A law change passed today will enable media to report a death as "suspected suicide" before a coroner's inquiry was completed, if the facts support that conclusion. "My officials have highlighted a recent example of media reporting of a 13-year-old school girl's tragic suicide in the UK. Especially in light of the overseas experience of the kinds of media reporting that can occur in the absence of restrictions. The director said media could play a positive role in suicide awareness, but there was also strong evidence that reporting of suicide methods could "popularise" these methods. New rules on media reporting of suicides have passed into law.

Source: New Zealand Herald June 16, 2016 05:37 UTC