Seeking Farming Families
Andrew Mole is an award-winning rural and regional journalist who has been working in agricultural and regional Australia for almost 30 years.
Currently based in Echuca he is looking to interview a farming family who have been bereaved by the suicide of a parent or partner.
The purpose of the story is to highlight the following:
1. The repercussions of suicide, not just on the immediate family but through an extended family and community.
2. To run parallel stories which demonstrate how families may identify distress even though the person suffering the problem might be trying hard to hide it, or not even be aware of it.
3. Draw on work from the medical world, and groups such as Suicide Prevention Australia, Lifeline and beyond blue.
Andrew says while there has been a lot of awareness of suicide as an issue in agricultural Australia, there has been too little coverage of the impact on the family left behind.
It is his intention to try and give this experience a truly personal face, providing an awareness and momentum that goes beyond the act of suicide to highlight the full extent of the tragedy.
While he is prepared to offer anonymity Andrew believes this may weaken the strength of the story and would prefer to work with someone who is prepared to be named, and tell their full story.
Ideally he is looking for someone in the Riverina area but is prepared to interview anyone in Victoria or southern NSW.
The person interviewed will receive a full copy of the story and have the final say on its content.
Andrew can be contacted on 0419 132 369.