Responding to media coverage


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Tackling stigma and discrimination in media reporting

Mental health issues often feature in the print and broadcast media. Sometimes the coverage helps to spread positive messages about mental health and illness, but other times bad reports may spread stigma and discrimination against people with mental health problems.

In this section, we want to give you ideas of how you can praise and encourage journalists that are doing a good job, and also help put things right when you see a report that you think may be harmful.

Contents

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Developing a Positive Approach

“At Marie Claire we really value feedback from our readers and we believe it’s very important to raise awareness of mental health issues. The best way to cover mental health is to feature personal testimonies. It is the most effective way to make an impact on readers and to make the issue of mental health accessible and easy to understand. Every month we receive hundreds of letters in response to our features and we always take our readers’ comments on board.”
Emma Elms, Deputy Features Editor, Marie Claire

At the moment, media coverage on mental health issues tends to happen most when there is a big news story. This can mean that stories often link mental health problems with violence - despite the distress that this kind of coverage causes the vast majority of people with mental health problems.

We know that people with mental health problems are more likely to be the victims of violence than a danger to others, but this is often not the message given to the general public by the media.

The media has a central role in raising awareness about issues that they feel are important in people’s lives and our society. We want to help more journalists, readers and communications professionals be advocates for mental health issues, to encourage and promote better coverage, and to support people affected by mental health problems who want to tell their story. By getting more involved, we can help journalists understand what it feels like to be stigmatised and discriminated against, and what language we feel is best to use when talking about people with mental health problems.

Feedback on positive coverage

When we read or see media coverage that presents people with mental health problems in a constructive, positive light, why not feedback to the journalist or editor?

This may help the media understand what readers find most uplifting or helpful, it gives positive feedback to the journalist that he or she has done a good job and will perhaps encourage some journalists to develop a special interest in mental health issues.

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Responding to Negative Coverage

“Why are we in the media continuing to offend and abuse one in six of our readers, listeners and viewers?”
David Brindle, Public Services Editor, The Guardian

How to complain

When we read or watch something that offends or we believe to be inaccurate, it is worth making a constructive, informed complaint. The chances are, what has upset you has also distressed others. If people don’t write, the editor will never know the coverage has caused offence and is less likely to make the next report different.

The first option is to write a personal letter to the editor of the publication or programme. Write clearly, setting out your grounds for complaint including the following details:
  • When you saw/heard/read it
  • Where you saw/heard/read it
  • What you didn’t like about it
  • Why you didn’t like it
  • How it could have been done better

You may consider saying something about yourself and your own experience if you feel it will add to your argument. Shift have devloped a speakers’ bureau that trains and supports a number of people affected by mental health problems to speak with the media. See our Speakers' Bureau page for more information

If you're complaining about a TV or radio programme, you need to include the broadcast details (date, time, name of programme), name of the editor or programme maker and broadcaster (e.g. BBC).

See Me, the anti-stigma and discrimination campaign that covers Scotland, have produced a couple of example letters that you can use to help you. Remember that your letter will be more effective if you use your own words, so only use the example letters as a guide.
Visit See Me's sample letters page.

You may find it useful to include some facts and figures about mental health.
Visit our facts and statistics page.

Writing a letter for publication

Some newspapers, magazines and broadcasters have a letters page or dedicated programme for people’s comments. If you decide to write a letter to the editor for publication, have a look at the style of letters printed. They are usually short and have just a few key messages – there’s no point writing ten pages, as your comments will be cut.

If you belong to a group or network of others with an interest in mental health, you may want to work with others to write a letter of complaint.

If you don’t want to complain personally, you can log your complaint with Mental Health Media, Mind, Rethink or SANE, who may complain at an organisational level.

Worth complaining about

When tabloid newspaper The Sun covered Frank Bruno’s illness in September 2003, first editions of the paper carried the headline ‘Bonkers Bruno’. This caused such offence to its readers and mental health organisations that the paper changed tack. By the next day it had joined forces with mental health charity SANE to raise money for people with mental health problems.

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Getting Advice and Support

“As journalists we are often learning something new, and helping people tell their stories means that we are gaining a new understanding too... We also realise we have a responsibility to inform our readers. The only way we know if we’re doing something wrong is if you tell us. But, equally, the only way we will get the true story is if you speak to us.”
Paul Groves, Chief Features Writer, Birmingham Post

We want to find out how we can best help readers, communicators and journalists to work together to improve media coverage on mental health issues. If you have any ideas, please email us at shift@csip.org.uk

Tell Shift

Copy us into your emails and letters. We will monitor feedback, including complaints and comments, about the way mental health problems are presented in the media. We can also send information about the media item that you are commenting on to the people who subscribe to our Media Monitor Alerts service.
Find out more about Shift's Media Monitor Alerts

Other organisations who offer help


Media Action Group for Mental Health
You can contact the group for advice on how you can work proactively with your local media to change the way it reports on mental health.
Email: jamesjmcateer@maghm.org.uk
Web: www.sanityfair.org.uk/media_action_group.htm

Mental Health Media
Mental Health Media has published www.openuptoolkit.org, an anti-stigma and discrimination website with excellent advice on how to respond to media coverage.
Tel: 020 7700 8171
Email: info@mhmedia.com
Website: www.mhmedia.com

Mind
Send in examples of good and helpful coverage to help Mind’s annual Journalist of the Year Award to Claire Ashby, Head of Media.
Tel: 020 8519 2122
Email: contact@mind.org.uk
Website: www.mind.org.uk
Address: Mind, Granta House, 15-19 Broadway, Stratford E15 4BQ or visit the website for details of local branches.

Rethink
Tel: 0845 456 0455
Email: info@rethink.org
Website: www.rethink.org

SANE
Tel: 020 7422 5556
Email: info@SANE.org.uk
Website: www.sane.org.uk

See Me
Scotland’s campaign to stop the stigma of mental ill health – has also published a guide on suicide reporting in partnership with the National Union of Journalists in Scotland.
Website: www.seemescotland.org.uk

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If you want to take matters further

“What is needed is to bring together different strands of work. In particular it would be helpful to forge a stronger synthesis between, on the one hand, securing legislative improvement and enforcementand, on the other, promoting universal benefits of a more inclusive society. Each complements the other.”
Liz Sayce, Director of Policy and Communications, Disability Rights Commission.

If your letter does not get acknowledged or printed and you want to take it further, the next step is to approach the appropriate regulatory body. These watchdogs have guidelines and codes of practice they expect the different media to adhere to. These regulations go some way to protect the general public as they prevent journalists and broadcasters from being openly discriminatory or stigmatising towards people on grounds of race, sexuality or disability.

Television and radio

Ofcom is the industry regulator for all broadcast media. It has a duty to consider complaints about programmes and advertisements on television or radio. It assesses programme complaints against a standards code, on issues such as impartiality, offensiveness, inaccuracy and invasion of privacy. It currently considers complaints about adverts when they are misleading or dishonest, offensive and harmful. If taken on, a case officer presents information to the broadcaster for response.

Tel: 0845 456 3000
Email: contact@ofcom.org.uk
Website: www.ofcom.org.uk
Complain online: ofcom.org.uk/complain

Newspapers and magazines

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) can take up a complaint if it feels the reportor article has breached its Code of Practice for Discrimination. The PCC operates a telephone help line and it might be worth talking through your complaint with them before going any further. If the PCC finds there has been a breach of the code, the publication must publish its criticism of them in full and prominently.

Tel: 020 7831 0022
Helpline: 0845 600 2757
Textphone: 020 7831 0123
Website: www.pcc.org.uk
Complain online: www.pcc.org.uk/complaints/process.html

Advertising

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent body set up by the advertising industry to police the rules laid down in the advertising codes. It covers all types of advertising, wherever it appears in the UK, including TV, radio, cinema, in magazines and newspapers and on posters.

If you choose to complain to the ASA and/or directly to the advertiser, we would be very grateful if you could let us see a copy of any emails or letters that you send. Our contact details can be found on the Get in touch page.

Tel: 020 7580 5555
Website: www.asa.org.uk

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