台灣媒體如何報導自殺者與關係人－以林奕含事件為例

Abstract

本研究焦點為媒體在自殺案件中，如何報導自殺者與關係人，採取質化的文本分析方式，針對林奕含過世至誘姦案結案期間的新聞報導進行探討。研究結果發現媒體以林奕含事件作為楔子，將新聞岔向八卦化的軼聞追蹤，利用提供案件嫌疑人陳星、陳星女兒，以及林奕含生前同事的個人背景，挖掘他們與林奕含的互動，在誘姦案的推理報導中，增加整起事件的聳動性，並且利用自殺者關係人的不堪回憶，形成另一系列的感官新聞報導，延燒媒體熱度。\n\n新聞報導中記者利用自殺者關係人與案件無關的個人隱私，包含情感狀況、經濟情形以及日常生活起居等，以爆料甚至帶有醜化的書寫方式呈現戲劇性、聳動化的效果。同時藉由林奕含本身的優美文筆，結合其家屬哀慟的煽情報導，與前述戲劇且聳動的八卦消息，不斷打破世界衛生組織（World Health Organization, WHO）所呼籲降低自殺新聞的顯著、重複性，且只專注於自殺相關消息的理念 。\n同時本次誘姦疑雲使媒體將焦點著重於林奕含與陳星的感情史，而非是否違背性自主權的議題，使部分新聞著重於陳星的婚外情、兩人的師生戀、林奕含的情感等，顯示出報導者背後的性侵迷思（Sexual assault myth），以女性的情感作為探討自殺與疑似性侵事件的出發點。\n\n除此之外，林奕含事件的系列報導亦顯示出臺灣媒體對於精神議題的忽視，就所得之新聞文本中，僅有極少數針對自殺事件提供醫療、心理衛生等角度之分析，整體仍傾向於自殺者相關人之八卦、腥羶色等話題。

This study focuses on how, in the course of a suicide investigation, the related individuals are portrayed by the media. Analyzing the coverage of the suicide of Lin Yi-Han, this study discovers that the media tend to report this incident as gossip and sensational news. The media publicize the personal backgrounds of the suspect Chen Xing, Chen’s daughter and Lin’s colleagues, as well as their interaction with Lin, in order to make conjecture to sensationalize the incident. The media also exploit the related individuals by creating another series of paparazzi scoops of their painful memories, in order to increase the hype of the story.\n\nThe media cover the related parties’ personal matters unrelated to this case, such as their relationship, economic status, and even details about their daily life, which dramatize and sensationalize the incident as scandals. Lin’s beautiful writing and the grief of her family are exploited to heighten the effect of the tragedy. This defies the World Health Organization’s plea to lower the visibility and repetition of suicide news, and to stop making suicides as the sole focus of a story.\n\nThe media focus on the relationship history between Lin and Chen, instead of the violation of Lin’s sexual autonomy. Some media cover mostly on the extramarital and teacher-student nature of their relationship, and the infidelity on Lin’s part. This tendency of using female infidelity as the angle of the story exposes the sexual assault myths harbored by the media.\n\nFurthermore, the coverage of Lin’s suicide unveils Taiwanese media’s ignorance toward mental health. There are very few of the studied news stories analyzing the case from the medical or mental health perspective, but a lot of gossip about the suicide’s related individuals.