The circumstances of the past few weeks have compelled me to revisit the subject of suicide, an often taboo topic in the news media.

Over a seven-day period, we wrote brief articles about three suicides and though our policy is to do so only rarely, there were specific reasons why we wrote about each of them.

A 40-year-old University of Hawai'i professor jumped to his death from the Makapu'u cliffs on Feb. 9 and we reported it the next day. Three days later, a 22-year-old teacher from Hawai'i Kai who failed to report to work triggered a search around the area of the Makapu'u Lookout area and her body was recovered below. And on Feb. 15, a woman was found hanging from scaffolding on the 13th floor of an apartment complex in Waikiki.

I still believe that suicide is a personal and troubling decision and I am reluctant to report on such events, but when they happen in public places, such as the Waikiki incident that attracted dozens of onlookers, or result in scores of searchers looking for a missing person, it's often impossible to look the other way.

I thought about this when we received this letter from a man who wanted more details about the woman in Waikiki.

"What is the responsibility of the media in such a case?" he wrote. "Is it to protect tourism and real estate interests by keeping such distasteful news under wraps? Is it to shelter the feelings of those immediately or peripherally involved by giving the incident only minimal coverage?

"Or is the media's responsibility to reassure the community that they are doing their job by honest and forthright reporting of all newsworthy events, sad and embarrassing though some may be? If it is this last, then certainly the Honolulu news organizations, including yours, have let us all down in this case since the incident has been almost universally ignored ... and the questions it raised unanswered."

I'm not sure what details he was looking for, but we held deep discussions about how much to report on this particular case. We had photos but did not consider running them. We did not attempt to interview the woman's family and why should we? What purpose would that serve except to add misery to a painful situation?

I wrote to the news directors of our four major television stations to find out how they covered these three incidents and to find out more about their policies about suicides.

All of the stations covered the professor's suicide because the beach was closed after sharks were spotted in the water. KHON, KITV and KHNL mentioned the missing teacher because of the search that was under way. KGMB's reporter was told it was a suicide and did not run a story.

As for the incident in Waikiki, only KHNL covered the story and only as a way to tie the three suicides together as part of a broader piece on suicide prevention. KHNL interviewed a state Department of Health official at 6 p.m. who explained that there are warning signs — eating or sleeping disorders, mood swings, depression, talk of suicide — that everyone should be aware of. At 10 p.m. KHNL interviewed the mother of an 18-year-old who committed suicide three years ago. The other stations also have done in-depth coverage of the problem in the past.

The television stations follow similar guidelines to those of The Advertiser. KHON News Director Lori Silva said suicides are covered when there is a public impact, and even then specifics about the suicide are avoided to prevent others from getting the same idea.

"Each incident should be considered on a case-by-case basis, for example, if it involves a celebrity or well-known figure," Silva said. "Most of the time, we will have staff discussions about whether the suicide should be covered."

Chris Archer, news director at KGMB, agreed there needs to be a larger impact on the public to warrant coverage.

"Traffic tie-ups, public area closures, and/or extremely unusual circumstances fall into this 'larger-impact' category," he said. Archer noted that when he was in San Francisco, his station did stories when public officials wanted to put up a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. Later, a filmmaker captured images of people leaping from the bridge to their deaths and the station did stories about that controversial documentary.

KITV News Director Tod Pritchard said his station generally does not cover suicides but some, like the case a few years back of someone jumping from a freeway overpass, are impossible to ignore.

"This affected the general public who needed to know where the road was closed and why it was closed," he said. "We occasionally get phone calls on these types of stories. But viewers are mostly understanding after we explain our policy. When possible, I think it is important to include a brief description of our policy in the story."

Dan Dennison, KHNL's news director, said his station's basic rule is "if it is very public we will consider covering it and we should cover suicide as an issue when appropriate."

KHNL follows the guidelines of the American Association of Suicidology, which ask the news media to avoid detailed descriptions of the suicide, not to romanticize the deaths, glamorize a celebrity suicide or to overstate the frequency of the problem or oversimplify the causes.

Research posted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention shows that suicide rates increase when the number of stories about suicide increases, a particular death is reported in detail, the suicide is reported in bold headlines or receives front-page treatment or prominence on a news broadcast.

Like the news stations, our policy does not cover all circumstances but we all put a great deal of thought and discussion into what is appropriate when it comes to suicide coverage. What's needed from all of us is greater depth in exploring a tragedy that is often hidden just below the surface.