Ageism: media is part of the problem

You switch on the TV news and there is a story about older Australians. It could be about the Age Pension, financial advice, caring for grandchildren, or health related issues – it doesn’t matter – the reporter’s voice regales us over vision of older people … playing bowls.

Video of bowling pensioners is ubiquitous on television, although recently that stereotype has expanded to include retirees sipping cocktails while cruising the Mediterranean.

How ageing and older people are portrayed in the media has drawn the attention of the Age Discrimination Commission. It commissioned a study, Shaping perceptions: How Australian Media Reports on Ageing, that analysed news reports across Australia’s major networks.

Dozens of prominent journalists, communications professionals, and academics were interviewed.

The study found a culture of negativity in the media towards ageing, which either overlooks or minimises important issues, excludes older people’s personal experiences, or portrays them as an economic or social burden. These perceptions are underpinned by a broader culture of ageism in the industry and in the wider Australian community.

“The media can do better in representing the diversity of older people, their stories, and their issues. The challenges older people face often do not only affect them, but the whole of society and future generations,” the Age Discrimination Commissioner, Robert Fitzgerald, said.

The current state of Australian media is also to blame. Many newsrooms are shrinking and understaffed, making it increasingly difficult for journalists to adequately research or report on age and ageing. This is resulting in the misreporting of older people, or unconscious biases seeping into news coverage.

The report also found that the media industry’s commercial drive to mainly target younger audiences was either minimising older Australians or overstating their issues in line with the “clickbait” culture.

An example of this is a disproportionate focus on tensions between older and younger generations around wealth and finance. Gendered stereotypes are also prevalent, with stories on older women often focused on beauty and image, creating a stigma around the ageing process.

This report highlights three key findings.

1. The first has to do with limited portrayals of ageing and older people:
   • The framing of ageing as a problem.
   • A prevailing narrative of decline, frailty and vulnerability.
   • Intergenerational conflict.
   • Gendered ageism.
   • Invisibility of older Australians and their lived experiences.
2. Australian media representations reflect a broader mainstream culture that undervalues older people:
   • Many of the media professionals interviewed reported that older people are not valued in mainstream Australian culture the way they are in Indigenous communities or other cultures.
   • The issues affecting older people are often regarded as “lesser” than those affecting other groups such as women, people with disability, and younger people. 
   • This culture of undervaluing older people underpins the specific media industry drivers outlined in the third finding.
3. Media representations are underpinned by specific drivers in the media industry, including:
   • Lack of access to subject matter experts
   • Time and resource constraints
   • Loss of experienced and specialist media practitioners in newsrooms
   • Invisibility of age within the diversity and inclusion space
   • Lack of consensus among academics
   • Workplace tensions between older journalists and younger journalists.

More information about these findings is available in the full report.