AGELESS PROSE: A STUDY OF THE MEDIA PROJECTED IMAGES OF AGING AS REFLECTED IN CONTENT ANALYSIS OF MAGAZINES FOR OLDER PERSONS.
Item
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Title
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AGELESS PROSE: A STUDY OF THE MEDIA PROJECTED IMAGES OF AGING AS REFLECTED IN CONTENT ANALYSIS OF MAGAZINES FOR OLDER PERSONS.
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Identifier
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AAI8423083
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identifier
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8423083
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Creator
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LOETTERLE, BRIDGET CATHERINE.
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Contributor
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Charles Winick
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Date
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1984
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Gerontology
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Abstract
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This research is a study of the most salient continuities and changes in the way in which contemporary senior citizens are socialized and depicted through the mass communications media, specifically in two well established and widely circulated magazines for older persons--Modern Maturity, and 50 Plus (formerly Harvest Years, and Retirement Living). This content analysis of specialty magazines consisted of the following twelve categories, (and 137 subcategories). They are: Leisure Time; Realities of Aging; Retirement; Value Orientation, Religion and Spirituality; Daily Living, Health, Economics, Residential Patterns, Part time Work, Second Careers, and Volunteer Activity; Family, and Coping Mechanisms. The content of these magazines was analyzed using the twelve categories over a twenty year time period, and the sampling covered three different time points in each of these two specialty magazines for elderly audiences. Tabulation of the frequency of appearance of various category and subcategory items indicated the editorial impact and socialization of the readers in the identified areas within this research study. These magazines are addressing the healthy aged who show no visible signs of aging until seventy-five years of age; and encouraging their readers into positive norms of aging; and reinforcing that "age is a victory, not a defeat," using the words of Ethel Percy Andrus, founder of Modern Maturity in 1958. The mature market was reviewed by analyzing the advertisements in the later issues of these magazines in order to determine the impact which the graying of America has had on the economic market, which traditionally has been concerned with the 18-49 age group. Determination was made of the attributes of the healthy and happy aged using surveys conducted by National Opinion Research Center (NORC). This study made it possible to tabulate both continuities and changes in the editorial direction of these magazines; the data revealed more continuity over time. These magazines have taken on quite a heroic task to socialize the elderly and counter the forces of our ageist society, and enable readers to see this time of their life as a period of growth and fulfillment.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Sociology
