Press Council censures "Falter" for publishing the Glattauer interview before his assisted suicide

As the Press Council announced on Thursday in a press release, the Senate deemed it "bedenklich, dass das Interview mit dem Betroffenen zu seinem assistierten Suizid einige wenige Tage vor dessen Durchführung veröffentlicht wurde und der geplante Tag und die ungefähre Tageszeit des Todes im Artikel vorkommen". The pieces had been published only a few days before the date set for 04.09.2025 for Glattauer's assisted suicide. According to the medium, Glattauer was seriously ill with gallbladder cancer.

Background: The Press Council's guidelines

Several readers, listeners and users had complained to the Press Council that the interview was "reisserisch und sensationell". The Senate emphasised that an "emotional-plakative Herangehensweise" in describing an assisted suicide "zumindest unterschwellig auch ein gewisser sozialer Druck für andere unheilbar kranke Personen" ergeben könne, "den assistierten Suizid zu wählen, um Angehörigen oder der Gesellschaft insgesamt vermeintlich nicht zur Last zu fallen".

Demand for publication of alternatives

The Press Council is the self-regulatory body of the Austrian press. Its Code of Ethics places particular emphasis in Point 12 on restraint in reporting on suicides. This includes not specifying the exact time and method of a suicide and not presenting suicide as a solution to personal problems.

The Senate also argued that the reporting had pushed "die sachliche Diskussion über das Thema in den Hintergrund". "Wäre das Interview nach Vollendung des assistierten Suizids veröffentlicht worden, hätte dies beim Publikum weniger Emotionen erzeugt", the decision continued.

At the same time, the Senate stressed that the topic of assisted suicide should not be tabooed and that reporting on it was in principle in the public interest. In the body's view, publication after Glattauer's death would not have prevented a societal discussion, "sie wäre jedoch sachlicher geführt worden".

Possible copycat effect and "pressure situation"

Pressure situation and journalistic responsibility

In its decision, the Senate criticised that alternative approaches to end-of-life care had been mentioned only "lediglich kurz in der Infobox am Ende des ausführlichen Interviews angeführt". "Es wäre nach Auffassung des Presserats ‚von Vorteil gewesen, stärker auch auf die am häufigsten gewählte Alternative von sterbenskranken Menschen zum assistierten Suizid einzugehen, nämlich auf die Palliativbetreuung'", the body explained.

Statement by "Falter"

The assisted suicide had been described in the interview by the person concerned himself as "die Möglichkeit schlechthin beschrieben worden, in Würde zu sterben". In this way, the "Recht auf ein selbstbestimmtes Lebensende" had been taken into account in all its perspectives, the Press Council continued.

Consequences for the medium

Possible copycat effect and "pressure situation"

Reactions and context

The Senate referred to the medium's reach and to the fact that the announcement in a medium with a wide reach had created "gewisse Drucksituation" on Glattauer to actually make use of assisted suicide. The sensationalist announcement had thus lacked "die für Suizidberichterstattung gebotene Zurückhaltung" and was "mit der von Punkt 12 vorgeschriebenen gebotenen Zurückhaltung bei der Suizidberichterstattung nicht vereinbar".

About the person Niki Glattauer

Pressure situation and journalistic responsibility

Support services in Austria

The Press Council stated verbatim: "Aber ‚durch eine emotional-plakative Herangehensweise bei der Beschreibung eines assistierten Suizids in den Medien kann sich zumindest unterschwellig auch ein gewisser sozialer Druck für andere unheilbar kranke Personen ergeben, den assistierten Suizid zu wählen, um Angehörigen oder der Gesellschaft insgesamt vermeintlich nicht zur Last zu fallen.'" This reflects the concern about a possible copycat effect – a risk also repeatedly pointed to by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its guidelines on suicide reporting.

Conclusion of the censure

Statement by "Falter"

According to the Press Council, Florian Klenk had described the pre-suicide publication as having taken place "auf ausdrücklichen Wunsch des Betroffenen", but had also noted that "der Betroffene prinzipiell auch dazu bereit gewesen wäre, dass das Interview nach der Vollendung des assistierten Suizids veröffentlicht wird".

Consequences for the medium

The Senate called on "Falter Zeitschriften Gesellschaft m.b.H." and "Falter Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H" to "freiwillig in den betroffenen Medium zu veröffentlichen oder bekanntzugeben". The Press Council thus called on "Falter" to "freiwillig über den Ethikverstoß zu berichten". The censure is the second most severe sanction of the self-regulatory body; a more far-reaching sanction – such as publication of the decision in the form of a censure without the cooperation of the affected medium – was therefore not imposed.

Reactions and context

The decision is part of a series of censures with which the Press Council had responded in recent years to increasingly sensationalist reporting on suicides and assisted suicides. The background is the debate that has been ongoing for years about the right to self-determined dying, end-of-life care and the expansion of palliative and hospice care in Austria.

About the person Niki Glattauer

Niki Glattauer was a publicist, teacher and author. According to "Falter", he was seriously ill with gallbladder cancer and opted for an assisted suicide, the date for which his circle had set as 4 September 2025. In the interview he described assisted suicide as "Möglichkeit, in Würde zu sterben".

Support services in Austria

In acute crises, the Telefonseelsorge offers help free of charge around the clock throughout Austria on 142. For young people and young adults, Rat auf Draht is available on 147. In addition, the Frauen-Helpline is available on 0800-222-555, the 24-hour women’s emergency number of the City of Vienna on 01-71719, and the police emergency number 133.

Conclusion of the censure

With the censure, the Press Council makes clear that reporting on assisted suicides is bound by strict journalistic standards – even when a person concerned expressly wishes it. The publication of an interview a few days before an assisted suicide is carried out, together with concrete time details, violates journalistic due diligence and the guidelines on suicide prevention in the Senate's view.

At the same time, the Press Council showed itself open to a differentiated societal debate on the topic of assisted suicide and referred to the "Recht auf ein selbstbestimmtes Lebensende". In the body's view, however, this discussion could have been conducted without the emotional charge of the concrete announcement.

Klenk had emphasised in the proceedings that the publication had been in accordance with the wish of the person concerned and that Glattauer would in principle also have agreed to a posthumous publication. The Senate, however, did not see this as sufficient justification for the violation of the Code of Ethics.