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What Do Newspapers Say About Older Adults in the Workforce?

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Ageism and Mistreatment of Older Workers

Abstract

Newspapers reach a large audience and play an important role in promoting or inhibiting public views of active and dignified aging. By examining newspaper articles, it is possible to study how portrayals of older adults in the workforce reflect positive or negative public perceptions of older adults. Findings indicate negative portrayals of older workers predominate in U.S. newspaper articles, and that these articles often report on problems experienced by older people in the workplace that are due to their age. This chapter discusses implications of the findings and concludes with the relationship between this study’s findings and the ageing agenda included in the 2002 Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging (MIPAA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Social Service, Fordham University, New York, NY, 10023, USA

    Mebane Powell M.S.W.

  2. NYC Department for the Aging, Research Division, New York, NY, USA

    Mebane Powell M.S.W.

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  1. Mebane Powell M.S.W.
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Correspondence to Mebane Powell M.S.W. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Graduate School Social Service, Fordhan University, West 60 Street, 7th floor, New York, 10023, New York, USA

    Patricia Brownell

  2. , Office of the Provost and Executive Vice, Menlo College, El Camino Real 100, Atherton, 94027-4301, USA

    James J. Kelly

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Powell, M. (2013). What Do Newspapers Say About Older Adults in the Workforce?. In: Brownell, P., Kelly, J. (eds) Ageism and Mistreatment of Older Workers. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5521-5_4

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