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Abstract
It is fact the life expectancy of human beings have improved significantly due to advancement in medical sciences. Hence, the population of older people is growing significantly. This brings with it many social, political and economic challenges. Also, it should be noted that media does not significantly include the older people in their agenda in relation to planning and consumption of media products. The media, including television, print media (books, newspapers, magazines, and advertisements) are considered a major and pervasive source of socio-cultural influence on the public’s perceptions of older people and ageing. The media act as a resource for learning about the world in general and supplies information and ideas about older people and ageing that can play a role in the formation and reinforcement of these images (Lee et al. 2007; Robinson et al. 2007; Williams et al. 2007; Gilbert & Ricketts 2008). Some researchers argue that in the absence of real-world contact between younger and older people, the media is a particularly important source of intergenerational contact (Williams et al. 2007).It becomes increasingly important to gain an insight and understanding into how older people are perceived by the public as it is from these perceptions and attitudes that ageist behaviours, discrimination and mistreatment of older people can develop. This paper tends tounderstand the public perceptions of older people and ageing, describe the factors that influence them, and the consequences of these perceptions on the lives of older people.