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Compassionate Canadians and conflictual Americans? Portrayals of ageism in liberal and conservative media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2016

PATRIK MARIER  and
MARINA REVELLI
PATRIK MARIER*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
MARINA REVELLI
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
*
Address for correspondence: Patrik Marier, Department of Political Science, Concordia University, 1455 Blvd. de Maisonneuve West, Montreal, Quebec H1G 3M8, Canada E-mail: patrik.marier@concordia.ca
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Abstract

Building upon earlier studies on ageism in the media and the polarised ageism framework, this contribution compares the prevalence of three forms of ageism – intergenerational, compassionate and new ageism – in four Canadian and American newspapers. The analysis has three objectives. First, it adapts the polarised ageism framework to a comparative case study to assess its usefulness beyond Canada. Second, it analyses which form of ageism occurs more frequently in the coverage of ageing-related stories in Canadian or American newspapers. Third, it studies the importance of the political orientation of news media across both countries by comparing the portrayal of ageing-related stories in conservative and liberal newspapers. Core findings include the presence of a stronger focus on intergenerational ageism in American and conservative newspapers and more frequent prevalence of compassionate ageism in Canada and liberal newspapers. American newspapers also typically employ more pejorative and sensational language.

Keywords

Older AdultsMedia PortrayalUnited StatesCanadaAgeismNewspapers
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 37 , Issue 8 , September 2017 , pp. 1632 - 1653
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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