Gamino learned about her connection to the hit song from the American-Statesman 's rock critic, who had interviewed the band. Another pioneer on the beat is Diane Lade of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel . And she is organizing six community forums to discuss three topics chosen by older readers from a list of ten, including Medicare and prescription drug coverage, long-term care, and problems with HMOs. A series of resulting articles will summarize the discussions and the package will be presented to the Florida legislature. Lade says the legislative package is a great way to give older people a voice and demonstrate that the paper is serious about their interests.
Older readers are by and large ignored.
It is generally reporters who first propose an age beat at a newspaper, says Paul Kleyman, the editor of Aging Today , a publication of the American Society on Aging, and the founder of the Journalists Exchange on Aging. He echoes other reporters who say the beat can be as broad and deep as you want to make it. Wolfe says he still gets comments and questions about the series. At the Orange County Register in southern California, Jane Glenn Haas has discovered numerous ways to reach readers. As she sees it, her audience of baby boomers and their parents can span up to four generations.