News
On a mission to make ageism old news Age Scotland has been campaigning over the years to shift the negative narrative that exists around ageing and tackle ageism in all its forms. We recently launched ‘Making ageism old news- a guide to reporting on older people’ and hope it will be a useful and informative tool for people reporting on issues facing older people and help avoid ageist stereotypes and negative images portraying later life. Our recent Big Survey painted a stark picture of how older people feel they are regarded and portrayed in Scotland, with only 7% agreeing that older people are represented positively in the media. It made very tough reading and we felt compelled to do something. We hope our guide will be a step in the right direction towards changing the narrative around older people and encouraging reporters to highlight the countless positive contributions made by those in later life. The guide has been endorsed by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) for Scotland. John Toner, NUJ national organiser, Scotland said: “Age Scotland has performed a very valuable service by identifying terms that are outmoded and offensive to many people. We hope that this sparks a growing interest in how older people’s issues are reported.” access the media guide at age.scot/mediaguide.
6 Visit www.agescotland.org.uk
