CURBING coverage of child suicides in Hongkong would be a tricky proposition because of the territory's competitive news environment and fears of self-censorship after 1997, according to Phillip Crawley, Editor of the South China Morning Post.
However, Mr Crawley said he was considering proposing a summit of local editors to discuss whether voluntary limitations on the coverage of suicides would be effective.
He said newspaper coverage of suicides clearly posed a risk of spurring copy-cat cases.
''I think self-censorship is a very sensitive subject in Hongkong and many journalists are wary of it because of the 1997 factor. That makes us slightly different from many other places in the sense that many journalists are already worried that the media is practising self-censorship politically with an eye on Hongkong's new masters after 1997,'' said Mr Crawley.
Hongkong has no official body dealing with media standards and ethics which can investigate, or police, a curb on the coverage of suicides. That fact, said Mr Crawley, made it difficult to reach a consensus among the media on the subject.
''These sorts of voluntary ban rapidly fall apart if people don't play by the same set of rules. If one newspaper breaks ranks and starts covering stories while the others are turning a blind eye, the temptation is for the rest to drop the restriction also.
