Representation of Age in the Media

10 Key excerpts on "Representation of Age in the Media"

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  Contemporary Perspectives on Ageism (Volume 19.0)

  • Liat Ayalon, Clemens Tesch-Römer(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Springer Open

    (Publisher)

  In media research, ageism, like other forms of stereotype, is seen as “a coherent set of shared ideas and beliefs that constitutes a particular justifcation of the interests of dominant groups: the state, employers, hospitals, media” (Bytheway 1994 , p. 130). Albeit not explicitly, media studies have approached age-ism as an asymmetric power structure based on age, a constructed justifcation of E. Loos ( * ) Utrecht School of Governance, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] L. Ivan National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania e-mail: [email protected] 164 inequalities between age groups (Angus and Reeve 2006 ), by focusing on groups that are systematically under- or misrepresented in the media. They criticize the negative representation of older adults in the media, including the fact that they are often only given minor or peripheral roles and that they are portrayed with no posi-tive attributes, and argue in favour of more positive, more realistic and nuanced representation, in which the portrayals of older adults more accurately refect the characteristics of the audience. Media content, including visual media, is a continuous refection of societal practices. It infuences everyday interactions, including the way we relate to older people, as well as the way we see ourselves as “being old.” Media representations offer a means to examine the logic according to which the social construction of ageing is made and maintained (Minichiello et al. 2000 ). However, media studies are often criticized for the overuse of content analysis as a method, the lack of theo-retical discussion (Seiter 1986 ), and the fact that they focus on the sender and neglect the receiver in the communication process.

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  Unmasking age

  The significance of age for social research

  • Bill Bytheway, Bytheway, Bill(Authors)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • Policy Press

    (Publisher)

  FOUR Representations of age The history of gerontology may accurately be described as the history of the social construction of meaningful images or metaphors of old age. (Hepworth, 2004, p 11)

  While engaging with people in interviews or other participative activities is essential to gerontological research, this in itself is not sufficient. The analysis of language and image and how they are used to represent age in the wider cultural landscape, is just as important. So the issues I address in this chapter relate to roadside billboards, government documents and statistical samples – any attempt, in fact, to ‘represent’ age.

  Representation is a word with many associations (Hall, 1997). I use it here to cover the ways in which words, pictures and diagrams might be used in attempts to convey the realities of age, not only about what age is, but also about how it could be different. These attempts are often described as ‘models’: what it is to grow older is represented by a model. Essentially, as Mike Hepworth implies in the quote above, such models are metaphors. Each representation produces an image not of age itself but of ‘what age is like’.

  Words and images underpin models of age. In particular, they create structured understandings of the characteristics of older people: what they might need, how they might behave, where they might live, and how ‘we’ should relate to ‘them’. The idea of ‘model’ is helpful insofar as it implies mechanisms that explain how circumstances change and people age. A model might be devised, for example, to represent the ageing process. But it is important to appreciate that at best a model represents ‘a truth’, not the whole truth about age.

  Words

  From his study of the history of gerontology, Stephen Katz concluded that ‘gerontological texts linguistically shaped old age’ (1996, p 79). He referred in particular to terms such as ‘senile’; to the organisation of textbook chapters and the use of scientific rhetoric; to the production of inventories and cataloguing charts; and to the endorsement of how gerontology might parallel other, more established, areas of research such as paediatrics. What he argues is that textbooks have not only disseminated knowledge, they have also influenced the ways we think.

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  The Ages of Life

  Living and Aging in Conflict?

  • Ulla Kriebernegg, Roberta Maierhofer, Ulla Kriebernegg, Roberta Maierhofer(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • transcript Verlag

    (Publisher)

  These representations then largely determine what we consider to be old age reality and influence ac-tions performed with regard to old people. Public images of age have a great power of suggestion, because these images regardless of visual or textual components always refer to visual perceptions. These kinds of in-terpretative patterns arise from the regularities of media production. By selecting and emphasizing certain aspects of age in specific news contexts, the audience is provided with social guiding principles on how to construct age. As a public “supplier of social imaginations” (Merten 158), media are able to produce consensually shared knowledge and as a consequence make the portraits of old age “chronically available” (Filipp and Mayer 212). P OTENTIAL I NFLUENCES According to age image research, media representations of old age influ-ence two important concepts of identity that are constantly interacting with each other: the external image and the self-image of age. While the external image is a kind of outside view concerning the old in more general terms (Mayer et al. 68), the self-image refers to the experience of personal aging (Rothermund 223). Usually, young people look at age as uninvolved by-standers, but with the increase of life expectancy the external image devel-ops into an internal view. It is safe to assume that mass media take on an Representation of Old Age in Media 109 extremely important role in this transitional process. If the external view of age is affected by negative media representations of the elderly, one might no longer acknowledge that one is growing old and there is no possibility of a gradual acceptance of the aging process, as age images as suggested by the social context cannot be transformed into self-images.

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  Language, Media and Society

  • Anthea Irwin-Turner(Author)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • Wiley-Blackwell

    (Publisher)

  If you hope to enter a career that involves any degree of content creation after your studies, I hope you can see how the analysis of search engine searches we have just done could be relevant to you. You can be responsible and current in how you represent people, and perhaps by doing so you can be part of an overall shift towards positive and empowering representations for different individuals and groups. 5.3 Life Stage and Media Consumption What we have observed about the intersections between age and other aspects of identity is not sur- prising when we consider existing literature about age, language, and media. Eckert (2017) tells us that age is incorporated into social structures in culturally specific ways. Rites of passage into adulthood, for example, happen at different ages in different cultures, and may also vary by gender. This intersec- tion between age and other aspects of identity is important when considering life stage group member- ship and boundaries between groups in both representation and media consumption. For example, Bolin and Skogerbø (2013) point out that, while young people are found – across research studies in 5.4 Representations of Age in TV Comedy 67 general – to be heavier users of social media than adults, education level and level of income (which is related to social class) are also factors, and create significant variation between young people. Another scenario that helps illustrate the intersection of age with other aspects of identity is where a young person has caring responsibilities for an older adult.

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  Going Grey

  The Mediation of Politics in an Ageing Society

  • Scott Davidson(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Chapter 6Ageing in the Media

  The age transformation of society should influence the production of news and other media in many ways. It will radically alter the labour market and accordingly patterns of media consumption. It will change the shape and interactions of the family that will further alter patterns of media use. The age composition of audiences at different points over each 24-hour cycle will become more pronounced. It is one of the most important transformations that require reporting and analysis during the course of the current century.

  As we shall see in this chapter older people are the most avid consumers of news media and the shifting audience demographics suggest any mass media product will need to do well with older audiences to establish leading figures in terms of audience share. With older people representing such a large, and growing, proportion of media consumers, it might be expected that the modern media need to move beyond merely reflecting historical ageist attitudes in society, but instead be at the cutting edge of changing attitudes during the great age transformation. Of course, a realistic prediction must be to anticipate that media content will reflect the continued existence of ageist attitudes alongside attempts to commercially benefit from the growing spending power of the ‘grey pound’. However, there is a problematic dearth of previous research material that specifically investigates media content and societal ageing. Mass communication research has generated a large volume of work on media portrayals of different groups within society. However, studies into the portrayal of older people, or the issues identified as being central to their quality of life, are rare in comparison to research which has focused on youth, the other group thought to be most at risk of social exclusion in terms of their age demographic.

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  Diversity in U.S. Mass Media

  • Catherine A. Luther, Carolyn Ringer Lepre, Naeemah Clark(Authors)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • Wiley-Blackwell

    (Publisher)

  45 This failure to guide, these missed opportunities to understand merely foster the problem. This missed oppor- tunity to understand does not apply only from adult-to-youth, but also from youth-to-elder. Engaging in thoughtful conversation on the topic of ageism can help bridge the divide. Learning to see stereotypical portrayals of various age groups, and critically analyzing them, may even contribute to their eventual reduction, and open the door for a more realistic and complex depiction of the various age groups that make up the dynamic US population. Representations of Age 254 Reflection Questions and Thoughts to Consider 1. Which teenage character on television do you find to be most representative of the teenager you were? How so? Have you seen characters you found unre- alistic? Why? What bothered you about the portray- als? Do you believe the unrealistic portrayals are doing harm? 2. Both men and women are susceptible to ageist ste- reotyping, but research has shown that women tend, especially in film and television, to be portrayed in a more one-dimensional manner. Does your experi- ence with media correlate with this? Can you think of any examples that fit with ageist stereotypes? How about any that run counter to ageist stereotypes? 3. In the past few years, there have been a number of movie roles for older men and women that have broken through some strongly held stereotypes. Can you think of any examples? Discuss any you have seen recently. 4. Do you see a variance in the stereotypes between older and teenaged people of varying ethnic groups? For instance, how would you characterize the ste- reotypical older African American woman? The Asian American man? The Hispanic teen? Can you think of any specific entertainment portrayals that reinforce or debunk these stereotypes? Notes 1 See for example, James. E. Thornton, “Myths of Aging or Ageist Stereotypes,” Educational Gerontology 28 (2002):301–12.

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  Communication Across the Life Span

  • Jon F. Nussbaum(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers

    (Publisher)

  In other words, the idea according to which a connected older adult would be more empowered, more active, and potentially more healthy than a non-connected one is not only accepted, but also taken for granted. We have to ask ourselves if such correlation is natural and proved or if it rather represents the result of a narrative construction of the figure of the elderly individual. P U B L I C D I S CO U R S E S A N D N A R R AT I V E CO N S T R U C T I O N O F T H E E L D E R LY To answer such a question I will attempt to provide some context about how the use of media by older individuals is approached within a wider analysis on the role played by communication in the narrative construction of the social figure of the older adult himself. As Gullette (2000) pointed out, we are “aged by culture,” and cultural processes (as well as the ideological forms put forth by culture) are expounded through narration. It is therefore by means of narration that society defines individuals’ roles, legitimates or sanctions their behaviors, and promotes or discourages their agency. From this point of view, aging is a “plural” process lived and performed differently according to social class, sexuality, language, gender, physical capability, and ethnicity: It is a relational process involving a constant negotiation of expectations and norms (social, cultural, and corporeal; Charpentier et al., 2010). As I will illustrate, media are part of such narrative processes triggered by cul- ture. I already mentioned how aging is posing social and political problems. Not by chance, the policies apt to face this issue and aimed at improving seniors’ life (i.e., promoting their ability to keep themselves healthy and take care of themselves) are multiplying.

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  The New Dynamics of Ageing Volume 2

  • Walker, Alan(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Policy Press

    (Publisher)

  One of the outcomes was the strongly expressed need for a new agenda to combat this issue, supported and evidenced by first-person accounts as well as data from women working in media industries (Women in Journalism, 2012). At a follow-up event a year later, the Charter against Ageism and Sexism in the Media (ChASM) was launched. A public pledge developed in collaboration with Women Ageing and Media (WAM), the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Women in Journalism (WiJ), it calls for the media to recognise the important role they play in shaping perceptions of women and ageing and to take action to better represent the diversity, complexity and potential of women aged 50 and over (www.newdynamics.group.shef.ac.uk/petition.html). At the same time, RSRA has made efforts to raise awareness that ageism and sexism are not issues that only concern women aged 50 and over. A number of participants in the project stressed the importance of exploring ageing issues early on in children’s education. Post-project activities, again, run in collaboration with the NDA programme, have therefore also included the initiation of Act Your Age! workshops. Run in a local primary school, they have brought together older individuals from the project, as well as the NDA Older People’s Reference Group, with pupils aged 10-11, to unpack children’s understandings of ageing and later life (ESRC, 2013). Key findings • Women in their 50s–60s feel more pressure from media and advertising imagery compared with participants in their 80–90s. • Eighty-eight per cent of visitors to the project exhibitions want to see more images of older women, like those created through the project, displayed in public. 237 Representing self – representing ageing • Participants captured various experiences from continued public involvement, friendships and fun to fears of increasing limitations and invisibility.

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  Mass Media, An Aging Population, and the Baby Boomers

  • Michael L. Hilt, Jeremy H. Lipschultz(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  As mentioned in the previous chapter, the older population in the United States is increasing dramatically as healthy Americans have longer lives (Barrow, 1996). Census projections show that, by 2040, the nation could have more people over age 65 than under age 21, and more than one in four Americans will be age 65 or older (Howe & Strauss, 2000, 2003; Usdansky, 1992). This chapter explores previous research on media and older people, and establishes a foundation for interpreting observations about media portrayals, uses, processes, content, effects, and culture as it pertains to people age 50 and older.

  Intergenerational Communication, Identity, and Families

  Research has focused on how people in different generations communicate with one another. There has been a particular interest in how intergenerational communication functions within families. Harwood (2000), for example, studied the degree to which communication between grandparents and grandchildren happened face-to-face, over the telephone, and through written media. Media richness, the theory that certain forms of communication elicit more information, offers one explanation for the nature of intergenerational interaction. Kahai and Cooper (2003), for example, found that richer media forms facilitated positive social perceptions and emotions. Leaner media, such as e-mail, offered more clarity but less in terms of social value. Williams and Nussbaum (2001) summarized that “a rich understanding of intergenerational communication is only made possible by first realizing that all communication takes place within a relational context” (p. 167).

  Human communication studies on the elderly provide an important foundation for the focus on mass media:

  The environment of cities, neighborhoods, mass transit, crime, political agendas, governmental policies, and the media portrayal and reporting of all of these factors can create a communication climate difficult for younger and older individuals to master. Prior to any communication shared by the generations, each individual must first battle the real or perceived barriers to a successful communicative encounter. (Williams & Nussbaum, 2001, pp. 260–261)

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  Communicating Unreality

  Modern Media and the Reconstruction of Reality

  • Gabriel Weimann(Author)
  • 1999(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications, Inc

    (Publisher)

  CHAPTER NINE Portrayal of Groups W hat do we know about Arabs? Aging people? African Americans? AIDS patients? Police work? Among the major images that mass media create for us are images of various groups of people. For some of these groups, it is only through T V and other media that we meet, learn about, and virtually encounter. Not only are the mass media our introduction to these people, but the media may be our only source of information about them. In this chapter, we will examine the mass-mediated images of a variety of groups of people and look at the consequences of such portrayals. It will be impossible to review the media images of so many categories of subpopulations and social groups. Instead, this chapter will review only a selected sample of presentations: the elderly (age group), physicians (professional group), Arabs (ethnic group), African Ameri-cans (race group), and people with disabilities (health group). These groups were selected simply because their representations in the media have been studied extensively. Let us look first at the media portrayal of one of the fastest-growing demographic groups in our society, the elderly. 213 214 M E D I A T E D R E A L I T I E S Images of the Elderly Older people are the most underrepresented group in the media throughout the world (on U.S. television and the elderly, see Davis & Davis, 1 9 8 5 ) . For example, early in the 1980s, according to U.S. census data, 1 5 . 7 % of the population was age 6 0 or over, yet, content analyses of the characters on U.S. television showed only 3 % of over 3 , 5 0 0 characters in prime-time series were over 6 5 , with an even lower percentage of older adults in commercials. Early studies examining different types of television programs (see, e.g., Aronoff, 1 9 7 4 ; Harris & Feinberg, 1 9 7 7 ; Northcott, 1 9 7 5 ) have yielded an underrepresenta-tion of the elderly, with figures in the 1% to 5 % range.

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