Younger, less experienced journalists felt this perceived conflict was new and developing. Older journalists were sceptical, stating stories highlighting younger generations’ different values and priorities are a legacy of past practice. ‘There’s some really interesting research, especially the stuff you are doing, which powerfully demonstrates the difference in attitudes between generations on various issues. But there’s also nothing new and unique to that. In the 1980’s it was fretting about television content and the amount of time kids were spending watching television and now it’s the same stories again but just about screen time on iPhones and on social media. It’s just a new brand of bullshit.’ ‘I think society in general and therefore the media have always been a bit judgmental about younger people. The story angles are new but I’m not sure the tension is new.’ ‘It’s always been thus.’ Unprompted, some younger journalists and producers said that the frustrations of younger ‘poorly paid and overworked’ journalists’ could subconsciously influence how they cover intergenerational issues and stories on perceived ‘generational tensions.’ Both older and younger journalists acknowledged that there are significant salary differences in newsrooms between younger and older employees due to the changing nature of the media and reduced industry profits. ‘Particularly in the last five years the ‘Battle of the Generations’ has bled into newsrooms too. In most newsrooms there are older journalists who are very well paid whilst the younger ones are deeply underpaid and very overworked. So whilst there’s a lot of respect for the older journalists in the newsroom, there is also some tension too. I wonder whether those newsroom dynamics maybe influences headlines.’ ‘There is a real inequity in pay structures in media not just based on gender but also age. Older journalists are the beneficiaries of pay structures that existed 20 to 30 years ago that have long ceased. Only 15 years ago most print jobs in the [federal] gallery had an entry level of over $100,000 are now paying much less than that in actual terms and around half of what it was in real terms. That causes a lot of frustration I think, and our newsrooms are probably a bit of a microcosm for the rest of the country, and I think that can be reflected in some reporting.’ ‘I think by younger journos, they [older people] are portrayed as whingers who have taken advantage of things that have organically occurred like free education and home ownership.’ Qualitative interviews 25