The weekend’s grim story about a call center agent leaping to his death off a building in Cebu City came on the heels of another suicide, that of actor Robin Williams.
Both traditional and social media were called to task for how they handled the deaths of Williams and 25-year-old call center agent Ernie Gulle Antigua Jr.
Antigua’s case was a particularly difficult case since he wrote his farewell suicide note on his Facebook account.
When news of his death spread like wildfire online, Netizens passed around posts identifying his ex-girlfriend, making her the target of a lot of online contempt and condemnation. That was a gross injustice to her.
The bitterness of their breakup was clear to see in the employee’s posts. While he called on friends not to blame his ex, he made it a point to repeatedly mention her complete name more times than necessary in the public announcement.
News reports in local dailies thankfully avoided making the situation worse. Her name never came out in print.
Meanwhile, ABC News in the United States issued an apology for the way the network covered the Williams story, including a live broadcast of the Williams home aired despite requests for privacy from the family.
Speculations swirled over the cause of his death, the most repeated being depression. It was only after Williams’ wife revealed that her husband was diagnosed with early stage Parkinson’s disease that some of the speculation died down.
What kept the Williams suicide story from deteriorating into a media circus (as if it hadn’t already) was the outpouring of love and sympathy from his legion of fans worldwide.
Antigua didn’t have that fan base but he too didn’t lack family and friends, who remembered him in the best light, as a good natured, jolly young man who loved with intensity.
Depression remains a baffling phenomenon. It can darken a person’s outlook, escaping notice from all but the most observant.
What’s important to remember in suicides that become public and fall into news reports is that a person’s name and memory is still entitled to dignity, and that nobody can judge him or her or presume to know the extent of their personal pain or the full reasons for their actions.
Antigua’s Facebook suicide note was a disturbing indicator of how in this digital age, many people have come to rely on their online accounts to express sentiments they could not tell someone face to face. We should learn from that.
Cebu Daily News has a policy of not identifying attempted suicides in order to give the survivors a better chance to sort out their troubles in private. Those who don’t make it alive are still entitled to a good name and we will strive to handle their last appearance on record with respect.
We hope that both traditional and social media exercise restraint in reporting and commenting on these tragedies. We don’t have to needlessly add to the grief of their families and their loved ones.
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