Media Policy and Research
Submission to Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM) Broadcast Code
Submission to CnaM on Online Code
Severe Mental Health Conditions, Trauma & Media Participation – co-produced by media professionals and mental health advocates, including lived experience, this research addresses the current imbalance and misrepresentation of particular mental health experiences.
Caroline Flack and Irish News Media Case Study - An examination of the reporting of Caroline Flack’s death in Irish online news media, presented at the International Association for Suicide Prevention’s 31st World Congress, 2021
Challenges Facing Journalists Research – An examination of the attitudes and workflows of media workers in Ireland, to better understand what the obstacles are to responsible and continued coverage of mental health and suicide.
Submission to Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM) Broadcast Code
Submission to CnaM on Online Code
Severe Mental Health Conditions, Trauma & Media Participation – co-produced by media professionals and mental health advocates, including lived experience, this research addresses the current imbalance and misrepresentation of particular mental health experiences.
Caroline Flack and Irish News Media Case Study - An examination of the reporting of Caroline Flack’s death in Irish online news media, presented at the International Association for Suicide Prevention’s 31st World Congress, 2021
Challenges Facing Journalists Research – An examination of the attitudes and workflows of media workers in Ireland, to better understand what the obstacles are to responsible and continued coverage of mental health and suicide.
Academic Partnerships
Shine partners with a number of academic institutions to collaborate on innovative data projects related to our media monitoring. If you have a project you are interested in developing on media-centred suicide-prevention, mental illness representation in Irish media, or other relevant work, please get in touch with your proposal.
Collaborate on a Research Project
Contact media@shine.ie
Data shared:
Online news content from 2020, 2021 and January-May 2022 which mentions schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or related keywords
Proposed research:
The researchers are looking at questions around how these mental illnesses are represented in Irish online news content. These include an exploration of things such as what context these references are appearing in (e.g. do they appear mostly in relation to crime?); whether the content includes the personal experience of a friend or family member and whether there is any input from a mental health professional. A key requirement is that the research should highlight reporting practices that can inform training for journalists.
Status: This research has now been completed. You can access the full research paper below.
Data shared:
Logged non-compliance from 2019, 2020 and 2021, and non-categorised raw data (both compliant and non-compliant online and broadcast media) from 2020, 2021, 2022.
Proposed research:
The researchers are planning to use machine-learning-based analysis to highlight patterns and relationships in our logged data. There is a possibility that the results from this analysis could be used to create a tool for automating certain aspects of Headline’s media monitoring process.
Status: Ongoing. Projected end date is March 2025.
Data shared:
Online news content from 2020, 2021 and January-May 2022 which mentions schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or related keywords
Proposed research:
The purpose of this collaboration is to combine Headline’s online news data with SAMI’s expertise in statistics and data analysis, to identify novel hypotheses and analyses that could be undertaken straight away on this dataset, leading to novel findings relating to online news coverage of mental ill health, new publications, and identification of analysis strategies Headline could use to analyse similar data in the future. Data is also being collected from Twitter to identify attitudes and beliefs about mental ill health that are expressed on the platform. A comparison of online news data and online social media data could identify any trends, overlap or differences between the two. This would help to inform us as to the best ways to target stigma reduction. We may, for instance, need one method for news outlet media, and a different method for social media. Longer term, Headline and SAMI would aim to better understand specific attitudes and beliefs relating to mental health difficulties such as schizophrenia (such as associations with violence) with the aim of developing tools, campaigns, and protocols aimed at challenging these attitudes and beliefs in the Irish media.
Status: Early exploratory stage.
Shine’s Policy Submissions
The Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism in Ireland
Founded in 1996, the highly competitive Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism awards year long, non-residential fellowships to journalists from the United States, Colombia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates to report on a mental health topic of their choice. In 2023, Shine’s Headline programme, in partnership with the Carter Center, proudly announced the rollout of this prestigious fellowship in Ireland through the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism in the Republic of Ireland.
Find out more
Mental Health Media Awards
Shine works closely with the media to promote responsible and accurate reporting on mental health. Through guidance, training, and collaboration, Shine helps journalists and media professionals understand the impact of stigma and misinformation while encouraging coverage that is respectful and informed.
Find out more
Green Ribbon Order Form
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