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Notes -
R.J. Mitte, the actor best-known for playing Walter Jr. in Breaking Bad, killed himself two days ago.
Does anyone find it kind of weird that I know he killed himself, that this fact is being reported openly? Are media outlets just not concerned about the Werther effect anymore? Maybe they think that, in the age of social media, trying to keep this sort of thing quiet is a fool's errand. I'm trying to remember how long it's been like this – when James Ransome killed himself last December, I remember feeling a bit startled that this fact was being reported openly. I know of several celebrities who killed themselves in the decade+ prior (among them Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington and Robin Williams), but I can't remember if the fact that they took their own lives was openly stated by respectable media outlets at the time.
I had a similar reaction reading about it yesterday, remaking to myself how bluntly it was stated in the articles. It's not like the articles were dwelling on it, but they were just plainly stating it, no dancing around it, no vague hinting, no euphemism.
But personally, I doubt it's a matter of a media outlet's policy changing, but maybe more up to the wishes of the family or the deceased (as expressed to others in person when alive or in a suicide note).
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