Criteria
Who is eligible?
All programmes produced and transmitted on television and radio channels in the UK only and have been transmitted between 15th June 2005 and 14th June 2006 or published on a website or in a recognised publication.
What makes a winner?
All entries that win Mental Health Media Awards are:
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About Mental Health |
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This may seem obvious, but you'd be surprised! They will feature mental distress, mental illness or madness in some form. This may be as the primary focus of the programme or as a secondary issue. For example, the documentary The Boy Can't Help it, about living with Tourette's syndrome, won because of the way it covered the emotional effects of living with Tourette's. In addition, they do not cover learning difficulties/disabilities per se, unless mental distress is also featured. They may cover one or more of the mental health models. |
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Quality of Work |
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They have high production values, are well structured, with high sound and picture quality. They may be innovative, conceptually and/or visually. They are well structured and shot, and in the case of drama have high quality acting and scriptwriting. |
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Challenging |
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They may challenge myths and stereotypes. They may challenge negative or misinformed opinion e.g. “everyone knows that people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia have a very poor chance of recovering and living a ‘normal life’. They have the potential to open up debate about mental distress and effect positive change. They avoid using language and terminology that reinforces stereotypes. They avoid dramatic devices such as clichéd imagery or menacing music which perpetuate myths and stereotypes around madness and mental distress. They encourage the viewer or listener to perceive the person with mental health problems holistically. They have the potential to change for the better the way that mental distress is viewed and responded to. In some cases programmes are made which make a great impact on the public's understanding of an issue. In some cases they result in internal, police or government investigations. They often trigger additional media coverage of the issue and can sometimes draw attention to little known support groups e.g. Panorama's Seroxat programmes resulted in a vast number of enquiries to SSRI User Groups around the country. |
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Safe |
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They do not break the Samaritans Media Guidelines around portrayals of suicide, and therefore do not risk triggering ‘copycat’ suicides. For guidelines please see the Samaritans website. Programmes which raise difficult issues may be followed with a helpline or signposting for help, for those affected by issues covered in the programme. |
Factual programmes that win Mental Health Media Awards are:
Accurate. Balanced. Well Researched. They allow people who have experienced mental distress to speak for themselves. They don't place authority entirely with professionals or carers. They include appropriate representation – not viewing service users solely as case studies for psychiatrists or other medical or policy practitioners to talk about. They approach contributors respectfully and with sensitivity.
Drama programmes that win Mental Health Media Awards are:
Well Rounded - they present people experiencing mental distress as three dimensional characters, not just the sum of their diagnoses. They sustain realistic storylines, and characters that are believable. In the case of the Soaps, they show life beyond the crisis, rather than dispensing with characters once they have been unwell.
Raising Public Awareness entries that win Mental Health Media Awards are:
Informative, create discussion or advertise mental health, eg talk shows, TV & radio public awareness campaigns.
Those which contain a call to action of some kind, whether it is to raise awareness or to generate a change in policy. Those which invite the viewer to take action (seek advice, donate money) and which provide some form of support to help them do this (for example a helpline or an action pack). Those which are produced by or for a broadcaster (editorial copy about a campaigning groups' activities is not eligible).
Examples of eligible programmes:
- Paid for advertisements – such as the “See the Person” DoEE ads
- Advertising spots where the broadcaster has donated airtime to a charity
- Public service broadcasting which has included promotional spots in its scheduling
- A regular programme given over to generating action about a mental health issue (providing it has a stated goal) e.g. BBC Radio 4, You and Yours
- Discussion about mental health, e.g. talk shows
- They are accurate.
- Involve people with direct experience of mental distress.
- Impactful (in terms of their reach, approach and appeal).
- Innovative.
- Supported by a helpline, information line or website.
- Demonstrate clear campaign objectives/targets.
- They may evaluate against the targets/objectives of the campaign.
Young Peoples Media entries that win Mental Health Media Awards:
- avoid the negative stereotypes of mental health which can encourage young people to develop prejudices that will continue into adult life.
- ensure the references to mental health are portrayed in a positive and non - stigmatising way.
- convey issues surrounding mental health in an appropriate manner to the age group being targeted.
Print entries that win Mental Health Media Awards:
- must have been published in a national, regional or local newspaper or magazine
- Should demonstrate clear understanding of the issues and due sensitivity in handling the subject and use of language
- May use a fresh or innovative approach
- Should incorporate the views and/or experiences of users/survivors of services
- a single entry may comprise one article or a series of articles on a common theme
All entries must fulfil the criteria indicated above where applicable.
