Editor's Note: Paul Kleyman, the esteemed Editor at The American Society of Aging, recently spoke about the news media's failure to report accurately on issues related to aging and its tendency to rely on tired stereotypes about older Americans. RedwoodAge.com is publishing his speech, delivered Dec. 13 to the Marin (California) Commission on Aging, with minimal editing as a special four-part series. We hope his viewpoints will help provide balance to other reporting on these critical issues. We welcome your comments, which may be entered below his remarks.

RedwoodAge.com

We've talked about the economics of ageism in the entertainment world, and the same trends are found in news programming. 

Kleyman (ASA)

I’ve had television news producers tell me over the years that they were told not to produce too many stories on health and aging because it would attract too many older eyeballs and bring down the ad revenue. 

So, is this just a matter of tried and true business practice? Well, it turns out that the answer I’ve gotten from one marketing expert after another is: No. 

This model was installed with considerable success in the 1950s and early ’60s. So the model used today is largely based on June, Ward, Wally and the Beav - the growing nuclear family of young baby boomers.

And grandma and grandpa? Who remembers their name, if they were ever mentioned on "Leave It to Beaver?" The elder generation of that era was very different from today’s better educated, healthier, more active -  more affluent - and increasingly larger generation. 

The story is much the same at newspapers. So, why doesn’t a struggling mass media industry wake up? I can only speculate that it’s the same form of inertia that froze the US auto manufacturers in their tracks as the Japanese, Germans and others overtook them. 

One thing that is already bursting the mass media’s buttons is the media world itself. We’re all aware of the proliferation of the media -  from innumerable cable stations to podcasts to all manner of programming on the Internet. 

The media have gone supernova, and as it takes shape in the next five years or so, we’ll begin to see where the opportunities are, if any, for the presentation of substantial news and information on issues in aging -  as well as entertainment programs that reflect the reality of a more mature audience wishing to see mature people in roles reflecting greater life experience.

Let me emphasize that there is some good news in many American newsrooms. 

I coordinate a group called the Journalists Exchange on Aging.  In the 15 years since a group of reporters formed it, I have seen a slow-but-steady growth in the number of journalists devoted at least part time to what we call the “age beat.” 

These include writers and editors at news organizations ranging from local senior monthlies to the New York Times, NPR News and The Wall Street Journal. (Editor's Note: Mr. Kleyman reviewed RedwoodAge for the group's newsletter, AgeBeatOnline, earlier this year.)

Even with today’s turmoil in the media world, at least 50 daily newspapers now have a reporter or columnist assigned to follow the issues of aging on a regular basis for, again, at least part of their time. A survey we did in 2002 showed that the average time these reporters devoted to concerns of people in mid- and later life was around 50 percent - and about 10 papers have a full-time age-beat reporter. 

These are seasoned reporters averaging more than 20 years as professional journalists. And they have a passion for covering issues on aging that is often driven by their personal experiences. 
In other words, the age beat may not be seen as a money-maker, yet, by newspaper publishers, but reporters -  especially aging boomers with elderly parents -  realize that this coverage is important to the lives and futures of Americans and they will not let it go away.

And what effect might the age beat reporters have on how older people are depicted in the news? 

I must admit that sometimes I have to wonder how some things get past an editor. 

For example, last August, the San Francisco Chronicle’s C.W. Nevius wrote an otherwise interesting feature about the growing appeal of public libraries. But along the way he assured readers “it isn’t just old fogies researching knitting” who use the new, computerized library.

But I think this will change in the coming years. We recently conducted a survey of almost 100 age beat journalists about the language of aging. And the results are distilled in a glossary we developed for reporters.

Among the many comments by reporters, was this simple observation by The Christian Science Monitor’s Marilyn Gardner. Marilyn advised, “The writer’s goal should be to convey a sense of dignity. That’s sometimes hard for people to come by as they grow old.”

With journalists like Marilyn on the job, I think the sense of respect and dignity will be come easier to come by.