Series connects New York City seniors to resources and advocates
What started as a private interest of City Limits Executive Editor Jarrett Murphy turned into journalism with real impact: helping New York City seniors advocate for themselves and win an increase in funding of senior centers.
The topic made sense for the mission of a news organization that has made covering climate, housing affordability and transit a priority. All those topics have relevance to New York’s population, aging faster than ever in modern history. By 2030, it is estimated that 20% of New York’s population, or more than 1.7 million residents, will be over 60 years old.
“We saw that there was a big change coming. It was kind of inevitable,” said Murphy.
Murphy had been following this story personally for about 18 months before reporting began for the “Age Justice” series in fall 2018 with a grant from the New York Foundation. The project meant creating a new beat on aging to provide more public attention and portray experiences of seniors across the city. That also meant finding ways to get the reporting to the folks who needed it.
The multimedia project included a livestream of a rally on the City Hall steps by advocacy organizations demanding more resources for seniors. And to be sure that the residents in New York City public housing knew what they could do to advocate for themselves, City Limits created a print newsletter focused on the senior services funding issues.
“We have increasingly realized that our all-digital approach to news, while useful in many ways, does have some shortcomings in terms of getting some populations to access it,” Murphy said. He personally delivered a couple thousand copies of the newsletter, driving his Prius from one senior center to the next across the city.
New York TV outlets referenced the reporting and Murphy was able to get aging advocates on a policy-focused TV show he used to do in Brooklyn.
After the series, the City Council approved a 2020 budget with $2.1 million in funding for 10 senior centers that were set to close and additional funding for meals at senior centers.
Murphy is hesitant to credit the funding to the series but noted that City Limits set out to connect the elderly with resources, amplify the voices of their advocates and provide tools that foster self-advocacy among seniors.
“I do think that the people who are making (policy) decisions recognized they’re in the spotlight, more than they had been,” he said. “And I think that probably helped to shape the outcome.”
But the work doesn’t stop there. With funding for another year, a second round of reporting will include investigative stories to hold more public officials accountable. And Murphy encourages newsrooms elsewhere to invest in an aging beat if they can. “I really would consider it because it’s a very rich and rewarding,” he said. “It’s one of those areas where I didn’t think I had stereotypes, but I do. It’s been great, so great, to have a chance to challenge that.”
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This is the fourth in a series taking you behind the scenes of stories selected by the Institute for Nonprofit News’ Best of Nonprofit News 2019 because of their high impact. Reporting like this takes time and money but builds trust between journalists and the public. This news matters! And without your financial support, stories like this go untold. If you would like to support this kind of high-quality reporting, please donate to City Limits or similar newsrooms in your area. From now until Dec. 31, your gift will be doubled by NewsMatch. And a gift to INN will help us nurture and support these newsrooms year-around. All money raised will contribute to journalism that creates change, informs communities and holds those in power accountable.
