A decade-old legal battle comes to an end as 17 major networks and production studios, along with seven talent agencies, agree to pay $70 million to thousands of writers…

Under the settlement, 17 major networks and production studios, along with seven talent agencies, agreed to pay $70 million to thousands of writers to resolve 19 claims.

A group of 165 writers alleged that the networks, studios and talent agencies unfairly squeezed out writers older than 40 in their efforts to capture younger audiences, denying them employment on dramas and situation comedies.

Movie-goers chuckle every time Tyler Perry's character, Madea, pulls a handgun from her purse.

Here are the five most harmful ways in which these stereotypes are perpetuated in media and popular culture:

1. Elders are portrayed as helpless victims.

Elders are predominantly depicted as sweet and vulnerable. News stories that feature older people as crime victims are a natural extension of this narrative. Daily headlines regularly include items like:

• “Elderly Savannah woman scammed out of her life savings”
• “Police hunt driver who hit elderly man in wheelchair then fled”
• “Elderly man missing in Torrington”

Such stories perpetuate the stereotype of elders as being warm, but incompetent figures who deserve our pity. Older people are characterized as vulnerable children in need of protection and charity. But, as is often the case with children, this narrative makes it easier for the opinions, concerns, and contributions of elders to be marginalized and discounted.

Surprisingly, well-intentioned advocates working to help elders may (inadvertently) be furthering this stereotype. In order to secure the resources and benefits that are genuinely needed by some elders, advocates often try to generate media attention that (over)emphasizes the vulnerability of older people.

2. Elders who defy negative stereotypes are presented as bizarre and comical.

Recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation asked for the public’s help in locating the “Geezer Bandit,” a bank robber in his 70s. Bank robberies occur frequently, but they usually garner very little news coverage. In this case, however, news outlets throughout the nation happily covered the story — mostly as a light-hearted aside. Why? Because the man’s age made the story appear humorous, as it seemed so “out of character” and at odds with how older people are assumed to behave: sweet, vulnerable, and child-like. Indeed one Philadelphia TV station included the story in its “Bizarre Bazaar” segment.

Another seemingly “bizarre” news story featured an older person who fended off an intruder by hitting him with a frying pan. Would this story be as newsworthy if the person wielding the frying pan were age 35? Probably not. Our society loves such “funny characters” who defy the stereotype of a “typical” older person. Fictional characters who come to mind include screenwriter Tyler Perry’s popular character Madea, the gun-toting granny; and Mr. Six, the mad-dancing, tuxedo-wearing older man who serves as the mascot for Six Flags. But even these non-stereotypical figures end up reinforcing negative stereotypes – precisely because they are seen as unnatural, odd, bizarre, and exceptions to the stereotypical norm.

3. Growing old is equated with inevitable deterioration and decline.

Stereotypes of growing older include generalizations about declining health, happiness, and attractiveness. In a recent literature review on ageism, author Elizabeth Dozois explained:

Research suggests that most people (including older adults) do not understand the course of typical aging and grossly overestimate its impact. For example, one study found that 90 percent of elderly respondents indicated that the likelihood of them becoming senile was very strong. However, estimates indicate that severe senility only affects about 4 percent of people over age 65…

These misconceptions are often taken for granted and presented in media and popular culture as factual.

A recent article in Forbes began: “It won’t be too long before baby boomers begin migrating from factory floors and corner offices to wheelchairs and adult diapers.” The author painted an overly negative portrait of growing old. Of course neither condition is an inevitable part of aging. Still, many ads that feature elders employ similar imagery. Think of commercials for The Clapper, or the Life Alert medical bracelet (i.e., “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”).

Sadly, elders are at risk of internalizing the low expectations of aging which are conveyed in such depictions. Yale University studies have shown that exposure to these gloomy images actually causes seniors to walk more slowly, hear and remember less well, increases stress levels, and harms heart health.

4. Elders are demonized as a group.

As individuals, elders are often treated as sweet, pathetic figures. (Which, as outlined above, can be quite problematic.) As a group, however, elders are judged more harshly. When discussed as a faceless monolith (i.e. “the elderly”), older people are often condemned as “greedy geezers” who undeservedly drain our shared resources via Medicare and Social Security. The founder of one conservative think-tank recently declared:

Medicare uses the force of government to take money from one group of people — those who are working — in order to pay for the health-care costs of another group — senior citizens. Wouldn’t you think that such an important moral principle as “Thou shalt not steal” would be something important for senior citizens to think about, especially given that, statistically speaking, they’re closer to death than everyone else?

Such demonization conveys the message that elders are not worthy of humane treatment, which in turn fosters exclusion and discrimination.

5. Elders are under-represented and ignored.

When elders do appear in media and popular culture, it is often in a stereotypical manner. But, more often than not, elders are simply excluded altogether. In 2005, the number of people age 65 and older had risen to 12.7 percent of the American population. However, according to Senior Journal, elders were represented in less than 2 percent of programs on prime-time television. Nothing could convey the low status of elders in our society better than their invisibility.

Most Americans desire to never be “old” and to never be associated with “those people.” As a result, most non-elderly people have few meaningful relationships with older people. This lack of meaningful exchange, coupled with the lack of complex depictions of elders in media and popular culture, allows the negative stereotypes (as outlined above) to be that much more influential in the minds of most Americans.

So why does any of this matter? It matters because we act on the stereotypes and assumptions we harbor about older people. In a recent Duke University survey 80 percent of elder respondents reported experiencing ageism, such as being ignored or not taken seriously because of their age. Researchers have also documented the propensity of younger individuals to use “baby-talk” (i.e., exaggerated tone, simplified speech, and high pitch) when speaking to older adults. Physicians have been shown to condescend to and patronize older patients by providing oversimplified information or speaking to the family instead of the older patient. And according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, age-based discrimination complaints in the workplace are at an all-time high—up 29% from last year.

Stereotypes matter. And we all have a responsibility to challenge them when and where they do occur.

Here is a longer description by Amazon.com:

The Summer of Love. Vietnam. Woodstock. These are the milestones of the baby boomer generation Theodore Roszak chronicled in his 1969 breakthrough book The Making of a Counter Culture. Part of an unprecedented longevity revolution, those boomers form the most educated, most socially conscientious, politically savvy older generation the world has ever seen. And they are preparing for Act Two.

The Making of an Elder Culture reminds the boomers of the creative role they once played in our society and of the moral and intellectual resources they have to draw upon for radical transformation in their later years. Seeing the experience of aging as a revolution in consciousness, it predicts an “elder insurgency” where boomers return to take up what they left undone in their youth. Freed from competitive individualism, military-industrial bravado, and the careerist rat race, who better to forge a compassionate economy? Who better positioned not only to demand Social Security and Medicare for themselves, but to champion “Entitlements for Everyone”? Fusing the green, the gray, and the just, Eldertown can be an achievable, truly sustainable future.

Part demographic study, part history, part critique, and part appeal, Theodore Roszak’s take on the imminent transformation of our world is as wise as it is inspired—and utterly appealing.

Age-discrimination claims against employers have skyrocketed in recent years. But a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June has made it harder for employees to win such cases.

Here’s what’s happening in Washington in the wake of that ruling — and what you need to know if you believe you’ve been a victim of age-related bias in the workplace.

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, age-discrimination allegations against current, former and prospective employers have hit a high — up 29% to 24,582 in fiscal year 2008, from 19,103 in 2007.

Here are some tips to help you write an effective “letter to the editor:”

1. Keep it short and focused. A concise letter (150-200 words) has a better chance of being published and of keeping the reader’s interest. It should also be logically organized and to the point. Start with a brief review of the argument you are opposing, followed by a statement of your position. Then present your evidence and close with a short restatement of your position or a pithy comment.
2. Make it personal. Don’t sound like everyone else. Use your own voice and say what’s on your mind. Start your letter with a phrase like “I strongly disagree with John Doe’s article because…” or “I was dismayed to see the age bias in John Doe’s recent article on health care reform…”
3. Be respectful. Editors tend to discard letters that are shrill or contain personal attacks. Instead, make a great argument in a tactful tone!
4. Include your contact info. Many newspapers will only publish a letter to the editor after verifying the author’s contact information (name, address, telephone number). When published, however, the letter will usually only include your name and city.
5. Do it! It might seem intimidating at first, but your opinion matters just as much as anyone else’s. Plus your letter might change the way other people see an issue. You can make a difference!

Below is a great example of a short and to-the-point letter, which was published in the Boston Herald. (Background: The author was responding to a columnist who argue that elders should have to obtain clearance from a doctor in order to continue driving).

Elderly Profiled
I find this a good article as far as it went. My concern is the bias against older drivers (“Course puts elder drivers on road to safer driving,” Nov. 10).

I agree that at some age a repeat driving test be required. But why just limit it to the elderly? What about drivers who are medically impaired? What about new drivers at any age? And people who have undergone serious surgery - shouldn’t they have a doctor’s clearance that they have the ability to return to driving once, and I emphasize once, they have passed a driving test. These could be people of any age. - Philip Legro, Natick, MA

While overall care of heart attack patients in the United States is good, gaps remain in the treatment of patients 80 and older, a new study suggests.

…analysis revealed that 86 percent of patients aged 80 and older received early beta blocker therapy, compared with 90 percent of patients aged 64 or younger. Only 43 percent of patients 80 and older received balloon angioplasty within 90 minutes of hospital arrival, compared with 54 percent of younger patients.

Older patients had a far higher rate of in-hospital deaths (11.8 percent vs. 2.4 percent) and were less likely than younger ones to be taking statins when discharged from hospital (76 percent vs. 92 percent).

A federal jury on Tuesday awarded more than $6.2 million in an age discrimination suit brought by two scientists who said they were fired from their jobs at a Chester County, Pa., chemical manufacturing firm when the company targeted only older workers in layoffs in 2005.

Significantly, the jury concluded that PQ Corp.’s age discrimination was “willful” — a finding that leads to an automatic doubling of each plaintiff’s back pay award. The jury also awarded hefty compensatory damages — $2 million to plaintiff Roman Wypart and $1.5 million to plaintiff Bonnie Marcus — for the emotional damage they suffered as a result of the discrimination.

Lead plaintiffs’ attorney Scott B. Goldshaw of Salmanson Goldshaw said he was “gratified that the jury recognized that age discrimination is real and hurts real people.”

It is ageist to scare older Americans with talk of death panels, cuts that will destroy Medicare or drastically reduce benefits, or make it impossible to see their doctors. It is equally ageist to pat older people on the head, essentially telling them, “Don’t worry, be happy — there are no trade-offs, and health reform will bring only good things.”

Learn more about the campaign here.

This may be the worst time in the last 60 years to be old and looking for work. Some 6.8 percent of workers over 55 are unemployed (not as bad as for younger workers, but still a historic high). You have to go back to 1949 to find employment stats nearly (but not quite) as bleak as they are now. The bad news does not stop there. On average, it takes employees over 55 roughly 33 weeks to find new jobs, nearly seven weeks longer than for younger workers, and nearly 13 weeks longer than it took just two years ago.