Constructing old age: How Newspapers Use Bias and Persuasion to Shape the Aging Discourse
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55765/atps.i28.3642Keywords:
old age, newspaper discourse, identity construction, critical discourse analysisAbstract
Among the many social issues examined through an ideological framework, aging appears to be particularly significant, with media representations playing a pivotal role in its discursive construction. This paper examines the construal of old age using ideologically charged language and framing strategies in newspaper discourse. Applying the methodology of critical discourse analysis to The Guardian articles, the study illuminates how narratives about aging reflect and reinforce societal norms, cultural assumptions, and policy interpretations. By analyzing the use of expert opinions, older adults’ voices, and intertextual references, the paper identifies dominant themes such as medicalization, economic burden, active aging, and intergenerational tensions. Moreover, the study argues that newspaper discourse not only mirrors public attitudes towards older adults but actively participates in shaping them, privileging certain identities, while marginalizing others.
References
Ainsworth, S. & Hardy, C. (2004). Critical discourse analysis and identity: Why bother? Critical Discourse Studies, 1(2), 225-259. https://doi.org/10.1080/1740590042000302085
Andrew, P. (2007). The social construction of age: A look at the discourses. Ometeca, 11, 50+. Gale Literature Resource Center.https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A293353829/LitRC?u=anon bf1feece&sid=googleScholar&xid=699e05dc
Bergström, A. & Edström, M. (2022). Invisible or powerful? Ageing in a mediatized society. In A multidisciplinary approach to capability in age and ageing, H. Erhag, U. Lagerlöf Nilsson, T. Rydberg Sterner, and I. Skoog (eds.), 31: 257-270. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78063-0_14
Dillner, L. (2023, May 28). Eat plants, try pilates, and stay positive: How to keep your body younger than your years. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/28/eat-plants-pilates-stay-positive-younger
Easton, C. (2023, April 18). How the media fuels negative views about older people and ageing. Ageing Better. https://ageing-better.org.uk/blogs/how-media-fuels-negative-views-about- older-people-and-ageing
Eisenberg, R. (2023, September 20). Ageism in the media: An insider’s perspective. Generations, American Society on Aging. http://generations.asaging.org/ageism-media-insiders-perspective
Eckert, P. (1997). Age as a sociolinguistic variable. In The handbook of sociolinguistics, F. Coulmas (ed.), 151-167. Blackwell.
Fealy, G. et al. (2024). “Ageing well”: Discursive constructions of ageing and health in the public reach of a national longitudinal study on ageing. Social Science & Medicine 341: 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.01.001
Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. Longman.
Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. Longman.
Fairclough, N. & Wodak, R. (1997). Critical discourse analysis. In Discourse studies: A multidisciplinary introduction, T. A. Van Dijk (ed.), 357-378. SAGE.
Fraser, S. A. et al. (2016). Stereotypes associated with age-related conditions and assistive device use in Canadian media. The Gerontologist 56(6): 1023-1032. doi:10.1093/geront/gnv094
Gilleard, C. (2025). Revisiting the social construction of old age. Ageing and Society, 45(3): 500-513. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X23000570
Gleason, S. (2017). The social construction of old age in the modern West: A literature review. Undergraduate Journal of Humanistic Studies, 4, 1-8.
Grebe, H., Otto, W.-G. & Zimmermann, H.-P. (2013). The journey into the land of forgetfulness: Metaphors of aging and dementia in media. In The ages of life: Living and aging in conflict, U. Kriebernegg and R. Maierhofer (eds.), 89-106. Transcript Verlag.
Gullette, M. M. (2004). Aged by culture. University of Chicago Press.
Gullette, M. M. (2018). Against “aging”: How to talk about growing older. Theory, Culture & Society 35(7-8): 251-270.
Higgs, P. & Gilleard, C. (2015). Rethinking old age: Theorizing the fourth age. Palgrave Macmillan.
Higgs, P. & Gilleard, C. (2022). ‘Apocalyptic demography’ versus the ‘reckless generation’: Framing the third and fourth ages in the media. In Ageing and the media: International perspectives, V. Ylänne (ed.), 15-29. Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2x00vx6.8
Iversen, T. N. & Wilin´ska, M. (2020). Ageing, old age and media: Critical appraisal of knowledge practices in academic research. International Journal of Ageing and Later Life 14(2): 1-29. https://doi.org/10.3384/ijal.1652-8670.18441
Kiełkiewicz-Janowiak, A. (2011). Discursive construction of (old) age identity in Poland. In Language, culture, and the dynamics of age, A. Duszak and U. Okulska (eds.), 253-272. De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110238112.3.253
Köttl, H., Tatzer, V. C. & Ayalon, L. (2022). COVID-19 and everyday ICT use: The discursive construction of old age in German media. The Gerontologist 62(3): 413-424. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnab126
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.
Laslett, P. (1996). A fresh map of life: The emergence of the third age (2nd ed.). Macmillan.
Lynott, R. J. & Lynott, P. P. (1996). Tracing the course of theoretical development in the sociology of aging. The Gerontologist 36: 749-760.
Salvador, V. & Sampietro, A. (eds.). (2020). Understanding the discourse of aging: A multifaceted perspective. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Shevchenko-Hotsuliak, I. & Casado-Gual, N. (2025). The older woman at the centre of dystopia: Dramatizing the perils of ageism in Emma Adams’ Animals. International Journal of Ageing and Later Life. Advance access. https://doi.org/10.3384/ijal.1652-8670.5299
Sloane, J. (2023, October 10). Aging on screen and on the page: Changing depictions of older people in the media. Annenberg School for Communication. https://www.asc.upenn.edu/news-events/news/aging-screen-and-page-changing-depictions-older-people-media
Van Dijk, T. A. (1993). Principles of critical discourse analysis. Discourse & Society 4(2): 249-283. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926593004002006
Van Dijk, T. A. (2014). Discourse-cognition-society: Current state and prospects of the socio-cognitive approach to discourse. In Contemporary critical discourse studies, C. Hart and P. Cap (eds.), 121-146. Bloomsbury.
Van Dijk, T. A. (2018). Sociocognitive discourse studies. In The Routledge handbook of critical discourse studies, J. Richardson and J. Flowerdew (eds.), 26-43. Routledge.
Van Leeuwen et al. (2024). What do the papers say? The role of older adults in 20 years of digital inclusion debate in Dutch and Flemish newspapers. International Journal of Ageing and Later Life 17(2): 1-35. https://doi.org/10.3384/ijal.1652-8670.4883
Weaver, D. H. (2007). Thoughts on agenda setting, framing, and priming. Journal of Communication 57(1): 142-147. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00333.x
Wodak, R. (2001). What CDA is about: A summary of its history, important concepts and its developments. In Methods of critical discourse analysis, R. Wodak and M. Meyer (eds.), 1-13. SAGE.
Wodak, R. & Meyer, M. (2009). Methods of critical discourse analysis (2nd ed.). SAGE.
Ylänne, V. (2022). Introduction: Ageing in/and the media. In Ageing and the media: International perspectives, V. Ylänne (ed.), 1-12. Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2x00vx6.7
