A newly published article, “Framing healthy aging and digital technologies: News Coverage in the Nordic Welfare States (2017–2022)”, explores how newspapers support or challenge Nordic welfare state principles by how they frame older citizens. With a population aging at a pace parallel to increasing digitalisation, the need for new digital solutions for healthcare is becoming apparent, and media representation is more important than ever.
The authors of the study – Helena Sandberg, Elisa Tiilikainen, and Anette Grønning – have investigated the news media’s role in how people aged 75+ are represented in relation to their health and digital technology, and the role the media can play in “ensuring that older citizens remain visible and included in discussions about the future of welfare in the Nordic region”.
Despite aging populations being an increasingly prominent topic in news around the world, older citizens remain underrepresented in the news media as individuals or speaking subjects. And in the context of digitalisation, older adults are often represented as unable or unwilling to use digital technologies.
In the Nordic context of robust welfare states based on universalism, egalitarianism, and public responsibility, and where the media play a key role in democratic participation, the authors determined that further exploration was needed into how the Nordic media frames healthy aging and digital technologies, in order to understand the impact of digital transformation on society and policy development, and thus on older Nordic citizens.
The analysis shows that healthy aging and digital technologies as a topic is visible in Nordic news coverage, but it is less prominent than expected and there are differences between countries. “We were all surprised by the findings and how limited the news coverage was of this pressing issue in the Nordic welfare states”, the authors shared.
Despite the Nordic reputation for equality, universalism, and inclusion, “one key finding was that older persons were not given a voice in the text and additionally invisibilised in the visual content”, according to the authors. This under- and misrepresentation highlights concerns regarding participation and equality, and it influences “which social issues become politically salient and how they are interpreted, with implications for policy development, public perceptions, and citizens’ trust in the welfare state”.
As the Nordic welfare state model remains under pressure from EU policy contexts and “rising healthcare demands from demographic change”, among other things, this study reminds us of the need for policymakers and journalists to rethink the role of media in shaping the future of the Nordic welfare state. Ensuring that the “very people who built it” are represented equally and fairly will contribute to maintaining the trust the Nordic welfare model has earned.
“The results are troubling”, the authors state. “The lack of older citizens’ engagement with digital health technologies in news content deprives policy people, health professionals and us all of their perspectives and lived experiences. Older citizens also miss opportunities to identify with others, learn from them, and be inspired by them”.
The article is published in Nordisk välfärdsforskning | Nordic Welfare Research, and is published Open Access. Read it here: https://doi.org/10.18261/nwr.11.2.5
Two of the authors – Sandberg and Grønning – have a book on the topic to be published on 21 October by Routlege, Healthy Ageing in a Digital World: A Nordic Outlook. The book is availabe to pre-order on 1 October.