ABSTRACT
This chapter examines actual suicidal behavior live on television and online. R. Budd Dwyer was the Treasurer of Pennsylvania from 1981 to 1987, but was convicted in 1986 of taking a bribe from a company seeking a contract with the state. On January 22, Dwyer called a news conference. He pulled a.357 Magnum Smith & Wesson Model 27 revolver out of a manila envelope and put the gun in his mouth and killed himself. Another well-known suicide on television was by Christine Chubbuck, a news reporter who died by suicide live on television in Sarasota, Florida, on July 15, 1974, at the age of twenty-nine. Some suicides take place in courtrooms in the presence of others. Because it is common to televise or videotape courtroom proceedings, these incidents are sometimes broadcast live and can also be broadcast later on television and on the Internet. Many individuals communicate their suicidal intent online, using web-sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
