News representation of older people has been observed to stigmatize or stereotype them, raising concerns about reinforcing social ageism, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent Western literature (2020-2021) highlights that older individuals are often portrayed as a vulnerable, homogeneous, or misbehaving group in the context of the pandemic. These narratives not only diminish their social standing but also normalize pandemic prevention measures targeting them. Therefore, it is crucial to analyze news media communication regarding the pandemic and older people to counter problematic portrayals. This study gathered relevant news articles from a mainstream news archive in Taiwan, focusing on the period between April 2020 and February 2023. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), the study examined discursive representational strategies, emphasizing referential strategies and the portrayal of older people as active agents or passive recipients of actions in news. The ultimate aim of this research is to decode the ideological implications behind these representational strategies. Given the unique progression of the epidemic in Taiwan compared to other countries, the sampling period was divided into three stages to observe how older people were depicted in different phases. This sampling approach makes this project the first longitudinal study and the first Taiwan-based linguistic study on this research topic among existing literature.

Authors:
Chin-Hui Chen, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Yu-Jing Chen, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Chin-Hui Chen is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology in Taiwan

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hana-Jee

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