The ''Fifty Plus Advocate'' Newspaper was founded in January 1975. It is the oldest continuously published mature market publication in the United States. It was originally known as ''The Senior Advocate'' newspaper. The founder and publisher in 1975 was Philip Davis. At the time he was 23 years old making him the youngest founder of a similar publication. His major influence in starting a senior newspaper was

Maggie Kuhn Margaret Eliza "Maggie" Kuhn (August 3, 1905 – April 22, 1995) was an Americans, American activist known for founding the Gray Panthers movement, after she was forced to retire from her job at the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, then ...

, founder of the

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. As a 22-year-old reporter, Davis heard

speak at

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. She talked about being forced to retire at 65. Davis found her speech very uplifting and decided to try to get into the senior newspaper field. In 2012 Fifty Plus Advocate was purchased by David Bagdon, owner of Bagdon Advertising, Inc. Bagdon saw a publishing opportunity in focusing on the growing national trend of seniors becoming more active and vital, and maintaining physical health and mental acuity into their later years. In the United States, people over 50 are responsible for more than half of

consumer spending Consumer spending is the total money spent on final goods and services by individuals and households. There are two components of consumer spending: induced consumption (which is affected by the level of income) and autonomous consumption (which ...

, but no more than ten percent of marketing budgets are devoted to targeting them. The editorial content features articles about health and longevity, travel and recreation, financial stability in retirement, social issues and legislation affecting people over 50, and people over 50 with unique or inspirational personal and professional stories.

Circulation

Circulation in 1975 was limited to

Worcester County, Massachusetts Worcester County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 862,111, making it the second-most populous county in Massachusetts. Being 1,510.6 ...

. In 1988 the publication expanded into the Boston market. Currently it is distributed in Eastern and Central Massachusetts, from Boston to Worcester. Combined monthly circulation is 25,000 newspapers. In addition to mail subscriptions, the newspaper is distributed to over 600 high-traffic locations throughout Eastern and Central Massachusetts.

www.fiftyplusadvocate.com

The Fifty Plus Advocate newspaper is partnered with www.fiftyplusadvocate.com. Multiple years of archived issues of the newspaper are available on the website.

Awards

The Fifty Plus Advocate newspaper has won numerous awards including the Vision Action Leadership Award from the Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging; Mature Media National Award for excellence in Journalism and North American Mature Publishers Association Award for editorial and design.

References

{{Newspapers in Massachusetts Newspapers published in Massachusetts Newspapers established in 1975 1975 establishments in Massachusetts