Ageism, a Remarkable Election, and the Journalism Objectivity Norm

Abstract

Age, rarely examined in journalism studies, became salient in 2018 in Malaysia when a 92-year-old, Mahathir Mohamad, unexpectedly became the world’s oldest elected head of state, and he named a 25-year-old, Syed Saddiq, to his cabinet. A content analysis of 1,376 stories published worldwide revealed that journalists treated the ages of the two men infrequently, similarly, and cautiously. Variance occurred with Hofstede’s collectivism-individualism dimension of the publications’ national bases, and in the application of descriptive adjectives, which changed with the election. Overall, the judicious treatment of age shows support for the journalistic objectivity norm.