GBONEWS: AP’s Almost Blameless on Aging; Layoffs at Harvard’s Journalist’s Resource, Cutting Harm to Dual Eligibles; Home Care Co-ops; Bad Bill Hits Medicaid, SNAP; NPR on Dementia Care; Elder-nado Twisters Rip Seniors; & MORE.
GENERATIONS BEAT ONLINE NEWS
News Digest of the Journalists Network on Generations.
February 20, 2026 — Volume 33, 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 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 send a request to Paul with your name, address, phone number and editorial affiliation or note that you freelance. For each issue, we’ll email the table of contents and links to the full issue at www.gbonews.org. GBONews does not provide its list to other entities.
In This Issue: Memo to Would-Be Royalty–What Would a Real King Do? (See Charles III, Re The Former Prince.)
1. AGEISM WATCH: *** “Almost Blameless: How Lazy Reporting Plays Into Ageist Political Lies,” by Paul Kleyman, Aging in America News
2. GEN BEATLES NEWS: *** Layoffs at Harvard Shorenstein Center’s Journalist’s Resource; *** AARP Profiles “Successful Aging” columnist Helen Dennis; *** Oldster Magazine Features Former NYT Editor, age-beat columnist Robert W. Stock.
3. AGING IN AMERICA NEWS:
*** “Minimizing Harm for “Dual Eligibles” by Mark Swartz;
*** “Curtain Call” (theater accessibility), by Chandra Char, PhD;
*** “Home Care Co-Operatives,” by Shalini Kathuria Narang;
*** “Coordination Is Amplification,” Q&A with the JAF Foundation’s new President Rani E. Snyder, MPA.
4. THE STORYBOARD:
*** “What Medicaid, SNAP work requirements in Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ mean for older workers,” by Lorie Konish, CNBC;
*** “This behavior can be a turning point for families caring for a dementia patient,” by Ashley Milne-Tyte, NPR News;
*** “Nowhere to Run: How Mississippi’s older adults face barriers that make surviving tornadoes more dangerous,” by LaReeca Rucker, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal;
*** “A Rural Wisconsin Community Charts a Path for Intergenerational Care,” by Madeline de Figueiredo, The Daily Yonder rural news service;
*** “Poor sleep may account for a large share of dementia cases,” by Marla Broadfoot, PhD, Science News.
1. AGEISM WATCH
*** “Almost Blameless: How Lazy Reporting Plays Into Ageist Political Lies,” by Paul Kleyman, Aging in America News (Feb. 17, 2026): The Lede: “ ‘Oh, no,’ I thought with an autonomic sigh—and on Groundhog Day, no less. There in my Associated Press(AP) feed was the headline, “Out with the old? Young Democrats are trying to convince voters to send a new generation to Congress” (Feb. 2, 2026).
Once again, a major media outlet—one that’s also produced substantial in-depth reporting on generational issues—froths forth in its political coverage not over congressional dysfunction, but about old office holders being routed by youth, at last. A trend worth identifying? Sure, if the story weren’t pocked with ageist predilections and easily verifiable falsehoods.”
The Context: “The AP’s story spotlights the emergence of age-based challenges in 2026 Democratic primaries lodged by young and midlife politicians, who hope to root out congressional incumbents, from ages 70 to 81. The article focuses on congressional races in California, Mississippi, Tennessee and Connecticut.”
Off the Mark: The AP report is not based on the incumbent politicians’ capabilities and policies but on how old they are. In the AP reporting team’s case, it’s headline “Out with the Old” . . .” suggests that because young primary challengers bring “new blood, new ideas.” That’s a quote from an older Connecticut voter with no apparent gerontological background about the current congressman’s likely capacity to serve for another term regarding a health problem noted in the story.
Lazy Reporting: My critique of the AP article addresses several verifiably erroneous or highly debatable statements presented as fact without qualification.
* For example, the article paraphrases a 31-year-old congressional challenger as saying of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “didn’t resign while Barack Obama was president and died at age 87 during Trump’s first term, allowing the Republican to replace her with a conservative.” That’s factually not untrue, but it’s contextually misleading.
In fact, 10 months before the 2016 election, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, refused to schedule a confirmation hearing for President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland. He called it a “lame duck” nomination, although there was almost a year left in Obama’s term.
What’s more, after Ginsburg (whose name AP misspelled) died, in September 2024, McConnell violated his own rule by forcing through confirmation of President Trump’s nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, before the election. We now can surmise that the Kentucky senator would have done anything to seat another Republican on the bench.
Arguable? Certainly, and that’s the point. Journalistic honesty would have required that the writers either indicate its debatability or, more prudently, not include it.
* Elsewhere, AP’s writers state, “After President Joe Biden’s reluctance to step aside in 2024 at age 81, he helped pave the way for Trump’s return to the White House, many see their party’s own veterans as part of the problem.” This regurgitation of sour-grapes opining by prominent Dem politicos and liberal journalists ignores countervailing evidence.
Notably, as I previously reported, the New York Times’ Shane Goldmacher dissected the long-term erosion of Democratic support, especially in the party’s former working class and rural strongholds. He remarked in a NYT “Daily” podcast, “I think that a lot of people have looked at the 2024 election and said the Democratic Party lost because Joe Biden was too old, that he stayed in the race too long, that Kamala Harris was a weaker candidate, that she didn’t have enough time to prosecute the case, and on and on. But the 2024 election results were not a one-off, not a one-off at all.”
Furthermore, the AP reporting staff might have examined the electoral autopsy of leading analysts, such as veteran Democratic Party pollster Celinda Lake. She showed that Harris lost 9 million votes, which Biden had drawn in 2020. The news service’s reporters failed, at least, to note evidence that, as Lake’s report states, Dem voter enthusiasms had “dampened in 2024.”
Not Coordinated: To be clear, this editor (a nonpartisan voter) is not suggesting that the AP reporting team’s assumption of age-negative stereotypes was intentional. With team reporting, such as this, far-flung news gatherers may lack the background to discern subtle biases that reflect an entrenched cultural prejudice.
A lead writer charged with drafting a story from others’ dispatches may be an experienced news reporter who nonetheless lacks a deeper understanding of convoluted policy controversies simmering beneath surface bickering, such as on an issue like aging. An editor may simply default to doesn’t-everyone-know-this memes without even consulting a news organization’s specialists about relevant subjects.
Cross-checking a story with a more knowledgeable colleague is a common news-reporting practice on stories involving race or gender, but at the AP, evidently not on age.
2. GEN BEATLES NEWS
*** In another disturbing announcement for American journalism, Carmen Noble, editor-in-chief of The Journalist’s Resource from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center, posted her final message on Feb. 11.
She explained, “Here’s the thing: JR depends entirely on philanthropic donations. After several funders did not renew their grants recently, the Shorenstein Center had to make a difficult decision. My position will be eliminated, along with that of our managing editor, Denise-Marie Ordway. She and I will wind down our work here between now and the end of March.”
Nobel added, “Naseem Miller, who led our health care coverage for the past five years, moved on from JR last week to pursue another opportunity. The Journalist’s Resource will continue at a smaller scale. Clark Merrefield, senior editor of economics and legal systems, is producing evidence-based pieces and webinars for JR. He reports to Nancy Gibbs, director of the Shorenstein Center and former editor-in-chief of TIME.” The weekly e-mail newsletter claims about 40,000 subscribers with and more than 1.1 million website visitors per year.
Poignantly, Nobel reflected, “As for me, I’m grieving the loss of a role I’ve held and loved for nearly eight years. But I leave knowing that The Journalist’s Resource makes an impact on local, national and international journalism every day.”
In a subsequent email, Gibbs commented, “During her eight years at JR, Carmen Nobel has brought rigor, purpose and high standards to the essential work of ‘informing the news.’ “
Gibbs continued, “She has deepened JR’s engagement with researchers and journalists, especially in smaller newsrooms that are constantly expected to do more with less. She broadened JR’s products beyond curated research roundups into comics journalism, data visualizations and research-informed tip sheets for reporters trying to tackle complex topics on a tight deadline. She established and fostered collaborations with dozens of other programs, expanding the reach and value of what JR offers.”
Among those programs has been our Journalists Network on Generations, GBONews’ publisher. Her engagement with us including assigning Kristen Senz to write Six Tips for Improving News Coverage of Older People. As the many replies to Nobel’s announcement on her LinkedIn page attest, we are only one of many in journalism who will miss her.
*** Gerontologist and longtime “Successful Aging” columnist Helen Dennis was profiled by AARP, along with her collaborator Bernice Bratter, for cofounding Project Renewment in the early 2000s, says the article, “to help people like them — women who held leadership roles in business, academia and nonprofits — transition more easily into postwork life.”
The story, “How Two Career Women Turned Retirement Into ‘Renewment,’” by Jon Marcus, AARP (Feb, 10, 2026), explains the Bratter, now 87, “felt rootless” after leaving her career managing community nonprofits, and teamed up with Dennis, 85, to host “meetings in West Los Angeles for a small group of like-minded women retirees — a theater producer, a corporate public affairs officer, a computer scientist.”
The pair crafted a model that now “has spread to about 40 groups across the country, comprising eight to 10 women apiece, and they are in the process of establishing a nonprofit organization called Renewment to further expand the movement,” according to AARP.
Along the way, they coauthored, Project Renewment: The First Retirement Model for Career Women, Scribner, 2008 (hardcover); 2013 (paperback), which reached the Los Angeles Times bestseller list.
Part of Dennis’ own renewment was to start her weekly column more than 20 years and 1,000+ articles ago for the Southern California News Group’s 11 daily newspapers, such as The Los Angeles Daily News, Torrence Daily Breezeand Orange County Register, distributed to 1.2 million readers.
The AARP piece gives Dennis the last word: “There are millions of people who are retired who are thrilled with it,” she says. “But there’s an increasing number who are asking questions and looking for the next step.”
*** Former New York Times editor Robert W. “Bob” Stock, now 96, was featured in the Substack magazine, Oldster (Jan. 19, 2026). Stock, whose published his memoir, Me & The Times: My wild ride from elevator operator to New York Times editor, columnist, and change agent (1967-97), in 2024, “served as an award-winning writer and editor at seven different New York Times Sunday sections including the Magazine, Week in Review, and Business & Financial,” according to Oldster.
One of his many accomplishments after leaving his staff position was to Stock create “Senior Class,” an NYT column on retirement, which preceded the current “New Old Age” column by several years.
The Oldster’s format asks distinguished guests to answer its questionnaire, including the query, “Is there another age you associate with yourself in your mind?”
Stock replied, “There actually is another age that I return to from time to time. . . . I look back a decade. When I’m feeling low, these visits with my former self can put my head in a different, better place. You might think that your life circumstances 10 years ago would not be all that different from your current state, and that was the case for me—until I retired.” Click through to Oldster to learn about the “huge” changes he’s experienced decade to decade, since he retired.
3. AGING IN AMERICA NEWS
Following are some other noteworthy recent stories from Aging in America News.
*** “Minimizing Harm for “Dual Eligibles”,” by Mark Swartz, Aging in America News (Jan. 13, 2026):
The Lede: “The 12.5 million Americans who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid could see their benefits slashed as states grapple with massive funding reductions under recent federal legislation. Amber Christ, a senior attorney at Justice in Aging, says the $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and SNAP funding over the next decade—the fallout of H.R.1, also known as the One Big Beautiful Act—poses a number of interlocking threats.
She said the challenge “is particularly acute because nearly all the services dual eligibles depend on through Medicaid are optional for states to provide.”
Who, How Much?: “The group is diverse but disproportionately includes women, people of color, and residents of rural communities. Despite representing a relatively small share of enrollees, they account for nearly 30% of Medicaid spending, due to their complex health and social needs. . . . [Christ] points to housing instability, poverty, and food insecurity as major drivers of the high costs associated with this population.”
*** “Curtain Call” by Chandra Char, PhD (Feb. 13, 2026): The Lede—“As a self-identifying theater fanatic, I often attend the symphony, musicals, and plays with my friends—most of whom happen to be over the age of 70.”
A Stat: “An estimated 48 million Americans are experiencing varying degrees of hearing loss, and this number is expected to rise as our population ages.
“Age-related hearing loss is associated with the natural deterioration of cochlear function and is characterized by its gradual, progressive development. Age-related hearing loss can have significant impacts on social situations and interpersonal interactions. As people age, they give up activities, hobbies, and social interactions. I call this sacrificing joy.”
The Impact: “According to a recent paper in Frontiers of Psychology: ‘Theater-based interventions may provide complex and varied social tasks to older adults, with the potential to reduce social isolation and loneliness by encouraging frequent and engaging social interactions, strengthening social cognition, and facilitating successful aging’. . . . Hearing loss, vision loss, and limited mobility are just some variables that could make attending theater challenging as we age.”
*** “Home Care Co-Operatives,” by Shalini Kathuria Narang (Feb. 11, 2026): The Lede—”Empowering workers as stakeholders–Millions of Americans rely on home care provided by paid caregivers. With the growing number of older adults in the U.S. seeking to remain in their homes as they age, the demand for quality home care has never been higher.”
What’s New: “Home Care Cooperatives represent a new approach toward providing quality home care. Unlike traditional home care services, cooperatives are owned and operated by the workers that deliver these services, leading to greater collaboration and a deeper sense of ownership for the participants. Currently, there are 20 such organizations operating in 10 states and Puerto Rico.”
The Research: “Research on home care cooperatives has identified key factors that promise to improve the quality of care for patients. . . . ‘This study identifies specific factors that may improve the quality of home care, a relatively understudied area but one that has major consequences for care recipients and the broader health care system,’ says Dr. Geoffrey Gusoff, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the study’s lead author.”
*** “Coordination Is Amplification,” Q&A with the John A. Hartford Foundation’s new President Rani E. Snyder, MPA(Feb. 3, 2026): Newly promoted from her position as VP of programs at the foundation, a sponsor of the Journalists in Aging Fellows Program, Snyder discussed the foundation’s key funding areas, such as public policy analysis, social connection for seniors, Medicaid and related long-term care cuts, concerns about Older Americans Act programs, challenges for the health care workforce, and emerging technologies.
4. THE STORYBOARD
Following are recent stories by Journalists in Aging Fellows (Class of 2025-26). Now in its 16th year, the program is a partnership of GBONews.org publisher, the Journalists Network on Generations and the Gerontological Society of America with support from the Silver Century Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, The John A. Hartford Foundation, and National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation (NIHCM), as well as a donation from gerontologist John Migliaccio, PhD.
*** “What Medicaid, SNAP work requirements in Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ mean for older workers,” by Lorie Konish, CNBC (Feb. 3, 2026):
The Lede: “President Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ may affect [seniors’ wellbeing] when some older individuals retire, due to its new work requirements for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The law introduced Medicaid work requirements for certain individuals up to age 64. States have until Jan. 1, 2027, to adopt the new requirements.
“The One Big Beautiful Bill Act also raised the work requirement ages for SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, to include individuals 55 to 64. States are now implementing those SNAP requirements, although specific timelines vary. Some applicants may be exempt from those requirements.”
The Impact: “Yet as the law is implemented, experts say some older workers may need to delay retirement to access benefits. Those affected may include people who need health coverage and have not yet reached Medicare’s general eligibility age of 65, for example, or who need food assistance. . .
“According to Jack Smalligan, senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute. . . ‘A substantial portion of the people taking early retirement are doing so because they basically are having a hard time staying in the workforce’ . . . Now we’ve created this situation where basically . . . until they reach 65, they’re not getting food assistance support.’ Likewise, including older individuals in the Medicaid work requirements weakens the health insurance safety net, he said.”
Reverses ACA: “Prior to Trump’s legislation, federal law prohibited work requirements for Medicaid, though some states had moved to implement their own rules, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy, research, polling and news organization. The newly enacted work requirements will apply to 43 states, KFF found. The terms of the legislation largely apply to states enrolled in the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion.”
*** “This behavior can be a turning point for families caring for a dementia patient,” by Ashley Milne-Tyte, NPR News (Feb. 17, 2026, 4-minute audio with written article): The Lede: “Dr. Marc Rothman visits a lot of patients with dementia and their families. He is a geriatrician who makes house calls in New York City and its suburbs. ‘Families are often slowly tiptoeing into crisis,’ he says, gradually engulfed by the demands of caregiving and the vagaries of the health care system.
“He says caring for a loved one at home can work well for years, but when the dementia becomes advanced, that means ‘essentially creating a nursing home for one — it is incredibly complicated,’ says Rothman, who is also the CEO of a tech company called Lizzy Care.”
About Wandering: “Elizabeth Edgerly, [a senior director] for the Alzheimer’s Association, says.] ‘At the most basic level, wandering means that someone walks away and has trouble finding their way back.’ But she says . . . , ‘It may be they want to go home, even though they’re already in their home, but the home that they’re in now doesn’t feel right’ . . . . “Sometimes people leave because they gotta get to work, in that job that they retired from 30 years ago.’”
A Stat: “Of the 60% of people with dementia who get lost at some point during the course of their disease, [Edgerly] says, ‘almost half of those people [who are lost for more than 24 hours] will be seriously injured, or it can even result in death,’ often due to exposure to the elements or to traffic accidents.”
*** “Nowhere to Run: How Mississippi’s older adults face barriers that make surviving tornadoes more dangerous,” by LaReeca Rucker, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Jan. 6, 2026. Story is paywall blocked.):
The Lede: “In the early 1980s, I saw my first tornado appear in the sky. . . as the storm approached, . . . we exited the house and walked down the steps. . . . In that unsettling tranquility, the whirlwind appeared.”
Elder-nados: “Each time there is a significant storm threat, I drive my mother, 85, across the road to my next-door neighbor’s in-ground storm shelter. . . . Senior citizens . . . may have limited mobility, or they may rely on wheelchairs or walkers. Chronic illnesses and pain can make evacuation even more difficult.”
She adds, “Hearing loss or sight impairment may prevent some from hearing tornado sirens, TV alerts or reading phone warnings. Those experiencing dementia or confusion may not understand the urgency to seek safety. Some seniors may have limited or no access to smartphones or weather apps. Others may be afraid to leave life-saving medical devices behind. And those who live alone and isolated . . . may be miles from safe spaces and have no transportation to get there.”
The Research: “Jennifer First, PhD, associate professor of social work at the University of Missouri, has spent years studying how tornadoes affect people with disabilities. She is now working on a research proposal that focuses specifically on the impact of tornadoes on older adults.”
*** “A Rural Wisconsin Community Charts a Path for Intergenerational Care,” by Madeline de Figueiredo, The Daily Yonder (Jan. 19, 2026): The Dek— “Research shows intergenerational interaction improves wellbeing, social skills, and community connection. A Walworth County [Wisconsin], community group is working to make those benefits a reality through a shared care facility.”
The Projects: “A local community group has launched the ‘Nursery to Nursing Home’ campaign, a proposal to transform a vacant wing of the county’s nursing home into a combined childcare center and senior-living space, addressing caregiving shortages.”
“The Lakeland Health Care Center, a county-owned skilled nursing facility in Elkhorn, has had a vacant wing since 2019 when staff shortages forced the facility to downsize. Now, Groundswell Collective, a local community group with a track record of advocating for older residents, is leading an effort to turn that space into 12 apartments for older people and a childcare center that serves 60 to 70 children.”
The Research: “Research shows that intergenerational care sites boost wellbeing for both children and older people, reducing isolation, improving cognitive and physical health for older people, and cultivating empathy and connection in young children. Studies also find that these programs create cost efficiencies, especially when facility expenses and other operational costs can be shared. “
*** “Poor sleep may account for a large share of dementia cases,” by Marla Broadfoot, PhD, Science News (Feb. 2, 2026): The Dek—“Addressing insomnia could be a promising strategy to reduce dementia risk in older adults.”
The Lede: “Nearly 1 in 8 dementia cases — about half a million nationwide — may be linked to insomnia. The new findings, reported December 27 in the Journals of Gerontology: Series A, add weight to growing evidence that sleep is a modifiable risk factor for dementia, akin to hearing loss and hypertension.”
Except That: “The study does not establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between insomnia and dementia for individuals, says Yuqian Lin, a data analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Rather, she says, it looks at the overall extent to which insomnia may contribute to dementia across the population.”
A Key Stat: “The research team estimated that about 12 percent of dementia cases in the United States could be attributed to insomnia. ’We were pretty surprised at the magnitude of the effect,” Lin says. She notes that the estimate is similar to population-level figures for hearing loss, one of the most widely recognized modifiable risk factors for dementia.”
However: “Still, some experts believe the results should be interpreted with caution. Sleep and dementia have a complicated, two-way relationship, says Kristen Knutson, a sleep researcher at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, who was not involved in the study.”
*** “On-demand ride service brings door-to-door transportation in Saco, Biddeford and Old Orchard Beach,” by Liz Gotthelf, Massachusetts’ Saco Bay News (Jan 29, 2026):
The Lede: “Steve Mondor’s father, Donald, has been going . . . to dialysis appointments . . . for many years. ‘We had to figure out how to get him rides. It was just hard and stressful,’ [he] said. But then, Mondor’s Aunt found a flyer about a new program from the Biddeford Saco Old Orchard Beach Transit provides rides called QuickRide . . . , an on-demand ride service, [costing] $2 a ride, and $1 for reduced fare.”
For Whom: “While QuickRide is largely used by seniors, . . . anyone in the three municipalities can use it, and should view it as an extension of the local bus service. For example, if someone has to drop off their car at the shop and needs a ride home, they can schedule it with QuickRide. This also gives public transportation access to taxpayers who help fund the bus service, but do not live on fixed bus routes.”–
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 2026 Paul Kleyman. For more information contact GBO Editor Paul Kleyman.
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