Fellowships Will Advance Reporters’ Coverage of Aging-Related Topics
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) has received renewed grant support to welcome a 17th class of reporters for the Journalists in Aging Fellows Program. The current funders include Silver Century Foundation, The John A. Hartford Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation (NIHCM), and Health Foundation for Western & Central New York. Applications are due July 24.
Since its founding in 2010, this program has been responsible for more than 900 news stories produced by 258 alumni. It has two goals: to educate journalists about issues in aging, better allowing them to spread a new awareness to all segments of America’s population; and to disseminate information about new scientific findings, policy debates, innovations, and evidence-based solutions.
The program’s in-person activities will bring the fellows to GSA’s 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting, which will take place from November 4 to 7 in National Harbor, Maryland, with the theme of “Reinforcing Resilience in Aging Science, Research and Education.” There the fellows will participate in an exclusive educational workshop, which will showcase demographic trends and research highlights and include discussions with veteran journalists on how to position aging stories in the current media environment.
The fellowship requires reporters to deliver two projects based on current aging research, including a short initial story and major piece or series in the following months. All applications for the fellowship will be reviewed by a selection committee of gerontologists and editorial professionals. The criteria will include clarity and originality of proposed in-depth story projects; quality of samples of published or produced work; and high-impact potential of proposals geographically and across different ethnic or racial populations.
GSA Director of Communications and Social Media Todd Kluss co-directs the program together with veteran age-beat journalist Liz Seegert, who serves as program coordinator of the program’s media partner, the Journalists Network on Generations. The program’s co-founder, Journalists Network on Generations National Coordinator Paul Kleyman, serves as senior advisor and editorial consultant.
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The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), founded in 1945, is the oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization focused on aging. It serves more than 6,000 members in over 50 countries. GSA’s vision, meaningful lives as we age, is supported by its mission to foster excellence, innovation, and collaboration to advance aging research, education, practice, and policy. GSA is home to the National Academy on an Aging Society (a nonpartisan public policy institute) and the National Center to Reframe Aging.
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).