Hi everyone and welcome to Service Spotlight!
This feature highlights a member of staff here at SANE Australia and the program they run. You will see this feature come up every few months.
This will be set up as a Q&A giving members the opportunity to ask any questions about a program featured and respond to a question that is put out to the community by the program lead.
Below you will see a few interview questions to give you a bit of information and background on the particular program.
You can post your question at any time and answers will be provided between Tuesday and Friday next week
To kick off this new feature we have @EllenFromSANE - I’ll let her introduce herself!
Who you are and what your role at SANE Australia is:
I’m Ellen and I work on SANE Australia’s StigmaWatch program. I work with media professionals to promote the responsible reporting of mental illness and suicide in the Australian media.
A bit about your program:
Mental illness and suicide are important issues for media to cover. When media report the issues responsibly, coverage can help reduce stigma surrounding mental illness and raise awareness of suicide prevention activities. However, research shows when mental illness and suicide are reported irresponsibly, media stories can do harm.
If you find media coverage that stigmatises mental illness or irresponsibly reports suicide, you can report the item to StigmaWatch.
Anyone can report a media item to StigmaWatch and if the coverage is found to breach Mindframe media reporting guidelines, StigmaWatch will contact the media outlet involved with constructive feedback and advice.
What’s coming up for your program:
We’re looking to grow our StigmaWatch community. Sign up to SANE’s StigmaWatch program to join thousands of others helping reduce stigma in the media.
A question you have for the community:
How well do you think the Australian media cover mental illness and suicide?