Background and Objectives
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected older adults. Despite calls to include older people in societal decision-making, the extent to which older adults have participated in the pandemic-related public debate is unknown. This study investigated older adults’ (65+ years) voice and visibility as guests on political talk shows as an important arena of public debate. Specifically, we examined how often older adults appeared as guests, their characteristics, and how older versus younger guests discussed the pandemic.
Research Design and Methods
Judges assessed all guests’ age, gender, migration experience, functional aids, and professional background on all episodes of the four most-watched political talk shows in Germany between January 1 to December 31, 2020 (N=136 episodes, K=754 guests). We used an exploratory sequential mixed methods approach and frame analysis on all episodes featuring older guests (n=37), to first identify how guests discussed the pandemic, and then assess differences in positions between older and younger guests (<65 years).
Results
Older guests rarely appeared (12.2% of all guests, 9.6% of guests on COVID-related episodes) and if, they were majorly male, young-old, German-born professionals with no functional aids. Rather than appearing as ‘peer advocates’ of older adults, older guests framed the pandemic similarly to younger guests, with a tendency to more strongly address disproportionate restrictions of civil liberties in society.
Discussion and Implications
Results suggest that one prominent part of German media failed to represent the diverse voice of a population most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Differences between how older and younger guests discussed the pandemic may reflect their privileged background in addition to generational differences in attitudes toward government. Future research in other social fora and of other social groups of older adults might facilitate understanding how older adults shaped the public debate on the COVID-19 pandemic.