Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T02:11:33.243Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Compassionate Canadians and conflictual Americans? Portrayals of ageism in liberal and conservative media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2016

PATRIK MARIER  and
MARINA REVELLI
PATRIK MARIER*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
MARINA REVELLI
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
*
Address for correspondence: Patrik Marier, Department of Political Science, Concordia University, 1455 Blvd. de Maisonneuve West, Montreal, Quebec H1G 3M8, Canada E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Building upon earlier studies on ageism in the media and the polarised ageism framework, this contribution compares the prevalence of three forms of ageism – intergenerational, compassionate and new ageism – in four Canadian and American newspapers. The analysis has three objectives. First, it adapts the polarised ageism framework to a comparative case study to assess its usefulness beyond Canada. Second, it analyses which form of ageism occurs more frequently in the coverage of ageing-related stories in Canadian or American newspapers. Third, it studies the importance of the political orientation of news media across both countries by comparing the portrayal of ageing-related stories in conservative and liberal newspapers. Core findings include the presence of a stronger focus on intergenerational ageism in American and conservative newspapers and more frequent prevalence of compassionate ageism in Canada and liberal newspapers. American newspapers also typically employ more pejorative and sensational language.

Keywords

Older AdultsMedia PortrayalUnited StatesCanadaAgeismNewspapers
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 37 , Issue 8 , September 2017 , pp. 1632 - 1653
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Angus, J. and Reeve, P. 2006. Ageism: a threat to ‘aging well’ in the 21st century. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 25, 2, 137–52.Google Scholar
Arber, S. and Ginn, J. 1991. Gender and Later Life: A Sociological Analysis of Resources and Constraints. Sage, London.Google Scholar
Aronoff, C. 1974. Old age in prime time. Journal of Communication, 24, 4, 86–7.Google Scholar
Baltes, P. B. and Baltes, M. M. 1993. Successful Aging: Perspectives from the Behavioral Sciences. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Baumgartner, F. R., Green-Pedersen, C. and Jones, B. D. 2006. Comparative studies of policy agendas. Journal of European Public Policy, 13, 7, 959–74.Google Scholar
Binstock, R. H. 1983. The aged as scapegoat. The Gerontologist, 23, 2, 136–43.Google Scholar
Binstock, R. H. 2010. From compassionate ageism to intergenerational conflict? The Gerontologist, 50, 5, 574–85.Google Scholar
Boudiny, K. 2013. ‘Active ageing’: from empty rhetoric to effective policy tool. Ageing & Society, 33, 6, 1077–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowling, A. and Dieppe, P. 2005. What is successful ageing and who should define it? BMJ: British Medical Journal, 331, 7531, 1548–51.Google Scholar
Clark, P. G. 1993. Public policy in the United States and Canada: individualism, familial obligation, and collective responsibility in the care of the elderly. In Hendricks, J. and Rosenthal, C. (eds), The Remainder of Their Days: Domestic Policy and Older Families in the United States and Canada. Routledge, London, 13–48.Google Scholar
Cohen, H. L. 2002. Developing media literacy skills to challenge television's portrayal of older women. Educational Gerontology, 28, 7, 599–620.Google Scholar
Cole, T. A. 1992. The Journey of Life: A Cultural History of Aging in America. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Cook, F. L., Marshall, V. W., Marshall, J. G. and Kaufman, J. E. 1994. The salience of intergenerational equity in Canada and the United States. In Marmor, T. R., Smeeding, T. M. and Greene, V. L. (eds), Economic Security and International Justice: A Look at North America. Urban Institute Press, Washington DC, 91–129.Google Scholar
Cummings, J. E. Jr 2006. Unbalanced media coverage and the 2004 Presidential Election: The New York Times vs. The Washington Times. Master's thesis, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.Google Scholar
Davidson, D. 2012. Going Grey: The Mediation of Politics in an Ageing Society. Ashgate, Burlington, Vermont.Google Scholar
Dillaway, H. E. and Byrnes, M. 2009. Reconsidering successful aging: a call for renewed and expanded academic critiques and conceptualizations. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 28, 6, 702–22.Google Scholar
Edwards, L. 2002. Our Times: The Washington Times 1982–2002. Regnery Publishing, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. 1999. Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Fealy, G., Mcnamara, M., Treacy, M. P. and Lyons, I. 2012. Constructing ageing and age identities: a case study of newspaper discourses. Ageing & Society, 32, 1, 85–102.Google Scholar
Featherstone, M. and Hepworth, M. 1995. Images of positive ageing: a case study of Retirement Choice magazine. In Featherstone, M. and Wernick, A. (eds), Images of Ageing: Cultural Representations of Later Life. Routledge, London, 27–46.Google Scholar
Feldman, L., Maibach, E. W., Roser-Renouf, C. and Leiserowitz, A. 2012. Climate on cable: the nature and impact of global warming coverage on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. International Journal of Press/Politics, 17, 1, 3–31.Google Scholar
Ferri, C., James, I. and Pruchno, R. 2009. Successful aging: definitions and subjective assessment according to older adults. Clinical Gerontologist, 32, 4, 379–88.Google Scholar
Foot, D. K. and Venne, R. A. 2005. Awakening to the intergenerational equity debate in Canada. Journal of Canadian Studies, 39, 1, 5–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franklin, N. C. and Tate, C. A. 2009. Lifestyle and successful aging: an overview. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 3, 1, 6–11.Google Scholar
Gamson, W. A., Croteau, D., Hoynes, W. and Sasson, T. 1992. Media images and the social construction of reality. Annual Review of Sociology, 18, 1, 373–93.Google Scholar
Gee, E. M. 2000. Population and politics: voodo demography, population aging, and Canadian social policy. In Gee, E. M. and Gutman, G. M. (eds), The Overselling of Population Aging: Apocalyptic Demography, Intergenerational Challenges, and Social Policy. Oxford University Press, Toronto, 5–25.Google Scholar
Gentzkow, M. and Shapiro, J. M. 2010. What drives media slant? Evidence from U.S. daily newspapers. Econometrica, 78, 1, 35–71.Google Scholar
Gilbert, C. N. and Ricketts, K. G. 2008. Children's attitudes toward older adults and aging: a synthesis of research. Educational Gerontology, 34, 7, 570–86.Google Scholar
Greenberg, J. 2000. Opinion discourse and Canadian newspapers: the case of the Chinese ‘Boat People’. Canadian Journal of Communication, 25, 4, 517–37.Google Scholar
Groseclose, T. and Milyo, J. 2005. A measure of media bias. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120, 4, 1191–237.Google Scholar
Gusmano, M. K. and Allin, S. 2014. Framing the issue of ageing and health care spending in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 9, 3, 313–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hallin, D. C. and Mancini, P. 2004. Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, A. J. and Feinberg, J. F. 1977. Television and aging: is what you see what you get? The Gerontologist, 17, 5 part 1, 464–8.Google Scholar
Harwood, J. and Anderson, K. 2002. The presence and portrayal of social groups on prime-time television. Communication Reports, 15, 2, 81–97.Google Scholar
Harwood, J. and Roy, A. 1999. The portrayal of older adults in Indian and U.S. magazine advertisements. Howard Journal of Communications, 10, 4, 269–80.Google Scholar
Healey, T. and Ross, K. 2002. Growing old invisibly: older viewers talk television. Media, Culture & Society, 24, 1, 105–20.Google Scholar
Kim, S.-H., Carvalho, J. P. and Davis, A. C. 2010. Talking about poverty: news framing of who is responsible for causing and fixing the problem. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 87, 3/4, 563–81.Google Scholar
Korpi, W. and Palme, J. 2003. New politics and class politics in the context of austerity and globalization: welfare state regress in 18 countries, 1975–1995. American Political Science Review, 97, 3, 425–46.Google Scholar
Kotlikoff, L. J. and Burns, S. 2005. The Coming Generational Storms: What You Need to Know About America's Future. MIT Press, Boston.Google Scholar
Larcinese, V., Puglisi, R. and Snyder, J. M. Jr 2011. Partisan bias in economic news: evidence on the agenda-setting behavior of U.S. newspapers. Journal of Public Economics, 95, 9/10, 1178–89.Google Scholar
Lee, M. M., Carpenter, B. and Meyers, L. S. 2007. Representations of older adults in television advertisements. Journal of Aging Studies, 21, 1, 23–30.Google Scholar
Liang, J. and Luo, B. 2012. Toward a discourse shift in social gerontology: from successful aging to harmonious aging. Journal of Aging Studies, 26, 3, 327–34.Google Scholar
Loretto, W., Duncan, C. and White, P. J. 2000. Ageism and employment: controversies, ambiguities and younger people's perceptions. Ageing & Society, 20, 3, 279–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynch, J. 2001. The age-orientation of social policy regimes in OECD countries. Journal of Social Policy 30, 3, 411–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyons, I. 2009. Public Perceptions of Older People and Ageing: A Literature Review. National Centre for the Protection of Older People, Dublin.Google Scholar
Macnicol, J. 2006. Age Discrimination: An Historical and Contemporary Analysis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Martin, R., Williams, C. and O'Neill, D. 2009. Retrospective analysis of attitudes to ageing in The Economist: apocalyptic demography for opinion formers. BMJ, 339, b4914.Google Scholar
Mazzoleni, G. and Schulz, W. 1999. ‘Mediatization’ of politics: a challenge for democracy? Political Communication, 16, 3, 247–61.Google Scholar
McDaniel, S. A. 2000. ‘What did you ever do for me?’ Intergenerational linkages in a restructuring Canada. In Gee, E. M. and Gutman, G. M. (eds), The Overselling of Population Aging: Apocalyptic Demography, Intergenerational Challenges, and Social Policy. Oxford University Press, Toronto, 130–53.Google Scholar
Mcgillivray, D. 2013. The Financial Post. The Canadian Encyclopaedia. Available online at http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-financial-post/ [Accessed 8 October 2014].Google Scholar
McHugh, K. 2003. Three faces of ageism: society, image and place. Ageing & Society, 23, 2, 165–85.Google Scholar
Moody, H. R. 2005. From successful aging to conscious aging. In Wykle, M. L., Whitehouse, P. J. and Morris, D. L. (eds), Successful Aging Through the Life Span: Intergenerational Issues in Health. Springer Publishing Company, New York, 55–68.Google Scholar
Palmore, E. B. 1999. Ageism: Negative and Positive. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Pan, P.-L., Meng, J. and Zhou, S. 2010. Morality or equality? Ideological framing in news coverage of gay marriage legimization. Social Science Journal, 47, 3, 630–45.Google Scholar
Potter, J. 2014. The National Post. The Canadian Encyclopaedia. Available online at http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-national-post/ [Accessed 8 October 2014].Google Scholar
Quadagno, J. 1989. Generational equity and the politics of the welfare state. Politics & Society, 17, 3, 353–76.Google Scholar
Robinson, T. and Anderson, C. 2006. Older characters in children's animated television programs: a content analysis of their portrayal. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 50, 2, 287–304.Google Scholar
Roy, A. and Harwood, J. 1997. Underrepresented, positively portrayed: older adults in television commercials. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 25, 1, 39–56.Google Scholar
Rozanova, J. 2010. Discourse of successful aging in The Globe & Mail: insights from critical gerontology. Journal of Aging Studies, 24, 4, 213–22.Google Scholar
Rozanova, J., Northcott, H. C. and McDaniel, S. A. 2006. Seniors and portrayals of intra-generational and inter-generational inequality in the Globe and Mail . Canadian Journal on Aging, 25, 4, 373–86.Google Scholar
Sabin, J. E. 2012. Individualism, solidarity, and US health care. Virtual Mentor, 14, 5, 415.Google Scholar
Schneider, A. L. and Ingram, H. 1993. Social construction of target populations: implications for politics and policy. American Political Science Review, 87, 2, 334–47.Google Scholar
Toronto Star 2012. History of the Toronto Star. Available online at www.torontostar.com/about/history.html [Accessed 21 August 2015].Google Scholar
Vasil, L. and Wass, H. 1993. Portrayal of the elderly in the media: a literature review and implications for educational gerontologists. Educational Gerontology, 19, 1, 71–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, A. and Naegele, G. (eds) 1999. The Politics of Old Age in Europe. Open University Press, Maidenhead, UK.Google Scholar
Williams, A., Ylänne, V. and Wadleigh, P. M. 2007. Selling the ‘elixir of life’: images of the elderly in an Olivio advertising campaign. Journal of Aging Studies, 21, 1, 1–21.Google Scholar