media alerts people will have positive and negative media coverage emailed directly to them so they can react accordingly. People will have the opportunity to post their opinions on the notice board on the site. The site will give people step by step instructions and letter templates on how to contact the media directly to have their opinions on media coverageheard. The site will also allow people to contact Headline directly about media coverage.

Research by the World Health Organization (WHO) has demonstrated that the mass media are one of the most significant influences on belief systems. Since people with stigmatised illnesses do not usually announce themselves, people often form their attitudes through the news reports, films and television programmes they see. Hopefully Headline will reduce stigma towards people with mental health difficulties and suicidal behaviour in the media.

Headline website: www.Headline.ie