‘The demos of our program skews older, so stories on superannuation and tax concessions resonates. But it’s not something we deliberately set out to do in the same way we don’t set out to pitch to a younger audience even if we are mindful of building and developing a future audience.’ ‘Our product and content are primarily focused on finance and business, shareholdings etcetera so our readership is mostly older people. Superannuation stories rate very well for us, property [and] finance too. But those stories appeal to our audience more generally, so it’s not something we have deliberately done to connect with older people.’ Despite this awareness of the commercial importance of attracting a younger audience, there was a strong rejection among those interviewed of any deliberate editorial strategy underpinning their story choices or direction. However, they readily accepted that media coverage does generally portray older people negatively, often presenting them in ways that perpetuated and ‘leaned into stereotypes’. This included portraying older people as vulnerable, an economic burden, and as beneficiaries of a taxation system structured and shaped by their generation. It was acknowledged that this is an area where the media industry needs to improve. ‘Advertisers want a younger audience, but our audience definitely skews toward older. But there’s no editorial direction or plan – we very much go day to day and issue by issue.’ ‘We are trying to find that sweet spot where we continue to appeal to our older and loyal audience but also to engage that younger audience that we need to survive for the longer term. But that doesn’t influence what we cover and how we cover it.’ ‘I think the elderly are generally pretty poorly portrayed. Mainstream media often likes to mock older people’s language and habits. Older people are too often portrayed as technology luddites, vulnerable and scared, while younger people are portrayed as ‘TikTok’ stars and bearing the economic burden of the ageing population.’ ‘I think the media broadly leans too much on stereotypes and that’s something we as an industry has to improve on.’ ‘Generally ageing is depicted as an economic burden because we have a lot of economic debate in this country, particularly in the current cost of living crisis where everyone is more resource competitive.’ ‘There is a tendency to report on Boomers as a demographic problem and a burden on the taxpayer and sucking up resources. I think we as an industry need to re-evaluate how we present these stories and be careful we aren’t sort of perpetuating these stereotypes.’ 28 Shaping Perceptions: How Australian Media Reports on Ageing