'Oldies come bottom of Grim Reaper hierarchy' : A framing analysis of UK newspaper coverage of old age and risk of dying during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
| Autor: | GEMMA M. CARNEY, STEPHANIE MAGUIRE, BRONAGH BYRNE |
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| Rok vydání: | 2022 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Social Policy. :1-22 |
| ISSN: | 1469-7823 0047-2794 |
| Popis: | This article examines UK newspaper coverage during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic March-August 2020. A qualitative framing analysis of public messaging on age in five high circulation newspapers provides a detailed account of who is deemed to be at risk of dying from COVID-19. Newspapers represent older people as most at risk, with disability as a secondary factor. Reports on who is responsible, who is at risk, and who is to blame for deaths from COVID-19 are framed as issues of public health and generational fairness, with individual responsibility occupying a prominent role. We also find two counter-frames. First, in letters to the editor, older people’s pleas for freedom are framed as a fight for their civil liberties. Second, newspapers praise 99-year-old Captain Tom Moore and frame his behaviour as a source of national pride. We identify this as positive ageism. We conclude that reporting across progressive and conservative newspapers reflects age-based stereotypes and paternalism towards older people. Public figures are represented as scapegoats or heroes, offering distraction from the less newsworthy fact that long-term under-investment in social care increased the risk of dying amongst the old and disabled during the pandemic. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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