Friday 9 October 2009

When not to use the word 'suicide'

This week we have had the suicide of Kevin McGee, the two teenagers who jumped to their deaths from a bridge, and the attempted suicide of the husband of a convicted paedophile.

Therefore, for the Daily Mail to use the word 'suicide' in a headline about the Royal Mail seems stupid, inappropriate and hyberbolic. And in very poor taste.

Not that that headline would be acceptable if those other events hadn't happened.

But it's interesting to note the word is entirely absent from the website version of the story - including from the headline.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting about the two versions of the same article. It happened earlier in the week too, covering the Kevin McGee story. The online version referred to him as Matt Lucas' ex-husband. The print version used quotes round 'husband' and 'wedding' or referred to him as something else altogether (eg lover). Presumably they've decided the reader demographics are sufficiently different to warrant double editing. Wonder what effect this will have on editorial policy in the future...?

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