Abstract：
This research investigates the representation of older adults in Turkish newspaper reports during the first national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey in order to understand the representation and reinforcement of ageism in this context. To this end, fifty newspaper reports from five top-selling Turkish newspapers at the time were selected randomly and analysed using critical discourse analysis for the text producers\' linguistic choices in the representations of older adults. The findings show that the older adults were represented predominantly in relation to the lockdown measures and as members of a homogeneous group. They were mainly evaluated negatively as a vulnerable, passive, and at risk group who lacked truthfulness and exhibited unusual behaviour. They were also found to be not among the intended readers of the newspaper reports. This resulted in the infantilisation of older adults and the removal of their agency. Our findings point to the linguistic choices realising these discursive practices in the Turkish context. We argue that these findings follow a trend of representation of older adults in discursive practices and that these practices are instrumental in forming ageist stereotypes and reinforcing age-related bias.
摘要：
这项研究调查了由于土耳其COVID-19大流行而在第一次全国封锁期间，老年人在土耳其报纸报道中的代表性，以了解在这种情况下年龄歧视的代表性和强化性。为此,随机选择了当时五家最畅销的土耳其报纸的50份报纸报道，并使用批判性语篇分析对文本生产者进行了分析。研究结果表明，老年人主要代表与封锁措施有关，并且是同质群体的成员。他们主要被评价为弱势群体，被动,缺乏真实性和表现出异常行为的风险群体。还发现他们不在报纸报道的预期读者之列。这导致了老年人的幼稚化和他们的代理机构的移除。我们的发现指出了在土耳其语背景下实现这些话语实践的语言选择。我们认为，这些发现遵循了老年人在话语实践中的代表性趋势，并且这些实践有助于形成年龄歧视的刻板印象和加强与年龄相关的偏见。
