Not Dead Yet

Editor’s Note: This is the 60th AgeSpots post. Thanks for reading!

Several years ago an ensemble of retired musicians/college music educators decided to revive their association with dinner gatherings called Not Dead Yet.   

That name came to me as I begin a paid writing assignment about the 90-year history of Planned Parenthood in southern Arizona beginning with one Tucson clinic, Clinica Para Madres, founded by Margaret Sanger, the heroic birth control activist.

I also am researching, interviewing and writing about a Tucson architect who was the first woman to graduate from MIT’s architecture program before 1900 and Arizona’s first registered resident woman architect.  Some of the Spanish Colonial Revival-inspired buildings and residences she designed still stand in Tucson, yet she is virtually unknown and uncredited.

While working on these projects, an extraordinarily gifted journalist friend (and a contributor to AgeSpots) I’ve known for over 30 years asked my advice about accepting a writing assignment she was ambivalent about.  I acknowledged her ambivalence, but also suggested that it is critical for great journalism to continue.

She and I are taking advantage of new creative opportunities to flex our writing muscles not only to keep mentally sharp but also because we have a palpable sense that what we do matters—especially in this TikTok-xic world of disinformation and distortion. 

Attention to simple grammar and precision in writing has vanished, replaced by LMAO, influencers who purport to be authoritative sources on health, fashion, popular culture, and life choices, and AI-generated content that is anything but “original” and “creative.”

One by one, acquisition vultures such as Alden Capital and Sinclair Broadcasting swoop in, acquiring venerated news organizations (Baltimore Sun, Denver Post, Los Angeles Times) and broadcast media, turning them into mouthpieces for division and distortion..

Even legacy hallmarks of journalistic excellence, such as the New Yorker, are emaciated shells, albeit with an occasional flash of outstanding writing/reporting—and great cartoons!

Add to that the ageist kerfuffle about Joe Biden’s mental acuity. (he misspoke, looks unsteady) versus the crazy person he may face in the upcoming election.

What are we left with?  Journalists who no longer cover government, economics, foreign affairs, climate and the arts, but do cover every detail of the lives of Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and Beyonce.

But, thankfully, we’re not dead yet.  And we must refuse to succumb to this dumbed-down, exasperating mashup of what increasingly passes as news.