GBO NEWS: Columbia Names 21 Journalism Fellows; Ageism in Media; High Tech for Rural Elders; New From Authors Herbert Gold, 94, Connie Goldman, 87; WaPo on Hospice & Dementia; & MORE
GENERATIONS BEAT ONLINE NEWS
E-News of the Journalists Network on Generations— Celebrating 25 Years.
May 9, 2018 — Volume 18, Number 6
EDITOR’S NOTE:GBONews, e-news of the Journalists Network on Generations (JNG), publishes alerts for journalists, producers and authors covering generational issues. Send your news of important stories or books (by you and others), fellowships, awards or pertinent kvetches to GBO News Editor Paul Kleyman. [paul.kleyman@earthlink.net]. To subscribe to GBONews.org at no charge, simply sending a request to Paul with your name, address, phone number and editorial affiliation or note that you freelance. For each issue, you’ll receive the table of contents in an e-mail, so just click through to the full issue at www.gbonews.org. GBONews does not provide its list to other entities.
In This Issue: Facts and Opinions—With a Difference.
1. EYES ON THE PRIZE: *** Columbia U Picks 21“Age Boom” Reporting Fellows; *** Diane Joy Schmidt Awarded First Place bySociety of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Top of the Rockies chapter.
2. GEN BEATLES NEWS: *** GBONews Editor Paul Kleyman to Speakat San Francisco’s Institute of Aging, May 21; *** “Media Coverage of Aging Issues,”CSPAN2, recorded 20 years ago; *** Best-selling Author Herbert Gold, 94, will be at San Francisco’s Beat Museum,May 18, 7 p.m.
3. THE BOOKMOBILE: ***Veteran Generations-Beat Author Connie Goldman,87, has two caregiving books reissued; ***Juggling Life, Work, and Caregiving, by Amy Goyer, published.
4. GOOD SOURCES: *** The Future of Rural Transportation and Mobility for Older Adults–Two New UC Berkeley Papers.
5. THE STORYBOARD:
*** “Making It Easier to Get Transportation to Rural Health Care,” by Katherine Seligman, Next Avenue(May 7);
*** “At 100, My Mom Had Dementia and Needed Hospice Care. Getting It Was Nearly Impossible,” by Jeanne Erdmann, Washington Post(May 5);
*** “Alzheimer’s: The Disease that Steals Memories,” by D. Kevin McNeir, Washington Informer(May 2);
*** “The Big Myth About America’s Pension Crisis,” by Lydia DePillis, CNN Money(April 25);
*** “America’s Public Pensions Matter,”op-ed by Andrew Collier, The Hill(April 25);
*** “Social Security Plan to Shutter Field Office Prompts Street Protest,” by Charles S. Clark, Government Executive (May 3).
1. EYES ON THE PRIZE
*** Columbia U Picks 21 “Age Boom” Reporting Fellows The Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center and the Columbia School of Journalism announced its 2018 class of Fellows, who will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to attend the three-day training program on the Columbia University campus in New York City. This year’s program for the 21 Fellows will focus on the theme, “The Future of Work: New Technology and an Aging Workforce,” to be held May 31 – June 2.
Congratulations go to:
Theresa Agovino, Crain’s publications and HR Magazine; Janissa Delzo, Newsweek;
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz, Chicago Tribune; Charmaine Jackson, Louisiana Weeklyand Times Picayune; Sarah Kessler, Quartz; Melissa Long, NBC Atlanta, WXIA-TV; Alessandra Malito,MarketWatch; Seth Mnookin, The New Yorker, STAT, MIT; Kymelya Mohammad Raji, Seven Days; David Morris, Fortune; Sara O’Brien, CNN; Danielle Paquette, Washington Post; Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen(Postmedia); Olivera Perkins, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland; Amy H. Peterson, Esterville (Iowa) News; Jan Ross Piedad, Texas Public Radio, San Antonio; Randy Rieland, Smithsonian.com, Next Avenue; Gary Rotstein, Pittsburg Post-Gazette; Katia Savchuk, San Francisco Magazine, The Washington Post, California Sunday Magazine; Lauren Smiley, WIRED, Fast Company, The Verge, California Sunday Magazine; Robert Weisman, Boston Globe.
*** Diane Joy Schmidt Picked Up a First Place Awardat the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Top of the Rockies 2018 ceremony, April 20, for her story, “Muslims and Jews Unite to Support Immigrants,” in New Mexico Jewish Link. The article, which ran last June, won for Religion General Reporting (category for newspapers under 10,000 circ.). Schmidt, a past Journalists in Aging Fellow, noted that although the story is not expressly on aging, the fundraiser was organized by the recently retired Rabbi Arthur Flicker. Schmidt quoted Abbas Akhil, a past-president of the area’s Islamic Center.The feature describes an unusual gathering of over 250 people from Albuquerque’s Jewish, Muslim and Christian faith communities to support the American Civil Liberties Union’s legal actions against the Trump administration’s Muslim ban. The story quotes Akhil, “The prevailing stereotype is that Muslims and Jews cannot get along when, as humanity, we as human beings [can] build on our deep religious roots” and in doing so, “this is a stereotype that is prevalent, but it can be broken.”
The SPJ Region 9 awards, covering four mountain states, also named NM Jewish Linkwriter Sara Koplik’s in the award citation for her coverage of the gun-control issue.
2. GEN BEATLES NEWS
*** GBONews Editor Paul Kleyman will be the Monday night speakerat the Institute of Aging (IOA) in San Francisco, May 21, 7 p.m. His topic: “Ageism in The Media: The Beat Goes On, But Here’s How to Change It.” He will reflect on his 45 years of aging while covering the subject of aging. With notable exceptions, U.S. media have perpetuated the “burden” narrative of aging. But solutions-focused journalism could help change that for a more complete exposé of today’s ageist policies and a more balanced story of the potential contributions of the Longevity Revolution. Journalists in or visiting the Bay Area can request a press pass from IOA’s Caitlin Morgan.
*** “Media Coverage of Aging Issues,” CSPAN2, recorded March 26, 1998. It was 20 years ago this spring: GBONews’s editor happened to find this link in a Google-opolis search recently from when we were only five years into our 25. Then, the Journalists Network on Generations (GBONews’ parent org) was called the Journalists Exchange on Aging. Does anyone remember the Freedom Forum? In 1998 it ran a group of centers funded by the Gannett Foundation before closing all. But the home location to build the Newseum in D.C.
Back then I persuaded the San Francisco Center to give the generations beat a chance with one of its evening programs. We did it in conjunction with that year’s American Society on Aging (ASA) conference, and the panel brought in the Center’s biggest crowd to date. The issues? Much will sound familiar. The CSPAN program goes 70 minutes, but the first 15 mins. or so will give those interested a good peak at the session.
After my brief introduction (“Media managers need to wake up and smell the demographics”) panelists spoke, including Michael Vietz, who had won a 1997 Pulitzer for his Philadelphia Inquirerend-of-life series; Peter Eisler,USA Today(now of Reuters), winner of that year’s ASA Media Award (national); Denise Gamino, Austin American-Statesman, who won the ASA Media Award (local);Beth Witrogen McLeod, San Francisco Examiner(then and later twice nominated for the Pulitzer for her series and then book on caregiving; and moderator Robert A. “Bob” Rosenblatt, Economics Reporter, Los Angeles Times.
***Best-selling Author Herbert Gold, 94, will be at San Francisco’s Beat Museum, Friday, May 18, 7 p.m., reading from his new poetry chapbook, Nearing the Exit. He’ll be in conversation about his life and views of North Beach from his “Beatnik hovel,” high atop Russian Hill. He’ll read some poems and be in conversation with publisher Les Gottesman of Omèrta Press.
Gold, who was profiled in the Washington Postlast summer, returned to poetry recently on his vintage black Royal manual. It’s the form be began as a high school student in the 1930s, and which initially fueled his later literary and sometimes journalistic career for the NYT Magazine, Esquire, Playboyand others. Gold turned to prose in the ensuing decades, publishing about 30 books and developing close relationships with the likes of Allen Ginsberg, Ernest J. Gaines, Saul Bellow and Shel Silverstein, whose friendship he revives with a pungent cup of espresso in this small collection. The poems are funny sometimes, often moving, and always richly reflective of a life fully lived.
Although, GBONews usually provides contacts for requesting press review copies, for this one, I’ll suggest that the $9.85 tab is worth the time you’ll spend turning these pages. Check it out at the Omerta website, or for more information contact Gottesman. Better, yet, come to the reading if you’re in the area and get iaa copy autographed.
3. THE BOOKMOBILE
*** Veteran Generations-Beat Author Connie Goldman, 87, is celebrating the dual re-release of her books, The Gifts of Caregiving: Stories of Hardship, Hope and Healing (Second Edition), and Wisdom from Those in Care: Conversations, Insights and Inspiration. Goldman has authored seven books and independently produced innumerable radio programs on aging over the past 35 years. Before that she was one the original weekend hosts of NPR’s All Things Considered, before leaving the show for Los Angeles in 1983 to become her mother’s caregiver. That experience awakened her to the rich editorial ground of aging, and her ensuing years as an independent radio producer and the author on aging, established Goldman as one of the earlier journalists on the generations beat.
The Gifts of Caregiving tells the stories of people who have become primary caregivers. Goldman writes, “Their stories speak of changes, challenges and often sacrifice, but more importantly, the gifts of insight, inspiration and healing they received from the caregiving commitment to their family.”
She structured the books so that each chapter “ends with the author’s thoughts and discussion questions to encourage readers to explore more deeply their thoughts and feelings about similar situations.”
In Wisdom from Those in Care shares personal stories of care recipients. “Some have been diagnosed with non-curable illnesses. Others have become debilitated. Many have left their old worlds of interaction and sociability.” Their stories, says Goldman, say, “Listen to me, I have something to share.”
The books are published by the Society of Certified Senior Advisors. For information and review copies either hard copies or e-book versions, e-mail katie.schnack@smithpublicity.com. Or reach Goldman at congoldman@aol.com.
***Juggling Life, Work, and Caregiving is the newly arrived tome by Amy Goyer. Released as an AARP book and published, curiously enough, by the American Bar Association (ABA Publishing), it promises to serve as a “gentle guide” that provides practical resources and tips for those “caregiving day to day, planning for future needs or in the middle of a crisis.” Based in Phoenix, Goyer provides care for her father Robert, 93, who has advanced Alzheimer’s disease. She’s been widely respected in gerontology as an authority on families and caregiving. Reporters can request a media review copy from Althea Billins, ABA Publishing: phone: 312.988.6202, cell: 312-927-0614; e-mail: Althea.Billins@americanbar.org.
Also, in 2017, Goyer joined the recent trend of putting out adult coloring books by publishing, Color Your Way Content: When Caring for a Loved One, from Inkspirations, illustrated by Judy Wall. It includes 31 designs, such as floral images, “meditative mandalas,” animals, “pretty paisleys, and more [for] a creative and fun escape.”
Says the website blurb, “Creative coloring is a restorative way for you to fill your own tank so you have the energy to keep on caregiving and living your life to the fullest each and every day.” It’s also an AARP-sponsored project. In 2009, Goyer published her how-to, Things to Do Now That You’re … a Grandparent (Spruce Publishing). Check out Goyer’s website and blog www.amygoyer.com. Media folks can contact her at amy@amygoyer.com, phone: 202-746-0550. She has a substantial national calendar of appearances in the East, Mid-Atlantic region and Midwest in the coming months.
4. GOOD SOURCES
***Aging in Rural America is a program that just released two highly informative and very readable new reports about the impact of limited mobility and the potential role for technology for the nearly one-quarter of all older Americans (about 10 million) who call rural communities home. One report says, “They share the nearly universal desire to age in place, but their ability to do so hinges on mobility. Without good mobility options, older people face elevated risks of social isolation, depression, gaps in medical care, and malnutrition.”
Both papers, which can be downloaded at bit.ly/RuralPubs, were released in conjunction with a national conference at the University of California, Berkeley, May 2-3, developed by UC’s Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and The Banatao Institute, in conjunction with Grantmakers In Aging. Both booklets run about 30 pages.
* “Mobility & Aging in Rural America: The Role for Innovation: An Introduction for Funders” is a general introduction that offers insights about what’s already working and what is possible “from the perspective of providers and thought leaders. It does not require a background in technology or aging.” It explains thatrural America, 97 percent of the United States, was home to half the population only a century ago, but today is home only about 15 percent. But for those millions, “in small towns and remote areas, whether their destination is the grocery store, the beauty parlor, the hospital, or the polls, the question, ‘How will I get there?’ can be complicated.”
Although driving is central to American life, “life expectancy exceeds‘driving expectancy’ by about six years for women and 10 years for men, creating an understandable incentive to keep driving as long as possible. Other options like public transit, ADA paratransit, taxis, or ride-hailing (such as Uber or Lyft) may be unaffordable, unmanageable for older people and people with disabilities, or simply nonexistent in some rural areas.”
Why should newsroom city slickers pay attention to this? Journalists with media having regional circulation and, of course, internet reach should keep in mind, according to the UC conference organizers, that mostcities are only two counties away from a rural environment. In addition, skyrocketing housing costs in many urban climes have forced many people, such as retirees, out to surrounding areas. Also, the tech industry is looking toward the wider open spaces as a market tester and maker where they can develop more applications for things like autonomous cars, telehealth and emerging delivery options from Amazon to FedEx. Additionally, accessible and supportive mobility will be key to reconstituting rural environments as a healthy aspect of community development, whether one is considering where to retire and, perhaps, start a small business, or what community services will be available.
* The paper “Mobility & Aging in Rural America” outlines the challenges facing older people and others with disabilities, and explores three major approaches for improvement: Current options to improve services; short- and medium-term interventions to keep older people driving longer safely; and “longer-term, technology-driven possibilities, such as autonomous vehicles, drones and supply chain innovations (sometimes dubbed ‘Amazonification’) with attention to the need for design and implementation that considers older people’s preferences and needs, adapts to rural topography, and addresses concerns about the pervasive issue of social isolation.”
* “The Future of Rural Transportation and Mobility for Older Adults: Current Trends and Future Directions in Technology-enabled Solutions” is a companion white paper that examines rural mobility through a lens of technology and across a longer timeframe. Its scope is on the potential for technological innovations I, such as in public transit, for example by “shifting the focus from needing to transport older adults to facilitating the delivery of alternative, supplementary services directly to them, whether that is consumer goods, healthcare services, or simply direct human contact.” That is, don’t come to us, we’ll come to you. The paper also examines public policy challenges and public-private possibilities. For reporters, this study is popping with story ideas and potential sources.
In just one example, the report notes, “Rural counties are 10 times as likely as urban areas to have low broadband access, be co-located in high diabetes areas, and to experience physician shortages that are more than double the national average.Rural counties with more limited adoption are in the sparsely populated settled counties (e.g., Great Plains, Nevada, New Mexico) as well as high-poverty, high-minority regions (e.g., tribal lands in the West).”
The paper goes on to discuss how the “rural digital divide is where technology meets rural transportation,” and it calls for greater awareness in the technology community of older adults’ rural transportation needs. The paper discusses the need to “balance the use of technology with human-centered, high-touch strategies–A technology-enabled service model that incorporates human support reflects a design strategy that meets older adults’ preferences when using technology-enabled services.”
UC’s CITRIS program director David Lindeman and his staff are a terrific source on the cutting edge of new technology for an aging society. The program is working on four UC campuses around the state of California. Contact him or Elliott Walker.
5. THE STORYBOARD
*** “Making It Easier to Get Transportation to Rural Health Care,” by Katherine Seligman, Next Avenue (May 7): This just in on the very rural-aging conference of last week, which introduced the two papers listed about. Seligman wrote, “If you’re 60 or older, need a ride and happen to live in the small sunbelt town of Wickenburg, Ariz., you can call the Freedom Express. A van driven by an older-adult volunteer will pick you up, for, what the name implies, free. The town of about 6,000, 60 miles outside Phoenix, has what many rural areas don’t — affordable transportation for older adults.” The story goes on to cite several sources who spoke at the mobility conference at UC Berkeley.
*** “At 100, My Mom Had Dementia and Needed Hospice Care. Getting It Was Nearly Impossible,” by Jeanne Erdmann, Washington Post (May 5): “When my mother prayed — when she remembered what prayer was — she asked every saint to please let her die in her sleep. In late 2016, my mom died that way, in her own bed, one week past her 101st birthday. One of my sisters and I were curled around her, asleep ourselves. My mom’s death was perfect, and hospice helped. But her dementia made enrolling her and keeping her in hospice nearly impossible. She died during her second stint in hospice.”
Erdmann, a veteran health reporter, who also serves on the board of the Association of Health Care Journalists, found her mom, her sister and herself caught in Medicare’s hospice reimbursement web. Dementia alone isn’t enough to get a patient into hospice care, which requires that the person have a prognosis of being within six months of death. But for many serious conditions, such as congestive heart failure or complications of dementia, the six-month threshold, originally set by Congress with cancer in mind, isn’t realistic, as people may decline, then improve over time.—but still need palliative support. After her mother survived beyond the first six months, hospice, with its support for primary caregivers, such as Erdman’s sister, was cut off.
The article continues, “Mom was not recertified because she wasn’t declining quickly enough. Her diagnosis hadn’t changed, her dementia had certainly progressed, and she was much more frail than when she was enrolled in hospice. Leaving hospice left my sister heartbroken and exhausted. Hospice, after all, is wraparound care designed for patients and their families. Nothing in the medical system replicates hospice services. There are no alternatives.” Eventually, additional medical conditions got her hospice care reinstated.
The story goes on, “Enrolling patients in hospice, dis-enrolling them and perhaps re-enrolling them once death is obviously imminent does require burdensome documentation, but hospice means so much more than a bulging two-ring binder. ‘That is psychologically crazy, and financially crazy for families, and it’s a bigger battle than just a policy battle,’ said Debbie Parker-Oliver, a professor of family medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine.”
Erdmann’s story, the first in her series for the WaPo on dementia care. The project is supported by the Journalists in Aging Fellows program of The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), New America Media (NAM) and GBONews’ Journalists Network on Generations (JNG), with sponsorship by the John A. Hartford Foundation.
*** “Alzheimer’s: The Disease that Steals Memories,” by D. Kevin McNeir, TheWashington Informer (May 2, 2018): McNeir, editor of one of the leading African American media outlets in the DC area, haswitnessed “the slow but inevitable erosion of a loved one’s memories due to Alzheimer’s disease” as primary caregiver for his mother. This article cites recent research and discusses some key care challenges facing black seniors and their families. For instance, on family caregiver told him, “Because of established mores within the black community, the family objected to his recommendation that they take advantage of support groups, therapy and opportunities to learn about Alzheimer’s disease.” McNeir also holds a fellowship in the Journalists in Aging Fellows program of GSA, NAM and the JNG, with sponsorship from AARP.
*** “The Big Myth About America’s Pension Crisis,” by Lydia DePillis, economy reporter, CNN Money (April 25): “America’s pension crisis is growing — and a lot of people are pointing fingers. Public pension funds don’t have nearly enough money to pay for the benefits promised to government workers. The shortfall across the United States grew by $295 billion between 2015 and 2016, according to a recent report from the Pew Charitable Trusts. And a handful of cities and states, including California, Illinois and Kentucky, must cover enormous costs if they are going to make good on the promises made to public employees as they retire.”
Despite public outrage based on the idea that “pensioners are living richly on the backs of taxpayers,” she writes, “most retired public servants aren’t living that comfortably on their pension income alone. Sure, there are a few eye-popping payouts . . . , but the National Institute on Retirement Security analyzed Census data and found that the average state and local pension benefit was $27,415 a year in 2016 . . . . Often, that’s the only income they have coming in during retirement — most state and local employees are not eligible for Social Security. Second, the majority of that income isn’t supplied by taxpayers at all. Between 1993 and 2014, about 64% of pension funding came from investment earnings, according to Census Bureau data.”
The story emphasizes, as well, “A handful of states, including New York, Wisconsin, Tennessee and South Dakota, had enough assets to meet more than 90% of liabilities. ‘States that have funding problems most often can blame it on lawmakers failing to make the required contributions and then they fall way behind,’ says Kelly Kenneally, spokeswoman for the National Institute on Retirement Security.”
*** “America’s Public Pensions Matter,” op-ed by Andrew Collier, The Hill (April 25): Collier, communications director of the National Public Pension Coalition, which represents public sector employees, writes, “There’s a lot of attention being paid to public pensions right now as America faces a retirement crisis, and states face pressure to offer expensive tax loopholes and tax breaks to big corporations like Amazon, Foxconn, Walmart and other businesses.”
The commentary goes on, to say that politicians and the media tend to focus on the “flashy outliers,” like college coaches, university presidents and regional celebrities, who get huge payouts. But, Collier says, “The average person receiving a public pension is a retired teacher, police officer, firefighter or nurse. With every paycheck, they earn their modest pensions that keep them afloat in retirement. When I say modest, I mean it. The average monthly public pension payment in Oregon is just over $2,500.”
Collier adds, “Today, many companies have abandoned pensions, leaving employees to gamble their retirements on risky 401(k)s. Fortunately, only a few states have followed suit, for two reasons. First, one analysis after another showed that converting to a 401(k) doesn’t save money. Second, states seem to understand the negative impact this change would have on getting good people to commit to a lifetime of public service. Unfortunately, some states are undermining pensions in other ways. Every year, states like Kentucky, Kansas and Pennsylvania defer, skip or partially pay into their pension systems, while public employees contributed to them from each and every paycheck. These cuts actually hurt local economies. In Oregon, for every $1 taxpayers contribute to public pensions, more than $6 is produced in total economic activity. When pensions are cut, economies miss out on their stimulating effect.”
*** “Social Security Plan to Shutter Field Office Prompts Street Protest,” by Charles S. Clark, Government Executive (May 3): “The Trump administration’s bid to streamline agency operations bumped up against the human factor on Thursday as the Social Security Administration’s [SSA] quiet plan to close a suburban Washington field office provoked a demonstration. Some 60-70 mostly union protesters gathered in front of the Social Security Office in Arlington, Va., chanting ‘Not no, but hell no!’ in response to the plan to shutter the decades-old office by June 21.”
Clark quotes SSA spokeswoman Nicole Tiggemann, “‘Most Social Security services do not require a visit to an office. . . . People may create their My Social Security account, a personalized online service.’ But that explanation was challenged by protestors and by Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who on May 1 wrote to acting SSA Inspector General Gail StallworthStone seeking an investigation to determine whether the SSA’s decision to close its Arlington office complied with legal requirements.”
Further, he notes, “Since 2010, SSA has cut administrative expenses by 10 percent and reduced its workforce by 3,500 employees. The trend began after President George W. Bush attempted to privatize parts of Social Security, said Witold Skwierczynski, president of the [American Federation of Government Employees] National Council of Social Security Administration Field Operations Locals. Also closed in recent years were 533 part-time contact stations intended as outreach efforts, he added.”
Clark continues, “Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, said, ‘Congress shouldtake steps not just to not close offices, but to open more offices sothere’s no waiting in lines or holds on calls. We’re at thewealthiest moment in our history.’”Though the Trump administration had proposed a small cut in the SSA’snearly $13 billion operating budget, the omnibus budget bill passed inMarch gave the agency a $480 million hike, much of it for informationtechnology modernization and reducing the backlog of disability hearings.”
The Journalists Network on Generations (JNG), founded in 1993, publishes Generations Beat Online News (GBONews.org). JNG provides information and networking opportunities for journalists covering generational issues, but not those representing services, products or lobbying agendas. Copyright 2018 JNG. For more information contact GBO Editor Paul Kleyman.
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