The
sensationalist Sun does it again
Andrew
Smith
Once again the Sun newspaper has come out with yet
another sensationalist headline for the sake of selling more newspapers, rather
than reporting in a rational way. This time it’s ‘1,200 killed by mental
patients’. This is a headline that angers me greatly because I have been
diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and according to this people may think that I
have more potential to kill than someone who is not diagnosed with a mental
health issue.
The problem with sensationalist journalism such as this
is the good it undo’s in one fell swoop of the attempts by so many people to
de-stigmatise mental health. This one headline has potentially stigmatised so
many people as potential killers, when in fact these people are nothing of the
sort.
How many people with mental health issues are going to be
afraid again to speak about them to family, friends and work colleagues? How many
people are going to be sat in a room all alone afraid and unable to speak about
their feelings, emotions and fears to the very people who they should be able
to speak to?
I often wonder if the people behind such headlines as
this actually stop and think about the damage such a headline can do? Do they
realise that a headline such as this has the potential to label, stigmatise and
stereotype so many people and has the possibility to put back the image of
mental health many, many years?
Mental health already has a bad image with a mental
health issues labelled as a benefit scrounger, unemployable, untrustworthy and
now a killer. One of the problems I have some days is just dealing with my own
issues just to get through the day. This sensationalist reporting just adds to
the issues that myself and many others like me have to deal with on a day to
day basis by making me wary of who I can talk to and open up to for fear of
being judged in a negative way.
But what can be done to combat this type of
sensationalist reporting? Well in my opinion any headline that has the power to
label, stigmatise and stereotype a certain section of people in society should
be banned because these headlines may sell newspapers but they do far more harm
than good. Secondly the figures should have some semblance of accuracy and not
have been manipulated for the sake of an attention grabbing headline. Both
offences should in my view carry at least a heavy fine with them and a full
apology on the front page for the harm they have caused.
Here is a link to some responsible and accurate reporting
on the same subject: http://www.theguardian.com/society/reality-check/2013/oct/07/sun-people-killed-mental-health-true
