MEDIA MONDAY / QUALITY NEWS CO-OP MAKES US FEEL GOOD ABOUT BEING OLDER

WISDOM OF THE AGES--I’m a fan of AARP, especially its monthly magazine and lately I’ve come to admire ANOTHER organization devoted to boosting post 50 year-olds, including those omnipresent baby boomers.

Called Next Avenue, the blog and website is a media collective on the Internet owned and operated by Twin Cities Public Television, Inc.

        

Next Avenue (www.nextavenue.org) is an inexhaustible and highly creative source of interesting articles on keeping up with growing older.

The site has partnered with an impressive roster of news sources—all experts in aging—and packaged the intelligences into an easy read website.

Content goes from the predictable: How to avoid scams aimed at seniors to think pieces such as dealing with permanent mistakes made while we were young and how to cope with the consequences in later years.  Example of this being a feature on wisdoms older prisoners (convicted criminals) have acquired as they age:

Example 1:

http://www.nextavenue.org/blog/4-nasty-phone-and-email-scams-how-stay-safe

The above feature was penned by Next Avenue contributor Caroline Mayer, who is a consumer reporter who spent 25 years working for The Washington Post.

Example 2;

http://www.nextavenue.org/blog/5-things-older-prisoners-want-you-know

The following is from Next Avenue’s “Who are We” mission statement:

WHERE GROWN-UPS KEEP GROWING

America is in the midst of an age boom and with it, an amazing transition. In general, those of us over the age of 50 are expected to live longer than any previous generation.

We're in the process of creating a new life stage that lies somewhere between young adulthood and "old-old" adulthood. This stage doesn't have a name. We call it Adult Part 2. And if you're reading this you're probably smack dab in it.

You're aware that many years of life lie ahead of you and, very likely, you have a different set of expectations for these "bonus years" than you had for earlier adulthood. You sense that you can somehow apply your knowledge and experiences in a meaningful way. Yet you may not know exactly how to achieve this new vision or see all the many possibilities available to you as you navigate the physical, health, work, and financial shifts that inevitably accompany this phase.

Enter Next Avenue. We're a group of public television people and journalists who, for the most part, are experiencing the very same things you are. Like you, we see both challenges and opportunities and we recognize that what we could all use right about now is an abundance of reliable information that can help us figure out what's, well, next.

So we aim to deliver that—in a way that's both smart and accessible.

If you think we could do a better job, we want you to tell us so. In fact, we want your input on a lot of things. There are places throughout the site that let you give us feedback, share your experiences and send us your stories.

Thanks for walking with us down Next Avenue.

Next Avenue has developed formal relationships with key content sources that provide articles and video for nextavenue.org. View our list of content sources to learn more about these government agencies, non-profit organizations, independent media producers, and public television stations.