I hoped the headline would catch your attention.
I spent part of last week in Warner Robins interviewing candidates for city council. When asked about their concerns, many of the candidates mentioned quality-of-life issues that affect senior citizens. Lack of transportation was the common theme, but I sensed a larger concern about how seniors fare in our youth-obsessed society. Ok, maybe having just marked another birthday made be particularly sensitive to the comments. The candidate interviews also took place just as I returned from “vacation,” much of it spent trying to figure out how to get good care for an elderly mom who wants to remain in her home, but whose modest income is increasingly used to pay for expensive prescription drugs.
I know I’m walking the path many, many others walk every day, but trying to navigate the maze of Medicare rules, requirements and restrictions has just about gotten the best of me.
Newspapers – and now Web sites - spend a lot of time courting young readers, but many of us do poor job writing about the lives of seniors or the issues that affect them and their caregivers. This is not sexy stuff, but it sure can hit home.
Health care is hardly the only topic pertinent to seniors and their families. What about transportation? How big a problem is it? An assortment of specialized senior housing has cropped up, but how many seniors can afford it? What about other aging issues? What is an 80-year-old’s social life like when her siblings and close friends have all died?
What stories are we not covering that would be of particular interest to older people, their families, friends and service providers?
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Do newspapers care about old people?
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5 comments:
How about the elderly stuck in the gang zones? You know, the old folks who worked hard and maintained their homes and then the gangs and drug dealers moved in around them. Look at your high crime areas in the city and you will find crackheads and dealers and gun runners next door to Granny and Gramps. These people are scared and they have no options. They can't move, they can't flee, they can't fight back ... so they hide and pray they won't become victims.
Transportation is a non-issue when you're scared to open your door and leave your house.
Just a thought.
Macon Police needs to get tough in those neighborhoods where the drug dealers and shooters have moved in. Landlords need to be responsible and evict troublesome tenants disturbing the elderly.
Why doesn't the Telegraph let readers comment on most stories? Usually the comments are allowed only for the lamest stories online.
If they cared about older people they would have such small type in the crossword puzzles.
Re: Do newspapers care about old people: If a survey was made, wonder what percentage of your readership would be the older population. Are young people more apt to read the newspaper online, whereas the older generation like to have a hard copy so we can read at our leisure and try to digest the meatier current issues of the day. I too am a fan of the puzzle page. However, the newsprint of the Sunday puzzle is too small for even my (magnifier) reading glasses. I am 74 years old and go to considerable effort to drive to the newspaper box each morning because despite many restarts and stops of home delivery, my route deliveryman refuses to place the paper in the box provided for it.
"Do newspapers care about old people?"
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