The disclosure of personal data of suicide victims in digital news coverage in Coahuila

Abstract

The objective of this research is to identify the ways in which digital media reveal personal data of suicide victims and their relatives in digital journalistic articles from Coahuila. The theory used in this research is Agenda Setting, as well as the Framing theory. The research paradigm used in this study is Symbolic Interactionism, which states that the meaning that subjects give to the different situations they experience are a product of the relationship between individuals in these cir- cumstances. A quantitative approach was used based on the digital newspapers Zócalo, Vanguardia, El Siglo de Torreón and Periódico la Voz since they are some of the most repre- sentative media of the state of Coahuila, particularly regarding their digital publications on suicide, based on September 2021 to September 2022. Regarding the main results, it was found that there are digital media in Coahuila that make use of per- sonal data to the detriment of what is established by law, they also use explicit images of the victims in their articles and that in some means no help lines are provided in the content of these. In conclusion, in Coahuila there are digital media that influence the disclosure of personal data of suicide victims to the detriment of the right to protection of identity data and the provisions of the laws that apply on this issue.