NGO Forum on Ageing 5-9 April 2002

MEDIA, PUBLIC POLICIES AND DEMOGRAPHIC REVOLUTION

By : AARP/NPOE
April 8, 2002

No reflection

Different studies carried out by organizations like HAI (Help Age International) or NPOE (Plata f o r m a Holandesa de Personas Mayores/ Dutch Platform of Elderly People) show that the role of the elderly people on the media is non-existent. The research carried out by AARP in the USA shows that newspapers do not address a population of more than 50 years. The case of the television is quite similar because, although this part of the population is very interested in it, in fact few elderly people appear on it and the programs are not addressed to them. According to Everette Dennis, member of ILC (Centro Internacional de Longevidad /International Centre of Longevity), “ to the people in charge of the main television networks, the elderly are boring and it is depressing to talk about them .They do not think that it would be very positive that these people could see themselves reflected on it, in some way”.