How Senior Citizens Are Influenced by Newspapers

Running head: HOW SENIOR CITIZENS ARE INFLUENCED BY NEWS PAPERS 0

How Senior Citizens Are Influenced By Newspapers

Abstract

Essentially, this research paper looks at how older people, preferably 55 years old and above, are influenced by the newspapers. The people in this age bracket (called baby boomers) grew up with the habit of reading the dailies, which is hard to shake. In this digital age, most of the print newspaper businesses are almost disappearing due to the far-reaching effects of the social media platform. The majority of the generation X and the Millenials get their information from the Internet, leaving the print business barely afloat. The paper looks at how the newspaper depicts the baby boomers and how this perception influences the public view. Finally, how these older adults access basic amenities such as good healthcare is also covered.

Keywords: Newspapers, old people, influences, attitudes, society.

How Old People (55+) Are Influenced By Newspapers

Justification of study

Currently, digital technologies have changed the way people think and behave. The way the media portrays older people informs and influences the attitudes, beliefs, and actions of younger generation towards the old people. The baby boomer generation is predicted to increase in the coming years, which has led to a growing number of studies on how these people are portrayed by the media. In the modern day and age, the majority of the society values, perspectives, and beliefs of what is right or wrong for the older people is impacted by the way the media portrays them. The newspapers are a very influential part of the media and are an important means for the public to shape its perception, which in turn is a major factor on how the old people are influenced by the newspapers.

Newspapers are a significant source for relaying all the political, economic, and social events across the world in a summarized and affordable manner. They have tremendously changed the perception of the individuals residing within a society. However, it has particularly influenced the older segment of the population typically above 55 years of age. In the newspapers, most ageing people appear as unproductive, senile, and expensive to maintain. These differences in the perception of baby boomers are responsible for creating a wide rift between the older and younger generation. The outcome of this adverse perception of older people is evident in other areas such as the political scene in which most baby boomers voted for issues that directly benefited them.

It is evident that the media provides the vision of old people in different ways. Research into how the old people are portrayed by the media has been covered extensively in the fields of social and communication sciences. Advertisements in various magazines tend to portray such people in a positive manner. The images and photographs are standardized, and they are depicted as people who are happy, active, affluent, and influential. In such a way, from one side, old people are portrayed in rather positive light.

Still, the negative depiction is also present. Old people are seen as physically weak and vulnerable. However, the newspapers’ portrayal of old people remains more negative than in any other form of media. Newspapers depict them as lonely, frail, fragile, and very dependent. Moreover, they are seen as a burden to their families, as inactive people and non-contributors to the society in general. Given that, it is quite controversial to establish that both messages are delivered to the public.

Historically, newspapers have been perceived as a reliable source. Certainly, this issue has been persistent for several years since baby boomers internalized the newspaper as the most popular source of news. During the period when the newspaper was popular, most of the baby boomers relied on it for accurate news. This group in society grew up with the notion that newspapers were the most legitimate source of news, especially considering that they were published by the state. The implied perception is that broadcasters and websites are less reliable as they mostly respond to the incentive of news and rely heavily on content that derives from newspapers. Given that, the newspapers are considered more credible source.

Occasionally, the results created by these newspapers vary depending on the amount of bias allowed by the editors. However, since its advent, newspapers have been the most popular source of reliable information on diverse events (Novak, 2015). Their accuracy in handling facts of the activities is unquestionable. In theory, newspapers have the moral duty to ensure their content in authentic and objective. Additionally, the level of coverage of most newspapers is wide and includes issues that occur in diverse fields.

The media depiction, especially the negative one by the newspapers, leads to people forming adverse attitudes towards the older people. Mostly, this negative portrayal affects the society’s attitudes, which in turn influences people’s attitudes and finally forms a negative influence on the old people’s welfare. Organizations, such as nursing homes pay little attention to the quality of the care products and packages for the aged since it is not very beneficial to invest in this age group. The quality of care given to these people is not satisfactory. Many researchers in the medical field feel that the population, in general, is not ready to provide the necessary services that come with an increase in the aging population. Sadly, it is very alarming to see that many ordinary citizens are not willing to put any investment in the care of the elderly.

The other negative influence caused by newspapers is the downgrading and the insulting view of the older people. The equality of old people, and how they relate to other members of society and their peers, is alarming. All seniors are entitled to fair treatment and special services just like other groups, such as children, women, prisoners, people with disabilities, and the mentally challenged. A good allusion to this situation is that children are not left alone in day care with the assumption that their parents would come to take them outdoors for lunch. The call for help here is to ensure that the aged have the same quality of services at the same cost as all the other age groups countrywide.

Paragraph outlining guiding arguments to be used in final research paper

Essentially, this topic is important as it highlights the troubles that the older generation face as a result of how it is portrayed by the media and the newspapers in general. The topic further discusses how the attitudes influence the lives of the old people since they are left with limited resources on their access to medical supplies. The topic also highlights a major difference and shifts from the traditional print business to a more digital one. Statistics show a majority of people who read newspapers daily are mostly in their 50s and above. `There are significantly fewer people that read the newspaper than there used to be. This can be easily seen because of the amount of people that are still in the habit of reading the newspaper every day. Because there are so few people reading the newspapers, it leaves little room for advertisements, as they would not apply to that generation.

Across the globe, the number of individuals making use of newspapers and print sources is declining. However, unlike the younger generations in their news consumption, the older generation does not prioritize breaking news. The research is imperative because it will expound on the ‘how’ and ‘why’ the older generation keeps up with news via newspapers. Essentially, the case in viability of print sources in this investigation changes from the effectiveness of newspapers to deliver rich content to a cultural pattern in reading news (Meyer, 2009). The research will equally expound on the specific sections that drive older people towards newspapers. These sections include entertainment, sports, finance, and agriculture amongst many others. There are certain elements that link newspapers with the older generation thus ascertaining their continuity in light to the growth and dominant of digital media. These elements will be highlighted in the research report.

Annotated Bibliography

Abdullah, B., & Wolbring, G. (2013). Analysis of newspaper coverage of active aging through the lens of the 2002 World Health Organization active ageing report: A policy framework and the 2010 Toronto charter for physical activity: a global call for action. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 10(12), 6799-6819.

In this study, Abdullah and Wolbring investigate how newspapers cover the whole topic of ageing. They make particular reference to the 20002 WHO active ageing report as well as the 2010 Toronto charter for physical activity. They report that the media has done little to cover the two documents and ageing as an important issue in the contemporary society. According to Abdullah and Wolbring newspapers have not actively engaged the public with the key issues raised in the two documents, an indicator that they have played a very insignificant role in bringing to light the main challenges and issues faced by the ageing population

Beard, H., & Payne, B. K. (2005).Portrayal of elder abuse in the national media. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 29, 2.

Beard and Payne in this article investigate on the link between the elderly and print newspapers through an analysis of how the print sources are prioritizing elderly abuse. The authors, both professors of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Old Dominion University argue that research on elderly abuse is essential because it highlights on the portrayal of the elderly in news making criminology. Through a review of 530 articles from 11 different newspaper brands, the authors conclude that the press ignores some forms of elder abuse. The article is important because it informs on how the elderly become more vulnerable to social predators.

Blakeborough, D. (2008). “Old people are useless” Representations of aging on the Simpsons. Canadian Journal of Aging, 27 (1), 57-67.

In this article, Blakeborough examine how older individuals are represented in popular media, with specific focus being on the popular TV show the Simpsons While not directly related to how the elderly are affected by newspapers, the article offers a glimpse into the potential impact that popular media has on this population. The author argues that that the elderly population is continuing to attract attention given their growing status as an active economic group. He argues that shows such as The Simpsons have contributed to this increased interest in the baby boomer population given the inversion meaning they create through parodic irony.

Fealy G., McNamara, M., Treacy M., P, & Lyons, I. (2012). Constructing aging and aging identities; A case study of newspapers discourses. Aging and Society, 32 (1), 85-102.

The authors of the article argue that public discourse covering the elderly exist in various texts, which associate the social group with specific age identities. However, different media platforms associate the elderly differently to these age identities. Through a research of Irish print media, the authors assert that newspapers prioritize welfare provision of the elderly in their reports. In addition, the reference the elderly using unique constructions such as ageism, little old ladies and grannies amongst many others. The article is important because it highlights on one of the many ways through which media subjects the elderly to dependency.

Fraser, S. A., Kenyon, V., Lagacé, M., Wittich, W., &Southall, K. E. (2015). Stereotypes associated with age-related conditions and assistive device use in Canadian media. The Gerontologist, 56(6), pp. 1023-1032.

Fraser et al reiterate that newspapers are an important source of information. They point out that the discourses facilitated by newspapers shapes public attitudes and believes about older individuals. In this study, the authors focussed on Canadian newspapers and how they depict age-related health conditions. In their findings, they report that stereotypes linked to age-related health conditions were common in Canadian newspapers and that the depiction of these conditions has the ability to make worse the current stereotypes about older individuals.

Koskinen, S., Salminen, L., & Leino-Kilpi, H. (2014). Media portrayal of older people as illustrated in Finnish newspapers. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 9.

Newspapers and other media reflect culturally held attitudes concerning the elderly. Therefore, newspapers go to reinforce how the society treats, views, and cares for the elderly. Through an ethnographic approach, the authors who are professors of sociology inform that Finnish newspapers focus on health care of the elderly thus encouraging paternalistic attitudes projected towards the elderly. Similar to prior articles, the authors argue that equality is impossible for the elderly with the consistent bias media coverage. Therefore, the article is important in teaching how print media reflect and reinforce social biases.

Martinson, M., & Berridge, C. (2015). Successful aging and its discontents: A systematic review of the social gerontology literature. The Gerontologist, 55(1), 58-69.

In this systematic review, Martinson and Berridge explore the issue of successful aging. The authors particularly focus is on the critiques of successful ageing models. In their review, Martinson and Berridge take into consideration a total of 453 articles published in Social Gerontology Journal between 1987 and 2013. Out of this articles, only 67 met the inclusion criteria. In their findings, the researchers report that there were 4 categories into which the critiques and remedies fell into. These were the Add and Stir group, the Missing Voices group, the Hard Hitting Critique group and the New Frames and Names groups. Martinson and Berridge conclude that most of the criteria offered in the critiques sought to expand on Rowe and Kahn’s original successful model and that this is a clear proof that a normative model is exclusionary

Meyer, P. (2009). The vanishing newspaper; saving journalism in the information age. (2nded.). Missouri: University of Missouri.

Philip Meyer in this book differentiates from other authors sampled in this report to relay on a framework that newspaper houses utilize to ascertain conservation of their social responsibilities and functions. The ‘influence-model’ in the book entails statistical examinations on print quality and subsequent influence of the product. Perhaps the single most important source, Meyer clearly shows the relationship between media and mass culture. Therefore, it clearly denotes how print media portrays the elderly resulting in dominant views and attitudes concerning the group.

Moore, S. (2015). Older people. Oxford Handbook of Mental Health Nursing, 281.

The authors of this article perform a lifespan content analysis of American and Indian magazines to derive an understanding of how older adults are portrayed. The researchers focus on characters in magazine advertisements in order to correlate their age with the type of product being marketed. The significance of the article arises from its findings that the elderly together with children are underrepresented in print media. On the other hand, women and younger men are overrepresented. Through this, the authors reveal how age as a demographic is used to drive consumerism and to poorly represent the elderly.

Murphy, N. A., Fatoye, F., & Wibberley, C. (2013).The changing face of newspaper representations of the mentally ill. Journal of Mental Health, 22(3), 271-282.

Using content analysis, Murphy et al examine the manner in which mentally ill individuals are portrayed in newspapers. The researchers take into consideration four UK newspapers and argue that negative stereotypes about the mentally ill as presented in the media has the potential to worsen the stigma associated with this type disorders. The article is of significance to the current study since elderly individuals form a significant portion of individuals with mental illnesses. In their findings, they report that there was a significant rise in the number of articles that focussed on mental illnesses. They state that the most of the newspapers reviewed emphasized the need to protect the general public from the mentally ill and promoted the idea that mentally ill individuals are different from the rest of the people

Raman, P., Harwood, J., Weis., D, Anderson, J. L., & Miller, G. (2008). The portrayal of older adults in the U.S and Indian magazines advertisements. A cross-cultural comparison. Howard Journal of Communication, 19 (3), 203-213.

Just like Murphy et al, Raman et al utilize content analysis to examine how US and Indian magazines adverts portray elderly individuals. The researchers analysed a total of 1464 magazine adverts that were randomly selected. They report that in both the US and India, older adults, teens and children were significantly under-represented in the adverts. However, references to older adulthood and aging was more frequent in US magazine adverts compared to Indian adverts. This study clearly shows that the portrayal of elderly individuals in newspapers also depends on the culture.

Ylanne, V., Willims, A., & Wadleigh, P. M (2009). Aging well? Older people’s health and well-being as portrayed by UK magazines and advertisements. International Journal of Aging and Later in Life, 4(2), 33-62.

Majority of research covering the elderly focus on social welfare; primarily on their healthcare. However, Ylanne, Willims and Wadleigh assert that contemporary print media uses imagery and vocabulary more to pass information concerning older adults as opposed to using national health information and other primary resources. The authors are simply attempting to reveal on how newspapers and magazines manipulate the structure of journalistic reports to create and maintain an underlying discourse concerning the elderly. The referencing of imagery and vocabulary is a new approach to understanding media portrayal of older adults, which the report benefits.

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