Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the adherence of media reports of suicide published in vernacular language newspapers against the World Health Organization guidelines. Design/methodology/approach The authors performed a content analysis of all suicide-related news reports published in the seven most widely circulated vernacular newspapers of Maharashtra. News reports published from April 2020 to May 2020 were included. Findings Among the 355 retrieved suicide reports, 39.2% reports were placed at a prominent position of the newspaper, 92.8% mentioned the name of a person, 93.8% mentioned the method of suicide, while 56.0% reported monocausal explanations for suicide. In contrast, 20.8% of news reports acknowledged a link with mental health disorders, while 0.3% news reports provided information about suicide prevention programs, and 0.8% mentioned suicide-related statistics. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to report content analysis of suicide reports from Maharashtra state, which is one of the most developed states in India and has high rates of youth and farmer suicides.