GBONEWS: Ageism Experts on “Too Old” Biden; 14 New Journalists in Aging Fellows; Reporter in Pandemic-Care Trenches; Age Tech Market Exploding; Senior Hunger, Neglect in New Mexico, California
GENERATIONS BEAT ONLINE NEWS
E-News of the Journalists Network on Generations.
August 21, 2024 — Volume 31, Number 8
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: Are you old enough, yet?
- 1. EXPERTS ON “TOO-OLD” BIDEN AGEISM: *** “Biden says he’s ‘too old to stay as president.’ It shows the pull of ageism,” by Clara Germani, Christian Science Monitor (CSM, Aug. 20, 2024).
2. EYES ON THE PRIZE: *** 14 Tapped as Journalists in Aging Fellows
3. THE STORYBOARD:
*** “Md. Health Department using targeted outreach to tackle pre-diabetes,” by Deborah Bailey, AFRO American Newspapers;
*** “In 691 hours working in an assisted living facility, I saw neglect, abuse and love,” by Cleo Krejci, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel;
*** “Age tech is exploding. The ‘modern grandma’ market wants more than health aids,” by Kristen Senz, Christian Science Monitor,
*** “New Mexicans living in aging and long-term care homes face issues with food, activities and hygiene,” by Leah R. Romero, Source New Mexico;
*** “Budget Cuts Threaten SF Food Programs for Seniors and Adults With Disabilities,” by Madison Alvarado, San Francisco Public Press.
3. GEN BEATLES NEWS: *** NPR’s Ina Jaffe, 75, Today’s Caregiver Editor Gary Barg, 68, Losses on the Generations Beat; *** Longevity Scientist Leonard Hayflick, Dead at 96; *** Florida Council on Aging Honors Journalist Ronnie Lovler.
1. Experts Weigh in on Campaign Ageism
*** “Biden says he’s ‘too old to stay as president.’ It shows the pull of ageism,” by Clara Germani, Christian Science Monitor (CSM, Aug. 20, 2024): Editor’s Note: With impeccable timing yesterday, for Day 2 of the exuberance marking the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, CSM posted Germani’s nuanced and thoughtful examination of the question: Is Joe Biden too old to be president for four more years? Or is he merely not young enough (middle-aged) for a political and media establishment that is to yet to awaken to the experience and judgment that some – not all – older citizens may bring behind the Resolute Desk. This editor was pleased that Germani sought my views, but mainly I’m honored to be in this article’s very good company for this discussion. Following are some key passages from the story.
The Lede: “A year of intense concern about the fitness of older national leaders to serve, culminating in President Joe Biden pulling out of the White House race, has surfaced what experts on aging see as a snowballing and largely unchallenged expression of the ageism that permeates American culture.”
The Crux: “From politicians to business leaders and pop stars, many figures of older age enjoy wide acceptance as they continue to campaign, invest, and rock on. But gerontological advocates and scientists say public perceptions of older people are far too often anchored in unfair assumptions about the meaning of a numerical age … ‘Too old,’ aging experts say, is a stereotype as unjust and incorrect as generalizations about race or gender. Except … ageism is the “last acceptable prejudice.” And it equates chronological age with poor health, which in turn fans fears of growing older.”
A Quote: “ ‘I personally think unless you see [ageism], you’re not going to do anything about it,’ says Tracey Gendron, a gerontologist at Virginia Commonwealth University and author of “Ageism Unmasked.” … Ageism is at least an increasingly familiar word. But Dr. Gendron says, ‘This whole conversation around politics has really set us back a step or two. Because you’re seeing so much more rhetoric about ‘too old.’”
And: “Paul Kleyman, a journalist who has monitored ageism in the media for decades, [said], ‘Those of us concerned about unanswered ageism in American culture watched the narrative load to a trigger point since early 2022. . . . The Biden debate [performance] to me was a match to a kindling pile.’”
But: “‘I’m not sure ageism itself is on the increase. I think we’re paying more attention to what’s been there all along,’ observes “This Chair Rocks” author and activist Ashton Applewhite.
So What? “A World Health Organization report in 2018 targeted ageism as a pervasive global problem – “socially accepted and usually unchallenged.” Its effects, said the WHO, reverberate through economies in added health care costs and lost job opportunities, and it damages the public conscience of older and younger populations who internalize negative age beliefs.”
The Image Problem: “ ‘Politics have been the source of an outbreak of ageism,’ says James Appleby, CEO of the Gerontological Society of America. . . . ‘For the [gerontological] community, a widespread feeling now is, “Wow, can you believe how off the mark some of the reporting can be?’”
Now What? “With Mr. Biden, age 81, out of the race now, there’s evidence the age focus is being turned on former President Donald Trump, age 78. CNN commentator and former Obama White House adviser David Axelrod said before Mr. Biden’s convention speech, ‘Now the worn-out old incumbent is Donald Trump.’”
The Upshot: “ ‘Diversity is overlooked when the term “too old?” is used to collapse aging ‘into a set of clichés and tropes,’ explains Brian Carpenter, professor of psychological and brain sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. ‘It’s a stand-in for other things that I think they’re really concerned about, which is capability, cognition, energy, vitality.’”
Polling Bias: “An ABC News poll in early July by Langer Research Associates, for example, directly asked if respondents thought either, both, or neither of the presidential candidates was ‘too old’ for a second term. Fully 58% responded ‘both.’ … ‘That’s not an informative way of framing the question, and it implies that there’s something useful about knowing someone’s chronological age, which really isn’t very valuable when evaluating someone’s leadership capabilities,’ asserts Dr. Carpenter.
2. EYES ON THE PRIZE:
*** 14 Tapped for Journalists in Aging Fellowships From NPR to Amsterdam News to Toronto Star:
Project topics such as malnutrition in Ohio elders, language barriers threatening seniors’ health in Georgia, South Asian elders facing taboos around menopause, suicidal older men in Toronto are among the in-depth story proposals that earned 14 reporters from around the United States and Canada Journalists in Aging Fellowships for the program’s 15th year.
The Fellowships, a collaboration of the Journalists Network on Generations (publisher of GBONews.org) and The Gerontological Society of America, will bring these reporters to GSA’s Annual Scientific Meeting in Seattle this November. Each will receive a $1,500 stipend plus expenses to attend the conference.
This year’s “class” will bring the total number of Fellows to 245 journalists, about half from mainstream news outlets and half from ethnic/community media or senior press.
To date, the Fellowships have generated upwards of 850 stories for about 175 news outlets. (See our continuously updated list of published fellowship stories here.)
The huge conference will draw over 4,000 experts in aging from 50 countries, many of whom will present hundreds of presentations and research papers on subject areas from recent scientific findings to public policy directions.
Fellows are required only to provide an acknowledgment of the fellowship program’s support for their projects for transparency, usually at the end of an article. Although we provide background and sources on stories when requested, our organizations play no role in the reporting, editing or presentation of their stories.
Following is the list of this year’s New Fellows, whose proposed projects were chosen by a panel of journalists and gerontologists. In addition, the program will bring back several past Fellows to continue their coverage of issues in aging. We will announce them soon.
Following are this year’s Journalists in Aging Fellows:
Donna Alvarado, Palo Alto, CA, Bay City News Foundation, Project: “Hidden Impact of Remote Working on Aging Workers.”
Estefania Arellano-Bermudez, Southwest Detroit, contributor, El Central Hispanic News, Project: Limited retirement opportunities in the immigrant community.
Jeanette Beebe, Akron, OH, Ohio Newsroom public radio, “Not Eating: Malnutrition Plagues Older Adults in Northeast Ohio” (radio feature plus web story with photos).
Ellen E. Eldridge, Woodstock, GA, Senior Health Care Reporter, Georgia Public Broadcasting, Project: “When language barriers lead to potentially fatal neglect.”
Anjana Nagarajan-Butaney, Los Altos CA, India Currents. Project: “Barriers to menopause treatment — access, insurance and taboos” article series.”
Moira Welsh, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Toronto Star “Third Act” project partnership with National Institute on Ageing at Toronto Metropolitan University, Project: “Suicide and the Isolation of Older Men” (podcast and written package).
Alexa Caitlyn Mikhail, New York, NY, Fortune “Well” origin team member. Project: “Stories from the New Frontier,”profiles of seniors, who pivoted professionally to new field.”
Ashley Milne-Tyte, East Hampton, NY, NPR News (Science Desk). Project: “How men age, and how they can do it better” (three-part series).
Taayoo Murray, New York, NY, Amsterdam News (“Blacklight,” investigative unit) Project: “Social determinants’ impact on quality of life of elderly Black Americans, and policy solutions.” (Longform investigative article.)
Leah R. Romero, Las Cruces, NM, Source New Mexico, Project: “Aging and New Mexico’s long-term care workforce,” article series.
Aiola Virella, Vega Alta, PR, Editor-in-Chief, Metro Puerto Rico weekly newspaper and website: www.metro.pr. Project: “How to take care of our loved ones when memory fades,” written feature package with YouTube video and from MetroPR, and podcast, discussion.
Grace Vitaglione, Cary NC, Legislative and Aging Health Reporter, North Carolina Health News. Project: “Aging in Southeastern North Carolina Aging Population Exploding” series.
Margit B. Weisgal, Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Sun’s “Primetime” quarterly. Project: “Longevity Ready Maryland (LRM) and Similar Programs,” articles on Maryland’s 10 year plan on aging.
Monica Williams, Detroit, MI, Director and Editor, Michigan Solutions Journalism Collaborative, with story focused on Urban Aging News and Detroit News. Project: “Black Americans aging alone: The rewards and risks” article series.
We’re grateful to this year’s nonprofit funders for helping us bring stories of the longevity revolution to so many audiences. This year’s funders includes the Silver Century Foundation, John A. Hartford Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund and the NIHCM Foundation, plus a generous contribution from Dr. John Migliaccio.
3. THE STORYBOARD
Here are the most recent stories from the current Journalists in Aging Fellows:
*** “Md. Health Department using targeted outreach to tackle pre-diabetes this summer,” by Deborah Bailey, AFRO American Newspapers, July 15, 2024:
The Lede: “If you live in one of Maryland’s high health risk areas for diabetes, heart attack, stroke or other chronic diseases, Maryland’s Department of Health is actively looking for you.”
The Crux: “More than one-third of Marylanders are estimated to have pre-diabetes, a condition that can lead to diabetes. Baltimore City, Prince George’s County and Somerset County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore are three areas where Black Marylanders have particularly elevated levels of diabetes and other chronic illnesses such as heart disease, stroke and brain diseases like Alzheimer’s. So health officials are seeking to halt diabetes before it starts in high-risk communities across the state by identifying people who have a high likelihood of developing pre-diabetes and getting them connected with health prevention efforts.”
In Fact: “Obesity is a risk factor that accompanies diabetes, according to health experts. In Baltimore, Prince George’s County and Somerset, more than one-third of each county’s adult residents are obese, according to the most recent data from the Maryland Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRSFF). . . . ‘People who participate in pre-diabetes screening and prevention activities have a 58 percent chance of not progressing to the full disease,’ said Pamela Williams, Maryland Department of Health’s director of Cancer and Chronic Diseases.”
*** “In 691 hours working in an assisted living facility, I saw neglect, abuse and love,” by Cleo Krejci, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (July 25, 2024):
Reporting from the Trenches: Before Cleo Krejci, a Report For America corps member, got hired by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, she worked as a residential aide in a memory care unit at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She explains, “I started the job in late August 2022, driven by questions about the care of older adults in the U.S. and my own grandparents’ experiences with aging. I based my search on minimal criteria: A facility willing to hire someone with no health care experience, but with a background in journalism. By early January 2023, I found myself so burnt out by mismanagement and neglect, . . . I simply became exhausted at the way the negative outweighed the positive.”
Krejci’s experienced resulted in her investigative series “The Gray Zone” with support from a Journalists in Aging Fellowship.
The Lede: “One day in April 2023, I sat with a man in his 80s as he sipped orange juice. ‘That’s just how life is,’ he told me. ‘Life is terrible and then you die.’”
“From what I gathered, his life hadn’t been terrible — he’d had a family, a career in public service and traveled the world. But without the proper care for dementia in his assisted living facility, he rarely left a dark, humid room with locked windows and plates of half-eaten meals . . . .”
“Working in a struggling memory care facility, I saw everything I hoped I wouldn’t: People who had lived full lives dying slowly and alone. . . . But I also saw couples whose love refused to waver. Families who stuck together through the slow process of death. I learned from co-workers who were experts in caring for others, and soaked up wisdom from people with decades of life experience.”
Krejci’s series appeared both in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Yahoo! News. Other stories included: “What to know about assisted living in Wisconsin: admissions, cost, services, and more,” and “Share your experience or questions about assisted living in Wisconsin.”
*** “Age tech is exploding. The ‘modern grandma’ market wants more than health aids,” by Kristen Senz, Christian Science Monitor (Aug. 15, 2024): The Lede: “For many older people, the feeling of being recognized or ‘seen’ can seem like a luxury reserved for the young, especially when it comes to technology products. . . But that’s changing.”
The Nutshell: “The market for ‘age tech,”’ or gerontechnology – digital products and platforms that aim to meet the specific needs of older people – has exploded in recent years, with many companies in the space focused on health- and care-related devices. . . . The venture capital firm, Cake Ventures, funds startups that leverage demographic shifts, including the rapid growth of the older population.”
The Stats: There are about 62 million people ages 65 or older in the United States – close to 20% of the population. It is the wealthiest age group and accounted for 22% of spending in 2022, up from 15% in 2010, according to the U.S. Labor Department’s consumer expenditures survey.
“Technology spending by people older than 50 is expected to grow to $623 billion per year by 2050, according to recent research by AARP. Another recent AARP study reveals a new reality about older people and tech: Americans over 50 own smartphones at roughly the rate consumers ages 18 to 49 do.”
“’The longevity market today is where the internet was 30 years ago,’ says [Mary Furlong, a longevity economy expert.] ‘Many companies didn’t have an internet strategy 30 years ago because they were just learning how the digital world was going to change business and change culture.’”
Ageism: “Reaching this fragmented market is often a challenge, . . . says Ms. Furlong. At the same time, companies relying on ageist cliches and stereotypes in their ads experience backlash. . . ‘What I find the most exciting,’ Ms. Furlong says, ‘is the orchestra of talent developing the next set of solutions.’”
IN OTHER OLD NEWS:
*** “New Mexicans living in aging and long-term care homes face issues with food, activities and hygiene,” by Leah R. Romero, Source New Mexico (Aug. 2, 2024): The Dek: “NM governor calls for more ombudsmen to be ‘eyes and ears’ inside facilities following reports from surprise visits by state health officials.”
The Crux: “Representatives from the New Mexico Department of Health made unannounced visits to 91 of the state’s 268 facilities in 13 counties to survey life for people under care. Residents told health officials about unappetizing meals, few to no activities to take part in and a lack of attention to their basic hygiene needs, according to testimonies released in a report.”
Findings: Two facilities in Albuquerque were reported “immediately” after the visits to the Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation hotline, according to state officials. . . The majority of visits were mostly favorable, including 11 sites that scored “perfectly” under the state’s metrics.
The 10% Concern: “At first glance, these appear to be good scores overall, however, when one considers that ensuring residents are clean and have clean clothes that fit is a primary responsibility, it is concerning that almost 10% in each category are not meeting this basic requirement.”
*** “Budget Cuts Threaten SF Food Programs for Seniors and Adults With Disabilities,” by Madison Alvarado, San Francisco Public Press (Aug. 14, 2024):
The Lede: “Funding is drying up for food programs that serve older adults and people with disabilities across San Francisco, potentially endangering the health of thousands. Some providers are cutting back services even as more people queue up for free meals and bags of groceries.”
The Nutshell: The pandemic spurred governments to pour money into nutrition programs that offered free meals and groceries. . . . But as emergency measures wound down, the subsidies dwindled, and recent local budget cuts to San Francisco service providers have further threatened food programs. Nonprofits are scrambling to fill their budget holes and preserve their services in an environment where private funders are also pulling back.”
A Quote: “ ‘We’re just left holding the bag, to have to make up the difference through more and more fundraising,’ said Winnie Yu, chief programs and compliance officer for Self-Help for the Elderly.”
The Upshot: “Local, state and federal funding cuts have forced the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank to significantly reduce services . . . . Budget cuts from City Hall last year forced local organization Bayview Senior Services to stop providing meals on weekends. . . . And the money the city gave the [downtown] Curry Senior Center this year for . . . providing free weekly groceries, was about half what it gave last year.”
4. GEN BEATLES NEWS
NPR’s Ina Jaffe, 75, Today’s Caregiver Editor Gary Barg, 68, Losses on the Generations Beat:
*** Thanks to NPR’s Scott Simon for his warm tribute to our friend, Ina Jaffe, who died on Aug. 1, after a long battle with breast cancer. Simon describes first seeing her—naked, on stage, in an avant-garde theater production in Chicago, and later working with her in NPR’s Chicago bureau, after which she moved to Washington, in 1985, becoming the first editor of NPR’s “Weekend Edition Saturday.”
GBO’s editor met Ina after she move to Los Angeles and decided to rekindle the public-radio newsbeat on aging. In 2012, she earned a Society of Professional Journalists Award for her investigation revealing that the Veterans Administration facility in LA was leasing large parts of it campus to business interests.
Then in 2021, Ina documented her own cancer diagnosis with her usual selfless commitment to covering, as Simon put it, “the challenge and complexities of growing old in America. She made people who can be easily overlooked and lumped together as ‘seniors,’ vivid, unique, and compelling.”
Following Ina’s death, Susan Jaffe of KKF Health News and the medical journal, The Lancet, emailed GBONews’ editor, recalling their meeting first at the 2015 White House Conference on Aging, quickly determining that they were not related. A few years later they laughingly called themselves the “Jaffe Sisters,” while attending the Journalists in Aging reception at a Gerontological Society of American conference.
Susan wrote, “Disclosing her incurable cancer on NPR was an incredibly brave thing to do. . . We need more Ina Jaffes, not one less.”
*** “The Human Sized Hole We Leave Behind,”by Gary Barg, Editor-in-Chief, Today’s Caregiver magazine: Gary filed his touching announcement that he’d entered hospice care on Aug. 4, only a week before his death: “I contend that anyone who has faced their own mortality at some point, including me, thinks of the human size hole they will be leaving behind. I had my first meeting with my oncologist a few months ago (a hard sentence to write, but welcome to my new world). Turns out that the gastritis I was dealing with over Thanksgiving was actually stomach cancer.”
He explained, “In my role as caregiver advocate and host of hundreds of Fearless Caregiver Conferences, I have been dedicated to supporting family caregivers, sharing their stories, gleaning their advice for one another, and helping them as they care for their loved ones.”
Facing his own need to be open with his loved ones, Gary wrote, “I came to realize that my job is to hear what they have to say without (too much) complaint and do what I can to help myself. In this case, push myself to eat, exercise and even walk, no matter how much I’d rather stay under the covers.
“This new relationship between caregiver and new care recipient needs tending to with honest and open conversation and an abiding ability to count to ten before responding to some things that would have been absurd even weeks ago. In this case, the contract between parties is ever changing with the only constant being love.”
Such a mensch: Gary Barg left us with the ultimate words of care and giving.
*** Although Dr. Leonard Hayflick was a scientist, and not a journalist, his name will forever attach itself to each and every one of our normal cells. Many reporters may have referred to his discovery, announced in 1962, commonly called the “Hayflick Limit.”
The former University of Florida and Stanford University scientist found that normal, healthy cells will reproduce only about 50 times, as the protective caps on them, called telomeres, grow shorter with each new division. In contract abnormal cells, the ones with cancer, replicate immortally.
As the New York Times’ obituary observed, “Other researchers later discovered the mechanisms behind the Hayflick limit.” Most notably, Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, of UC San Francisco, won a 2009 Nobel Prize for figuring out how nature also can sustain them with an enzyme called “telomerase.”
Dr. Hayflick, who also produced the first oral polio vaccine and another to prevent walking pneumonia, died on Aug. 1, at age 96, at his home in Sea Ranch, in Northern California.
He argued fervently for research to focus on the processes of aging per se, not only on the prevailing studies of old age as a collection of diseases.
*** Congratulations to Gen Beat regular, Ronnie Lovler, of the Gainesville Main Street Daily News (and a past Journalists in Aging Fellows) for receiving the Florida Council on Aging “Senior Vision Media Award.”
A journalist for 40 years, Lovler, 75, worked in the United States and Latin America for such outlets as CNN and CBS. She teaches journalism at the University of Florida and public speaking at Santa Fe College.–
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 2024 Paul Kleyman. For more information contact GBO Editor Paul Kleyman.
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