How Different Generations Are Getting Their News About The Coronavirus Is Causing Ageism
Usually we’re talking about how ageism happens most often at work, or within societal interactions, or even in the healthcare system, but the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) is revealing another way ageism impacts the world. Different generations have become used to getting their news from certain mediums and sources, and it is causing ageism stereotypes to skyrocket in real-time.
Generations that are immersed in first-person social media (like Instagram, Twitter or Reddit) are seeing live accounts of how the Coronavirus is impacting people around the entire world. On the other hand, generations that are following traditional news media alone are getting a slower trickle of news that is more moderated.
It’s becoming clear from the first-person narratives surrounding the Coronavirus that social media savvy generations are seeing a noticeable gap in the information they have about COVID-19, and the news others are aware of, and we’ve heard numerous reports of the word “ageism” being used.
Just like in many of our other articles, we urge all generations to constantly learn – from any source they can find. All generations should consistently, but especially now, be getting news from a variety of sources – books, newspapers, digital news, television and radio broadcasts, video channels, social media, and word of mouth. To eliminate a gap in generational news intake and sharing it’s imperative that we all work together to learn from all available sources.
To lessen ageism in situations like this, you should stay open to what you’re hearing. You should remain inquisitive even if you’ve heard from a well-respected resource. You should gather information from everywhere, and then use that to make educated decisions for yourself and your family within any situation.
Now that we see how news intake can separate how different generations react to world events, we will be paying much closer attention to it moving forward. We are motivated to research what is happening, and how we can help to change it.
It is worrisome that in world-impactful scenarios like the Coronavirus we will see an extreme range of reactions based simply on where individuals are getting their daily news. We may see entire generations unprepared, underprepared or even over-prepared because of where they hear stories about what is happening.
Reactions to COVID-19 will vary simply based on news intake, and that’s scary.
How can we work together as a worldwide community to ensure that we are all getting the full range of updates, from multiple sources and angles? This is a bigger conversation we should be having around the world, especially during times of uncertainty where news is an overwhelming factor in how each and every one of us reacts.
We encourage you to stay immersed in any news that you can ingest, from a variety of sources. And not just now, lets work together as a community to continue learning from a range of sources each and every day.
