14 Journalists from Across U.S. Earn Aging-Focused Reporting Fellowships
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and the Journalists Network on Generations are welcoming 14 distinguished reporters for the next class of the Journalists in Aging Fellows Program, now in its 15th year.
They represent a wide range of general audience, ethnic, and community media outlets, including local and national publications and radio outlets. This year’s group brings the program’s total number of participating reporters to 245. The new fellows were chosen — by a panel of gerontological and editorial professionals — based on their proposals for an in-depth aging-focused story or series.
These projects, to be produced in 2025, span such concerns such as malnutrition, menopause, social isolation, and caregiving issues.
The program is supported by funding from Silver Century Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, The John A. Hartford Foundation, and National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation (NIHCM), and a donation from John Migliaccio, PhD, MEd, FGSA.
The participating journalists will convene during the GSA 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting — scheduled for November 13 to 16 in Seattle, Washington — where they will have access to the latest aging research and approximately 4,000 expert attendees. The fellowship will showcase research highlights from the meeting and other sources, and host discussions with veteran journalists on how to position aging stories in the current media environment.
“We congratulate the new fellows and their news outlets on demonstrating a commitment to serving their communities with fact-based, topical stories on our experiences as we age.,” said GSA Director of Communications Todd Kluss. “Our program provides a unique venue where these reporters can network with each other and meet the top authorities on aging to better understand everything from scientific discoveries to social and policy debates.”
Kluss co-directs the program together with independent age-beat journalist Liz Seegert, who serves as program coordinator of the fellowship’s media partner, the Journalists Network on Generations.
“It’s exciting to start our 15th fellowship year with such a wonderful group of journalists,” Seegert said. “Their project proposals were impressive and I look forward to connecting them to resources and knowledge that will enrich their reporting and develop more in-depth, nuanced stories about the many aspects of aging.”
Program co-founder and Journalists Network on Generations National Coordinator Paul Kleyman serves as senior advisor and editorial consultant.
Continuing fellowship grants also are being provided to allow several previous fellows to participate in the program and GSA’s meeting. A continuously updated list of more than 800 stories generated by the program’s alumni is available on GSA’s website.
The new fellows:
Donna Alvarado (Bay City News Foundation)
Project: “Hidden Impact of Remote Working on Aging Workers.”
Estefania Arellano-Bermudez (El Central Hispanic News)
Project: Limited retirement opportunities in the immigrant community
Jeanette Beebe (The Ohio Newsroom)
Project: “Not Eating: Malnutrition Plagues Older Adults in Northeast Ohio”
Ellen E. Eldridge (Georgia Public Broadcasting)
Project:“When Language Barriers Lead to Potentially Fatal Neglect.”
Alexa Caitlyn Mikhail (Fortune)
Project: “The Stories from the New Frontier,” on those 65 and older who are charting a new path for themselves in a newfound decade of life
Ashley Milne-Tyte (NPR)
Project: “How Men Age, and How They Can Do It Better”
Taayoo Murray (Amsterdam News)
Project: How the social determinants of health converge over time to impact the quality of life of older Black Americans, and how policy can change this
Anjana Nagarajan-Butaney (India Currents)
Project: “Barriers to Menopause Treatment — Access, Insurance, and Taboos”
Leah R. Romero (Source New Mexico)
Project: “Aging and New Mexico’s Long-Term Care Workforce”
Aiola Virella (Metro Puerto Rico)
Project: “How to Take Care of Our Loved Ones When Memory Fades”
Grace Vitaglione (North Carolina Health News)
Project: Aging in Southeastern North Carolina
Margit B. Weisgal (The Baltimore Sun)
Project: “Longevity Ready Maryland and Similar Programs”
Moira Welsh (Toronto Star)
Project: “Suicide and the Isolation of Older Men”
Monica Williams (Michigan Solutions Journalism Collaborative/Urban Aging News/Detroit News)
Project: “Black Americans Aging Alone: The Rewards and Risks”
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The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society — and its 5,500+ members — is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA’s structure includes a nonpartisan public policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and GSA is also home to the National Center to Reframe Aging and the National Coordinating Center for the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research.
The Journalists Network on Generations, founded in 1993, is based in San Francisco. It links to over 1,000 journalists, authors, and producers on issues in aging, and publishes Generations Beat Online News (GBONews.org).