GBO NEWS: Old Gold at the Olympics; USC, Rosalynn Carter and Other Reporting Fellowships; WSJ on Excess Pandemic Deaths; Medicare Privatization’s Dark History; Faith and Dementia Care in Black Families; NPR’s Scott Simon vs. Paywalls; & MORE
GENERATIONS BEAT ONLINE NEWS
E-News of the Journalists Network on Generations – Our 29th Year.
February 11, 2022 — Volume 29, Number 2
EDITOR’S NOTE: GBONews, e-news of the Journalists Network on Generations (JNG), publishes alerts for journalists, producers and authors covering generational issues. If you have difficulty getting to the full issue of GBONews with the links provided below, simply go to www.gbonews.org to read the latest or past editions. Send your news of important stories or books (by you and others), fellowships, awards or pertinent kvetches to GBO News Editor Paul Kleyman. [pfkleyman@gmail.com]. 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: Valentine Inflation — 7.5% More Love.
1. EYES ON THE PRIZE: ***John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship Deadline, March 8; ***Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, April 6; ***International Center for Journalists 2022 Burns Fellowships, March 1; ***USC Center for Health Journalism 2022 California Fellowship, Feb. 22.
2. THE STORYBOARD:
*** “Older Olympians Are Delivering Some of the Best Performances at the Beijing Games,” by Brian Mann, NPR’s All Things Considered;
*** “Excess Death Toll Set to Hit a Million,” by Jon Kamp and coauthors, Wall Street Journal;
*** “The Dark History of Medicare Privatization,” by Barbara Caress, American Prospect;
*** “A Quiet Experiment Is Testing Broader Privatization of U.S. Medicare,” by Mark Miller, Reuters;
*** “How Photos Showing Older-Adult Hands Reveal Cultural Bias,” by Jeanette Leardi, PBS Next Avenue.
3. GOOD SOURCES: ***Health Affairs new series “Age-Friendly Health” just released “Informal Caregivers Provide Considerable Front-Line Support In Residential Care Facilities And Nursing Homes”; *** “CMA Home Health Survey: Medicare Beneficiaries Likely Misinformed and Underserved,” Center for Medicare Advocacy; *** “The Case for Recycling Older Workers,” by Paul Rupert ERE Digital.
4. STORYBOARD FELLOWS: Following are tales of aging from the 2021 Journalists in Aging Fellows Program, a collaboration of the Journalists Network on Generations (publisher of GBONews.org) and The Gerontological Society of America:
*** “6 Strategies for Aging Successfully,” by Ruben Castaneda, US News & World Report;
*** “Too Young to Retire But at Risk for Covid, Older Americans Struggle to Find Work,” by Michael Sainato, The Guardian;
*** “Holding on to Their Faith: Strengthening Black Families Living with Dementia,” by B. Denise Hawkins, Trice Edney News Wire (serving US Black media);
5. NEWS YOU CAN’T USE: *** “Remember Reading the Paper?” by Scott Simon, NPR Weekend Edition Saturday: “The road to free information and opinions seems to run into a lot of paywalls; * and “The Austin American-Statesman Will Drop Its Metered Paywall and Allow Nonsubscribers to Read Unlimited Articles.”
1. EYES ON THE PRIZE
*** The John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships program is accepting applications for the 2022-2023 academic year. The program will bring US fellows to Stanford University. “From September to June, JSK Fellows will step away from full-time professional obligations to work on their ideas for addressing journalism’s most urgent problems, while experiencing an array of opportunities available to members of Stanford’s campus community. The submission deadline is Tuesday, March 8.
Applicants must have at least five years of full-time professional work experience. They do not require a college degree, or experience in traditional newsrooms. The program considers journalists employed by a news organization or freelance journalists; journalism entrepreneurs and innovators; and journalism business and management executives.
Says their website, “We provide JSK Fellows with several financial benefits, including a stipend of $85,000 and a housing supplement of $5,000. We provide an additional supplement for fellows with children. We also cover the cost of Stanford tuition for fellows and Stanford health insurance for fellows, spouses and children. We also help fellows find rental housing near campus.”
According to JSK Director Dawn Garcia, “We are looking for emerging and experienced journalism leaders who believe that the status quo in our industry is not nearly good enough — and they want to do something about it. We are seeking to build and nurture the talents of a diverse range of people who will work to ensure that fewer communities are left behind by journalism.” Visit the Become a fellow page for more information. Follow @JSKstanford on Twitter for updates about their application and selection process. Contact: jskfellowships@stanford.edu; 650.723.4937.
*** The Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism is accepting applications until April 6, from US citizens and residents. “The yearlong, nonresidential fellowships aim to equip journalists with resources to produce compelling and balanced reporting on mental health and substance use issues and to develop a diverse cohort of journalists who can effectively report on the topics across evolving and emerging platforms.” US fellows receive a $10,000 stipend, intensive training on behavioral health reporting at the Carter Center in Atlanta. Applications must be completed and submitted online. The 2022-2023 fellowship year begins in September. See important dates and deadlines here.
“Too often we only hear about mental health in the news following a crisis or tragic event. Yet every day, millions of Americans living with these illnesses go to work, care for their children, and contribute to their communities,” said former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter. “They are valuable members of society, and their stories deserve to be told.”
The selection committee includes current and former journalists, mental health experts, and the Fellowship Advisory Board, “with an emphasis on diversity across ethnicity, geography, mediums, and the communities their fellowship projects will cover,” says their site. Find details on how to apply here . For additional inquiries, email carterfellows@cartercenter.org, or Rennie Sloan, rennie.sloan@cartercenter.org; 404-420-5129
*** March 1, is the dealing for the 2022 Arthur F. Burns Fellowships of the International Center for Journalists. The website says, “This competitive program is open to US, Canadian and German journalists between the age of 21-40, who are employed by a newspaper, news magazine, broadcast station, news agency or who work freelance and/or online. Applicants must have demonstrated journalistic talent and a strong interest in North American-European affairs. The US contact is Alison Grausam, Program Manager: agrausam@icfj.org.
Applicants should have two years of professional, full-time journalism experience. German language proficiency is not required, but it is encouraged. Each North American fellow receives a $4,000 stipend to cover living expenses during the 9-week-long fellowship in Germany. Participants also receive $1,200 for travel expenses or a travel voucher, and the program also pays living expenses during the orientation in Washington, D.C.
Before individual fellowships begin, “participants attend a one-week orientation in Washington, D.C., during the last week of July. Fellows attend meetings with prominent media and government representatives and discuss professional issues. Following the orientation, North American fellows participate in intensive, two-week language training at institutes in their host cities, while German fellows precede directly to their host media. “Over the next two months, fellows work as temporary staff members at host newspapers, magazines, and radio and television stations. In addition to covering local news, fellows report on events for their employers back home, while learning more about their host country and its media.”
*** USC’s Center for Health Journalism California Fellowship will support reporters “as they pursue ambitious, enterprising projects on overlooked health and health equity issues,” according to the center’s website.” Fellows will receive a $2,000 stipend toward reporting costs, one week of extensive training and five months of professional mentorship. This fellowship is open to California-based professional journalists, including freelancers, from the smallest rural newspapers to national outlets. “Preference is given to journalists with a minimum of three years of experience and reporters pursuing collaborative projects between mainstream and ethnic news outlets.” The application deadline is Feb. 22.
2. THE STORYBOARD
*** “Older Olympians Are Delivering Some of the Best Performances at the Beijing Games,” by Brian Mann, NPR’s All Things Considered (Feb. 10, 2022, 4 mins. plus transcript): The Dek: At the Beijing Olympics, veteran athletes are doing really well — and in some cases winning gold medals — stealing the show from their younger and flashier counterparts.
The Nutshell: Lindsey Jacobellis “last won a medal, a silver, snowboarding at the Torino Olympics 16 years ago, when some of the athletes at these games weren’t even born. She said getting older is one of her strengths. She’s healthier now, physically and emotionally. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to forgive myself of the uncontrollable variables, and that’s just taking maturity and time. And that helps you heal and move on. . . .”
Ageism/Sexism: “Jacobellis also talked about the stigma she’s faced in her 30s and the challenge finding sponsorships.” She said, “As athletes, or especially women get older, it might lose the shine to be looking at them as potential. And hopefully, by doing something like this today, that that will change.”
Older Americans?: “So older Americans have fared well so far. . . The oldest athlete competing in Beijing is a German speed skater, Claudia Pechstein. Pechstein first won a gold medal at the Lillehammer games 28 years ago. Now competing in her eighth Winter Olympics, she’ll turn 50 later this month.” Hmm, does AARP have a gold card?
*** “Excess Death Toll Set to Hit a Million,” by Jon Kamp and three coauthors, Wall Street Journal (Feb. 1, 2022): The Dek: Two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, America’s death toll is closing in on one million.
The Lede: “Federal authorities estimate that 987,456 more people have died since early 2020 than would have otherwise been expected, based on long-term trends. . . . Covid-19 has left the same proportion of the population dead—about 0.3%—as did World War II, and in less time.
The Nutshell: “A Wall Street Journal analysis of CDC data shows the pandemic has weighed especially heavily on the elderly, fueled by the risk older people face from serious Covid-19 cases. There are roughly 700,000 excess deaths among people 65 and up, about 1.5% of that population, the Journal’s analysis shows.”
In Fact: “One study, published in the scientific journal PLOS One last September estimates that roughly 7.4 million years of life were lost in the U.S. in 2020 alone, with 73% of them attributable directly to Covid-19.”
A Quote: “’It’s sad that people die, but their struggle is over,’ said Toni Miles, an epidemiologist at the University of Georgia College of Public Health, who studies the population health effects of deaths of friends and family members. ‘It’s the people who are left behind.’” (Miles is a national leader in bereavement programs for caregivers.)
The Toll: “The federal government has counted more than 145,000 Covid-19 deaths among nursing-home residents, most in the pandemic’s first year, before vaccines curbed the risk faced by this vulnerable population. At least 2,250 nursing-home staffers have died from Covid-19, too.
Overall, the excess death toll includes about 140,000 people of prime working age —25 to 54, according to the Journal’s analysis. Through the end of December, about 192,500 children under 18 have lost a parent or another primary caregiver to Covid-19. . . Another study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in July 2020, estimated that each Covid-19 death affects an average of nine close relatives. . . A surge in deaths among people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia underscored a more direct impact.”
Avoidable Deaths: “Epidemiologists say higher vaccination rates would have saved many people. . . The US has wide disparities in vaccine adoption, recently ranging from a 52.5% full-vaccination rate among Alabama’s eligible population to 83.2% in Vermont and Rhode Island.”
*** “The Dark History of Medicare Privatization,” by Barbara Caress, American Prospect (Jan. 24, 2022): The Dek: Medicare Advantage was supposed to be a money-saver. It’s now become a costly, unaccountable cash cow for private insurance companies that is swallowing traditional Medicare.
The Lede: “Rep. Pramila Jayapal [D-Wash.] has called it the ‘biggest threat to Medicare you’ve never even heard of.’ It’s known as Direct Contracting (DC), a program concocted by the Trump administration and not yet ended by the Biden administration to fully privatize Medicare. DC is patterned after Medicare Advantage, the publicly financed, privately owned, hugely profitable version of Medicare now enrolling 26 million people at an annual cost of $343 billion. Simply put, DC is Medicare Advantage (MA) on steroids.”
The Nutshell: “The politics of MA are complicated, not merely because, like the oil and gas industry, it generates enough money for large insurance companies to convert $150 million of profits into campaign contributions. By design, [MA] covers the costs of health care that are not covered at all or only partially paid by Medicare. Its 26 million enrollees are a silent majority, potentially available to threaten any elected official brave enough to challenge the program. But that leaves the public with worse health coverage and a model of privatization that could prove disastrous.”
What’s More: “The MA profit-making formula is simple: get a large sum of money from the Feds, spend less than traditional Medicare, give some of the excess to beneficiaries, and pocket the difference. Over the last 12 years (2009–2021), Medicare paid the MA plans $140 billion more than would have been spent if the same people stayed in Medicare. Put another way, Medicare during these years would have saved enough to pay for the enhanced Child Tax Credit in 2022, and then some.”
And: “A lot of the new capital is moving into setting up new Medicare Advantage plans because they’re growing rapidly, and the future is bright,” Peter Orszag, CEO of Financial Advisory at investment firm Lazard and former Obama OMB administrator, told Business Insider. The possibility for payouts . . . has lured hedge funds and venture capitalists to invest in data mining companies and care aggregators, which are developing new ways to maximize MA’s profitable deals. . . . Direct contracting would privatize the remainder of traditional Medicare. Drawing on the MA experience, Direct Contracting Entities (DCEs) would serve as intermediaries between traditional Medicare beneficiaries and their medical-care providers.”
How: Insurance companies have consistently found innovative ways to protect their bottom lines. A major one involves claiming MA enrollees are sick, even if they aren’t. Doctors and hospitals in MA networks are frequently offered extra payments simply to record every ailment, whether treating it or not (a practice known as “risk coding”). In an 8,000-word article in respected health policy journal Health Affairs, Drs. Don Berwick and Richard Gilfillan[found} as a result of this upcoding, Medicare gave MA plans $9 billion more in 2019 than it would have if the same beneficiaries had enrolled in traditional Medicare.”
*** “A Quiet Experiment Is Testing Broader Privatization of U.S. Medicare,” by Mark Miller, Reuters (Jan. 14, 2022):
The Lede: “Millions of retirees have opted out of traditional Medicare over the past two decades, choosing to join a privatized, managed-care version of the program. But the choice might not be in their hands alone much longer. The federal government has quietly launched a large-scale test of a new model for traditional fee-for-service Medicare that critics argue could transform it into another type of privatized managed care.”
The Nutshell: “Some current fee-for-service Medicare enrollees are being placed in these so-called Direct Contracting Entities (DCEs) in 38 states where the pilot test is under way. . . DCEs are groups of doctors, hospitals, or other healthcare providers that work as teams . . . Being aligned with a DCE does not change the set of Medicare benefits that you are entitled to, but it can use the techniques of managed care already prevalent in Medicare Advantage to limit access to services it deems unnecessary, and to use financial incentives to encourage use of in-network providers.”
Wait, Wait: “The pilot program for DCEs has been moving forward without much public attention, but that is beginning to change. [In January], more than 50 Democratic members of Congress urged the Biden administration to end the DCE pilot test. Physicians for a National Health Plan and other advocates for single-payor healthcare also are working to stop the program.”
*** “How Photos Showing Older Adult Hands Reveal Cultural Bias,” by Jeanette Leardi, PBS Next Avenue (Jan. 12, 2022): The Lede: “In our highly visual world, if you want to write an online article about anything and post it on social media, it’s usually a plus to accompany your words with a photo that will grab viewers’ attention and inspire them to click and read on. . . . If you’re writing about aging issues, it’s best to choose a photo that depicts someone who is an older adult. Unfortunately, a typical shortcut has been to use . . . the close-up of an older person’s hands. . . .”
The Nutshell: “In the case of older adults, it’s not so much what the hands are doing but rather what they are not doing: using a laptop or smartphone, playing an instrument and yes, even hammering a nail, holding onto a steering wheel, writing on a black/white board or operating a microscope. . . Moreover, given that American society is becoming a majority-minority nation of people of color, those hands are overwhelmingly underrepresented in stock photos.”
A New Source: “Last January, Centre for Ageing Better in London launched an age-positive image library of free photos showing ‘positive and realistic’ images of older people in a bid to challenge negative and stereotypical views of later life.”
3. GOOD SOURCES
*** The Policy-Research Journal Health Affairs has started a series on “Age-Friendly Health,” including a new paper, “Informal Caregivers Provide Considerable Front-Line Support In Residential Care Facilities And Nursing Homes.”
According to the article, “Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (2016) and the National Health and Aging Trends Study (2015), the paper found that informal care was common among older adults with functional limitations, whether they lived in the community, a residential care facility, or a nursing home. Although hours of informal care per month were the lowest among nursing home residents, they remained substantial and were roughly equivalent to an extra full-time shift of care per month.” To go to the abstract summary of the piece, click here.
*** “CMA Home Health Survey: Medicare Beneficiaries Likely Misinformed and Underserved” Center for Medicare Advocacy (CMA, Dec. 15, 2021): “Home health services as authorized by Medicare law, regulations, and policies are too often unavailable in practice. For example, for patients who meet qualifying criteria, Medicare law authorizes up to 28 to 35 hours a week of home health aide personal hands-on care and nursing services combined, as well as therapies and medical social services. ‘Personal hands-on care’ as defined by law includes many services. While bathing is included, it also includes dressing, grooming, feeding, toileting, transferring and other key services that help an individual remain healthy and safe at home. Unfortunately, patients can rarely access this level of Medicare-covered care. As reflected in a recent study by CMA, access problems are especially true for beneficiaries with chronic and longer-term conditions who need services to maintain or slow decline.”
*** “The Case for Recycling Older Workers,” by Paul Rupert ERE Digital (trade media for employment recruiters, Jan. 27, 2022):
The Lede: Rupert, a veteran corporate consultant on human resources, writes, “Suddenly the age-old phrase ‘recruitment and retention’ is dripping off the lips of pundits of every stripe, trying to understand the so-called Great Resignation; the eruption of signing bonuses for low-wage jobs; record quit rates month after month; and increasingly strident and open critique of the way workers have been used and abused for decades. Union organizing is on the rise, at icons Starbucks and Amazon and beyond. . . Flexibility has moved from the margins to the center of HR discussions.”
The Nutshell: “According to a recent piece from the US Department of Labor: ‘The United States is undergoing a demographic shift that is changing older Americans’ relation to the workplace. The average and median age of the U.S. population is rising, and the composition of the workforce with it. By 2020, it is estimated that workers 55 and over will make up 25% of the U.S. civilian labor force, up from 13% in 2000. In addition, individual workers are tending to remain in the workforce longer and retire later. The number of workers over the traditional retirement age of 65 is seeing a marked increase, and it is projected that they will make up more than 7% of the American labor force by 2020. Employers rate older workers high on characteristics such as judgment, commitment to quality, attendance, and punctuality.’”
The Context:
* Race-based opposition to immigration had been growing as the color of immigrants turned from European white to the darker shades of the rest of the world. . . The Biden administration has not reversed most of these policies and practices.”
* The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the US has consistently been below the normal population replacement rate since 2007. The rate fell by 4% in the single year of 2020.
* “The pandemic disrupted work as we have known it, for decades.
Solutions: “Around age 55 and beyond, [employees] became the front line in downsizings, restructuring, and inevitable downturns. . . As recently as 2020, business outlets reported the ‘retirement of a million workers 55+’ — failing to mention that 90% of those departures were involuntary. . . Just as business leaders were slow to recognize the value and potential of remote work, their age bias and opposition to new ways of working make them slow to recognize the obvious. . . . Remote work combined with part-time and phased retirement schedules will seal the deal — and help offset the labor shortages that threaten sustained growth and prosperity.”
4. STORYBOARD FELLOWS
Following are tales of aging from the 2021 Journalists in Aging Fellows Program, a collaboration of the Journalists Network on Generations (publisher of GBONews.org) and The Gerontological Society of America:
*** “6 Strategies for Aging Successfully,” by Ruben Castaneda, US News & World Report (Jan. 20, 2022): Dek: While some physical and mental decline is inevitable with advancing age, strategies for aging well can help increase your health span as long as your life span.
The Lede: “If you want to see what successful aging looks like, take a look at how Larry Gondelman and Pamela Roddy are doing. At age 69, Gondelman, a lawyer in Washington, D.C., attends dozens of concerts a year, from hip-hop to rock and every genre in between. He teaches classes on topics such as the history of rock and roll and tales of songwriters and their works through an organization that offers continuing education classes for seniors. He’s also the ‘supreme commissioner’ of a rigorous weekly pickup full-court basketball game . . . . Roddy, 82, feels equally enthusiastic about her life in retirement.”
The Nutshell: “Thanks to investments over time in public health, medical care and education, life spans in the developed world have increased dramatically in the past 12 decades, says Linda Fried, . . . director of the Robert Butler Columbia Aging Center. In 1900, the average life expectancy for men and women in the U.S. was 47 years, she says. As of the first half of 2020, average life expectancy for the total U.S. population was nearly 78 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The life expectancy for women was 80.5 years and 75 years for men. ‘In the last 20 years, public health scientists have shown it’s possible to live a long life with health,’ [Fried] says. ‘It’s possible to increase your health span as long as your life span. Some decline in health and function is inevitable. But the image that older life is about decrepitude turns out not to be right.’”
Quotes: Gerontologist Harry “Rick” Moody, said, “No matter what your situation, there are opportunities for living a meaningful and positive life.” Speaking of people who are disabled, homebound, have cognitive deficits or are suffering from chronic illnesses, he stated, “‘We should avoid putting people in categories that make it sound like their lives are a ‘failure.’”
Moody added, “Keep in mind that aging successfully doesn’t mean you start jumping out of airplanes or bungee jumping in your later years. . . . As you get older your memory and hearing will likely get worse. Declinations will happen, but you can compensate. For example, I wear hearing aids,” (Moody is 76). “If you compensate, you’ll age successfully. If you don’t, you won’t age successfully.”
*** “Too Young to Retire But at Risk for Covid, Older Americans Struggle to Find Work,” by Michael Sainato, The Guardian (Jan. 25, 2022): The Dek: Despite reports of US worker shortages, people who are less than five years from retirement are facing a lack of employment options.
The Lede: “Elaine Simons, a 61-year-old substitute art teacher in the Seattle, Washington area, was on a 10-month contract and hoping to settle into a more permanent role at the school where she was teaching when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the US in March 2020. Her school shut down for the remainder of the school year. . . In June 2020, Simons was informed her teaching contract would not be renewed.”
The Nutshell: “Some 5.7 million workers ages 55 or older lost their jobs in the US in March and April 2020, 15% of workers in an age demographic that has also experienced the vast majority of Covid-19 deaths. The unemployment rate for workers ages 65 and older hit a record rate of 7.5% in 2020.”
A Quote: “’Some like myself are too young to retire, so I’m still looking for that dream job, I want my permanent job. I want to be fully set for my pension and my social security,’ said Simons, who cannot afford to retire early because the social security benefits would be far too low to live on.”
Point of Fact: “The unemployment rate has tumbled dramatically since the height of the pandemic but older workers are still struggling to find work despite all the reports of worker shortages.”
What’s More: “A June 2021 analysis by economists at the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at The New School found at least 1.7 million more older workers than expected retired due to the pandemic. The analysis encouraged policy solutions, such as expanding Medicare eligibility to the age of 50, expanding Social Security benefits, and creating a department dedicated to older workers at the US Department of Labor.”
And: “A survey published by AARP in May 2021 found 78% of workers ages 40 to 65 reported either seeing or experiencing age discrimination in the workplace, the highest level found by AARP. . . More than half of jobseekers over the age of 55 were classified as unemployed for longer than 27 weeks in early 2021.”
* Also see Sainato’s Part 1, “‘At 75, I Still Have to Work’: Millions of Americans Can’t Afford to Retire,” in The Guardian (Dec. 13, 2021): The Dek: Number of US workers aged 75 and up expected to increase 96.5% over next decade as some say ‘we must work until we die.
*** “Holding on to Their Faith: Strengthening Black Families Living with Dementia,” by B. Denise Hawkins, Trice Edney News Wire (serving US Black media (Feb. 1, 2022):
The Lede: “When Fayron Epps was growing up in New Orleans, La., “worship services weren’t limited to Sundays. I attended church every day of the week, with my grandmother. That’s just how it was” . . . . To the faithful, it was a haven and in hard times, a resource that members relied on for spiritual, emotional, social, and material support. And for the sick, it was the place they sought for healing. Today, . . . at [Emory University’ s School of Nursing in Atlanta, Ga.,] Epps is tapping into one of the African American community’s cornerstones — the church to help improve the quality of life of Black families impacted by dementia.”
The Nutshell: “She was a doctoral student conducting a review of the literature on dementia when she first realized that older African Americans are twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to develop Alzheimer’s. . . “I had to do something,” says Epps, who, at the time, was like the rest of her family and community ‘who were raised and taught that Alzheimer’s,’ the common form of dementia, was a disease that only white people developed. . . . Although African Americans represent more than 20 percent of the 5.8 million Americans who have the disease, the statistics alone have not been enough to stoke widespread awareness.”
What’s More: “‘We [African Americans] are such a hush-hush community,’ says Epps, who. . . is conducting faith-based research, education, and spreading dementia and brain health awareness in the African American community. Together with a team of staff and students, those efforts are housed under the umbrella Faith Village Research Lab.”
The 2020-21 Journalists in Aging Fellows Program was made possible by the following foundations: The Silver Century Foundation, The RRF Foundation; The Commonwealth Fund, and The John A. Hartford Foundation. Click here for a complete, ongoing list of Journalists in Aging Fellowship headlines with links to the stories.
5. NEWS YOU CAN’T USE
“Remember Reading the Paper?” by Scott Simon, NPR Weekend Edition Saturday(Feb. 5, 2022, 2-minute editorial with transcript): “The road to free information and opinions seems to run into a lot of paywalls. Want to finish reading an article? You can, but only if you subscribe for just $1 for 3 months, which becomes $11.99 a month thereafter, and into perpetuity, until your credit card expires. Even if it’s after you do. I have a strong, even personal interest in paying journalists fairly. But the cost most people have to pay these days if they want to try to stay informed and enrich their minds with a range of opinions is pretty steep. . . The cost of inducing people to subscribe is to make news, information and a range of opinions available to only those who have the means to afford and receive them online. . . . Disinformation, of course, is utterly free.”
While GBO/s editor heartily congratulates the eloquent Scott Simon for airing an issue that I’ve whined about for years, I was surprised that he and his production staff missed noting the glimmer of media hope reported earlier that week. As Sarah Scire wrote in the Nieman Lab (Feb. 3), “The Austin American-Statesman will drop its metered paywall and allow nonsubscribers to read unlimited articles,” by (Feb.3, 2022): “Readers “who aren’t yet subscribers” of statesman.com and hookem.com will no longer be limited in the number of articles they can read in a 30-day period.”
The free Nieman Lab e-newsletter, from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, continues, “The Statesman will lean on subscriber-only articles to convert readers instead. ‘Subscriber-only stories have led far more people to sign up as subscribers than the monthly limits on our other work,’ Executive Editor Manny García said in the announcement. The stories currently reserved for subscribers include “in-depth investigative reporting and expert analysis.”
The story says, “The Statesman is hoping the change will encourage free readers to return to the site more often, now that they know they won’t run out of stories. (‘[We] hope to become more of a centerpoint in your daily routine,’ as regional content strategist Jennifer Hefty put it in the announcement.) Unlimited access will also give the news org more opportunities to show the value of their journalism, García said. That means additional chances to nudge people into hitting ‘subscribe,’ too.”
Written-media publishers may well complain they lack the advantage of public broadcasters in declaring a pledge break at every budget squeeze, but Simon’s point is critical for the wide dissemination of factual, not fake, news and information. So cue up kudos for Scott Simon to taking on a story long ignored by major media, with compliments needing no credit for NPR jingle writer B.J. Liederman.
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 2022 JNG. For more information contact GBO Editor Paul Kleyman.
To subscribe for free or unsubscribe, or if you have technical problems receiving issues of GBO or if you’d like to be removed from the list, e-mail me at paul.kleyman@earthlink.net, or pfkleyman@gmail.com or phone me at 415-821-2801
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https://www.facebook.com/app_scoped_user_id/100000973913260/ Ruth Migdal Taber