You know what I like about the Internet trackers — the ones that follow my every move on the Web? They care about me. They don’t mind that I’m 50, that I’ve been kicked out of the prized 18-49 year old demo.

Oh, I know what they’re doing can feel like an invasion of privacy. But I’ve got other issues to deal with.

I’m on a mission. A mission to destroy the myth that the 18-49 demo, of which I was a member for 31 years, holds some unique added value to the advertisers who support my industry. I’m hoping these Internet trackers, with their finely honed tools for determining an individual’s likes and dislikes, might help me.

And yet. I must pay heed to the new report out this week from the Federal Trade Commission on how the trackers are impacting my privacy and yours.

“Consumers,” says the FTC, “live in a world where information about their purchasing behavior, online browsing habits, and other online and offline activity is collected, analyzed, combined, used, and shared, often instantaneously and invisibly.”

The trackers will tell you that the targeted advertising enabled by this invasion — the ads that often seem custom made for us — helps make a lot of free services possible.

But there may be a hidden price. On pages 35-36 of the government report, the FTC explains how the separation between anonymous information and information that can identify us by name, is eroding. That the “scope of data collection” has become so “comprehensive,” that it could be turned into “profiles that can be linked to a specific person.”

That’s not being done now, says the government. But the potential is there.

And so the FTC recommends that we need a new option: The ability to log on and click something like an icon that says “Do Not Track.” Leave me alone. Let me surf in the dark.

There’s only one problem with that. If I surf in the dark, at the age of 50, I’m thrown back into the arms of the advertisers who measure my worth primarily by my age — who, without the detailed information provided by the trackers, might write me off now that I’ve hit the big 5-0.

And so, on the story of Internet tracking, I must wrestle with two values I hold dear: My privacy and my pride.

From the AC360º Archives

I learned something new today about Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s resume. I now know which line item most intrigues me.

From the AC360º Archives

My son’s most treasured possession these days is a stick. It’s an ordinary looking stick. But I’m told it has extraordinary powers.

From the AC360º Archives

I love receiving holiday gifts.

Especially when they’re gifts of knowledge.

I feel like I received at least five gifts of knowledge when I met Janet Nkubana on a recent night.

I hope you’ll let me share them with you one at a time.

From the AC360º Archives
When Rwanda’s master basket weaver Janet Nkubana walked me through the symbolism of her basket’s designs, the image you see here left a big impression.

About Michael Schulder: Michael Schulder is a Senior Executive Producer at CNN. He's also a man on a mission. A mission to take on the myth of the 18 - 49 "Demo" and create a New Demo for a New Age. Schulder is a frequent contributor to Anderson Cooper’s CNN site AC360.com: News and Commentary Direct from the AC360º Newsroom.

From the AC360º Archives

I’ve been to Rwanda before. But I was never invited into a backyard. Now I know why.

From the AC360º Archives

I picked out a basket at Macy’s and read the name of the artist to Rwanda’s master weaver, Janet Nkubana.

From the AC360º Archives
To repair a country after a genocide, in a nation like Rwanda, where the killers and the survivors still live in the same neighborhoods, takes a lot of time, to say the least.

From the AC360º Archives
The Tiger Woods story has triggered a memory that led me to two old photos. One photo is real. One is doctored.

The Book of Laughter & Forgetting Tiger

I read about the photos 30 years ago in the Czech author Milan Kundera’s “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting.”

The original photo, on the left, was taken in February of 1948.

In Kundera’s account, this moment represented the birth of communism in Czechoslovakia.

The Czech Communist leader, Klement Gottwald, [the man on the right of the photo] had just stepped out on the balcony of a Baroque palace in Prague, before “hundreds of thousands of citizens massed in the Old Town Square. Gottwald was flanked by his comrades, with (Vladimir) Clementis [two faces to the left] standing close to him. It was snowing and cold, and Gottwald was bearheaded.”

Kundera continues:

“Bursting with solicitude, Clementis took off his fur hat and set it on Gottwald’s head.”

So, that fur hat you see on Gottwald’s head was given to him by comrade Clementis, who sacrificed his own warmth for his comrade’s.

That gesture of communist solidarity caught the attention of the Communist Party propaganda machine.

They “made hundreds of thousands of copies of the photograph taken on the balcony, where Gottwald, in a fur hat and surrounded by his comrades, spoke to the people.

Every child knew that photograph, from seeing it on posters and in schoolbooks and museums.

Four years later, Clementis was charged with treason and hanged.

The propaganda section immediately made him vanish from history and, of course, from all photographs.

Ever since, Gottwald has been alone on the balcony. Where Clementis stood, there is only the bare palace wall.

Nothing remains of Clementis but the fur hat on Gottwald’s head.”

The doctored photo on the right is all that remained – until the age of the internet brought back the original.

Those photos make me think of Tiger.

Airbrushing Tiger

Tiger Woods’ acknowledgment of “transgressions,” has spurred a similar reaction to his omnipresent images from some free enterprise business comrades.

The huge consulting firm Accenture has treated Tiger the way so many felt: as if he’d committed treason against the brand. It dropped its sponsorship of Woods, saying he “just wasn’t a metaphor for high performance anymore.”

The New York Times describes how, “hours after Accenture ended its sponsorship deal, the golfer’s face was replaced by an anonymous skier on the company’s home page. His name was scrubbed almost completely from the rest of the web site.”

But images of Tiger endorsing the Accenture brand survive. So many airport terminals. So many corporate tchotchkes. So many web sites. It’s harder to make people disappear in the age of the internet than it was back in the 20th Century.

Tiger on Newsstands Today

I just picked up the Golf Digest January 2010 cover story headlined “10 Tips Obama Can Take From Tiger” (pre disclosure.) The issue is irresistible.

And Tiger’s words in that issue before his transgressions were acknowledged, are extremely valuable lessons for a large segment of the population. His advice in that piece convinces me that Tiger Woods will never be out of the picture. Here’s a brief excerpt.

(Editor’s note: please resist the urge to read double meanings into every sentence that follows.)

“AS a result of recent swing changes, it’s easier for me to shape tee shots, even my natural draw. I’m letting the club release along the line of my setup instead of muscling the ball with my upper body, which I did at times when my bad knee prevented a good shift into impact.”

Tiger continues:

“At the tour level you have to be able to hit different sand shots, because the bunkers are so varied and a stroke saved can make all the difference.” (please! You weren’t paying attention to the editor’s note on that last phrase.) “To hit a longer bunker shot, I rotate my body faster to the finish.”

OK – enough.

The point is this.

If you’re serious about golfing, you’ll want to see and hear from Tiger again.

Closeup shots of his back swing. And his short game. And his puts. And his body alignments.

Even if you’re not a golfer, you’ll probably want to hear from him. Golf is a mind game. And who’s not rightfully curious about whether he’ll get his mind back in the game.

Tiger Woods’ each individual twist and turn is not of great consequence.

But the universally fascinating question, in his tragic fall, is this.

Will Tiger be back in the picture again?

I think the answer is this.

Tiger Woods will be back in the picture if Tiger Woods chooses to be back in the picture.

But I don’t expect we’ll ever see the same image.

About Michael Schulder: Michael Schulder is a Senior Executive Producer at CNN. He's also a man on a mission. A mission to take on the myth of the 18 - 49 "Demo" and create a New Demo for a New Age. Schulder is a frequent contributor to Anderson Cooper’s CNN site AC360.com: News and Commentary Direct from the AC360º Newsroom.

I believe the sequence of events I’m about to recount happened for a reason.  It started with a surprise birthday cake from my CNN friends and colleagues for my 50th.  I ate a piece.  Then I started reading the book I ordered this week from Amazon.com – Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s “Chasing Life.”  I immediately turned to the chapter entitled “Living to 100.”  I felt like I started reading a few bites too late.

Living to 100

Dr. Gupta was trying to get to the bottom of why there’s a larger percentage of the 100+ year old demo living on the Japanese islands of Okinawa than anywhere  else on earth.  It’s not genetic, reports Dr. Gupta.  Low calorie diets are partly responsible for Okinawan longevity.

At that very moment, I was interrupted by another birthday celebration here in the newsroom.  A colleague visiting from New York was celebrating his 56^th.  A cake had just arrived for him too.  “Cheese cake and red velvet cake with graham crackers in the middle and icing,” relayed 56 year old birthday boy Joe Von Kanel, with a veteran writer’s precision.   I didn’t want to be rude.  But that small taste of Gupta on Okinawa gave me pause.   Longer life.  Fewer calories.  I’ll pass.

This is not the first time I’ve felt compelled to adjust my behavior based on Sanjay Gupta’s reporting.  I can’t arrive at a hotel late at night and order guilt-free room service before I go to sleep anymore because of Dr. Gupta’s admonitions against eating too close to bedtime.

I read some more.

Okinawan Mantra

“Consistent movement” is another secret of Okinawan centenarians, reports Gupta.   Okinawans do not live sedentary lives.  (Excuse me while I adjust my position in front of my computer.)

Among the examples Gupta cites is an Okinawan fisherman in his 90s who continued to dive off his boat for Uni – (sushi lovers rejoice – eat it with real, grated, wasabi if you can find it.)

Low calorie diets.  Active lifestyles.  Wise food choices you’ve probably heard about, including lots of deeply colored fruits and vegetables.

But what seems to have left the biggest impression on Dr. Gupta is an Okinawan mealtime mantra that was news to me.

Hara hachi bu.  That means push away from the table.  When?  Before you feel full.   When you’re about 80 percent full, to be more precise.  Why?  Neurosurgeon Gupta explains the neurological reasons.  You’ll have to read his book.

Chasing Life aims to empower us all to live healthier, longer lives.

His latest book and documentary, Cheating Death, aims to enable us all to benefit from the latest, greatest, lifesaving techniques should the need arise.

On my first day of 50 I feel like I’m right at the nexus of Chasing Life and Cheating Death.   My long-time colleague, CNN Editorial Director Richard Griffiths, insists I’m closer to the Cheating Death side.  He also acknowledges paying for my deliciously rich high-calorie birthday cake.  Hmm.

Starting Here, Starting Now

I’m not sure how Chasing Life and Cheating Death will help me with my quest to destroy the worshippers of the 18-49 demo and create A NEW DEMO FOR A NEW AGE.  I’ll figure that out later.

But here’s what I want to know now from my friend Sanjay Gupta.

Let’s assume that I’m behind the curve.

Let’s assume that, during my first 50 years, I have not maximized my chances of living well until 100.

Is it too late to start today, on my 50^th birthday.  Is it too late for me to have an Okinawan Outcome?

Paging Dr. Gupta.

As soon as he gets back to me, I’ll get back to you.

My wife broke the news to me. The mail just arrived. I’d received a letter. She didn’t have to say another word. It was less than 24 hours from the moment I’d turn 50. And there it was. The most solid confirmation, short of a birth or death certificate, that I was now being kicked out of the 18-49 year old audience “demo.”

The Laugh’s On Me

The only way I can properly convey this moment is to tailor an old joke for the occasion.

A man celebrating his 50th birthday is on a plane with his wife, flying over water.

The pilot announces that one of the plane’s engines has shut down and he’s making an emergency landing on an island in the middle the ocean.

He’s off the radar.

He doesn’t know the coordinates of the island.

They’re lost.

The husband turns to the wife with a mental checklist.

Husband: “Did you turn off the stove?”

Wife: “Yes. “

Husband: “Did you pay the mortgage? “

Wife: “Yes. “

Husband: Did you put on the house alarm?

Wife: “Yes. “

Husband: “Did you mail the check for my new AARP membership?”

Wife: “No. “

Husband: “THANK GOD. WE’LL BE FOUND!”

The AARP found me today. They seem to find every single one of us, just as we’re being kicked out of the 18-49 demo.

The Ladies Who Laugh

The invitation for me to join the AARP came as my wife, who is not expecting an AARP offer for some years, and our 30-something babysitter, Anna, were standing around the kitchen island chatting.

Anna chuckled at the news.

This is the same 30-something Anna who recently explained here that the reason the cold rain didn’t sting my face when I was jogging was that I hadn’t picked up enough speed on my run – so the rain wasn’t hitting me hard enough to hurt.

That same Anna was now smiling broadly at the news I’d been asked to join the AARP.

My wife asked Anna why she seemed so tickled by my AARP invitation.

“Is it because Michael receiving an AARP membership card makes you feel so young,” she asked Anna.

“Yes,” said ANNA emphatically, unable to contain her joy.

The two ladies laughed.

But Anna’s not insensitive. She relayed positively that her parents were thrilled when they got their AARP cards. Because of all the discounts.

Now my wife got really interested.

“What kind of discounts,” she asked.

Everything, said Anna. Restaurants. Hotels.

My wife’s reaction: “I don’t want to go to a hotel with an old man. “

More laughter.

And so – here I was – on the final day of my 40s …

Oh – excuse me. Anna has corrected me.

“It’s not just the final day of your 40s, Michael. It’s the final day of your first HALF CENTURY. “

Thank you, Anna. By the way, Anna is leaving Atlanta to get a master’s degree in special education.

I hope it’s special. I’ll really miss her unsolicited insights on running and aging.

My Laughing Wife

Will I accept the AARP’s offer to join?

I shouldn’t make that decision in my current state.

I want a little more time to research and reflect.

I’m going to put the application on a shelf and enjoy my birthday.

And I’m going to enjoy laughing with my wife on my birthday.

I love when my wife laughs.

I don’t mind that she got a good laugh at the thought of me, her husband, coming of AARP age.

And that was a great line she threw about the hotel.

But she should have known better than to laugh before she read.

Right there, on the front of the AARP invitation, in blue capital letters, was this offer.

FREE SPOUSE/PARTNER MEMBERSHIP

To my wife. My spouse and partner for life. Have I got a deal for you.

About Michael Schulder: Michael Schulder is a Senior Executive Producer at CNN. He's also a man on a mission. A mission to take on the myth of the 18 - 49 "Demo" and create a New Demo for a New Age. Schulder is a frequent contributor to Anderson Cooper’s CNN site AC360.com: News and Commentary Direct from the AC360º Newsroom.

Yesterday it was a Nobel Laureate emailing me with ammunition here to take down the 18-49 year old “demo.”

Today, the clergy is beginning to weigh in.

This is what Rabbi Michael Beyo emailed me.

“God understood very well that the 18-49 age demographic is not the real important one, but that the older people are the true demographic to follow.”

How does Rabbi Beyo know this? What evidence does he believe God provides?

I’m glad you asked.

Rabbi Beyo:

“God, in His infinite knowledge – (and in this case we can say His infinite Marketing knowledge) – knew very well how to market to the world His message and His teachings.”

Here’s a sampling of the Biblical messages chosen by Rabbi Beyo that relate to the ultimate demo.

Isaiah 46:4 “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

Proverbs 16:31 “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.”

Leviticus 19:32 “Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly.”

Job 32:7 “Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.”

Psalms 92:14 “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age.”

Job 12:12 (NASB) “Wisdom is with aged men, With long life is understanding.”

Calling All Clergy

I hope this serves as a calling to all clergy, from all faiths, to join my campaign to dismantle the 18-49 demo.

But first, I must ask myself, why should I trust Rabbi Beyo on this matter? After all, he admits he’s only 37.

This is where Beyo’s Biography sheds light on my efforts to create A NEW DEMO FOR A NEW AGE. His life story – the experiences he’s packed into his 37 years, suggests that the NEW DEMO should transcend chronological age. There is room for members of the old, worn out 18-49 demo. But no way is the cutoff point going to be 49.

Honor Thy Father

When Rabbi Beyo was a boy, growing up in the Italian city of Milan, his father was a toy manufacturer. He created a manufacturing process to deconstruct plastic toys so their pieces could fit into small hollow chocolates, and be reassembled without glue by the lucky children who received them.

The surprise these children received upon opening these chocolates though could not compare to the surprise Michael Beyo had in store for his father when his father demanded he delay his college education to first pursue formal Rabbinical training.

Delaying the Inevitable

“My father was worried that if I went to a regular college I’d no longer be in a protected environment. Bad things could happen. Fear was in his mind.” Who knew what the young Michael Beyo would be exposed to in college.

“So my father said he wouldn’t pay for any education unless I first became an ordained Rabbi.”

Very clever on his father’s part. Becoming an ordained Rabbi typically takes as long as five to seven years of study. That would be five to seven years of sheltering his son in a Yeshiva, a Jewish religious school, before he’d be exposed to the world at large.

You can imagine his father’s reaction when, in 1992, 11 months after entering Rabbinical school in Israel, Michael Beyo got on the one pay phone in his school, called his father back in Italy, and gave him the good news. “Today I got my smicha.” His rabbinical ordination. Five years of study finished in less than one.

His stunned father responded in Italian: “Da dove l’hai comprata?” Where did you buy it from?

Honor Thy Son

Michael Beyo bought his Rabbinical degree with the currency of intensive study. “In my good times, I’d study between 15 and 18 hours a day.” His father accepted his son’s news (after verifying it with the supervising Rabbi) and congratulated him. The Father Honored his Son as well as the bargain he made – and went on to pay for Rabbi Beyo to go to college.

Rabbi Beyo went on to receive an undergraduate degree in political science and two masters’ degrees – one in political science, the other in Jewish history. He now develops renewable energy projects, primarily in Europe and the Middle East. He teaches Hebrew on the side. He published a book in Italian – a conversation between himself, a man of faith, and his good friend, a man of science, on the ethical challenges of our time.

And he’s been kind enough to use the fruit of his 18 hour study days to give me some important Biblical support for my premise that the 18-49 demo is not what the source of “Infinite Marketing Knowledge” would have had in mind.

I’m beginning to drown in evidence supporting my case.

The evidence from The Bible suggests this.

Perhaps A NEW DEMO FOR A NEW AGE understates what I’m about to achieve.

Perhaps I’m close to uncovering: THE CHOSEN DEMO.

About Michael Schulder: Michael Schulder is a Senior Executive Producer at CNN. He's also a man on a mission. A mission to take on the myth of the 18 - 49 "Demo" and create a New Demo for a New Age. Schulder is a frequent contributor to Anderson Cooper’s CNN site AC360.com: News and Commentary Direct from the AC360º Newsroom.

It’s true. A Nobel Peace Prize winner let me know he’s puzzled by my productivity. No, not today’s Nobel Peace Prize winner. As far as I know, President Obama is not following my campaign to destroy my industry’s worship of the 18-49 audience “demo.” But another winner of the Nobel Peace Prize has been following the series. He sent me an email this week that gives me fuel for my drive to unseat the demo-orthodoxy.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner who sent me the email is Dr. Eric Chivian.  He shared the prize in 1985 for his leadership in the organization International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. His current life mission, as a physician, is increasing awareness of the impact that damage to our environment has on human health. His collaborative work has led to the award-winning science book “Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity.” But first, here’s what he wrote me about the diversity of stories at 50on50.

“Don’t know how you keep them coming, on so many different subjects. Have you stored all these ideas away for the right moment?”

I’ll simply let those questions echo as a testament to turning 50, as I enjoy the final week of my 40s.

So now, I have some questions for Dr. Chivian.

The first is a question I’ve been asking a lot of people in the days before I turn 50.

How old are you?

“Sixty-seven-and-a-half” he answered, with tongue-in-cheek precision.

Dr. Chivian is a professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, so I wanted his insights on whether 50 marks some developmental milestone that should knock me out of some prized demo. Am I heading for decline?

After thinking carefully about the 17-and-a-half years since he turned 50, this was Dr. Chivian’s response.

“Fifty may be the beginning of the golden age of life where you have enough of the wealth of experience and associations and your mind is still highly active and creative. And you still have enough energy.”

“In your 30s and 40s you do not have a lot of life experience.”

That’s a heck of a statement coming from a physician who won the Nobel Prize when he was in his early 40s.

But it’s echoed by many highly accomplished men and women I’ve interviewed for this series.

“By the time you get into your 50s and beyond,” says Dr. Chivian, “you have a body of experience that really provides perspective on life that you don’t have earlier.”

What perspective, I asked.

“This is more about turning 60,” he said. At 60, he says, he began “to care less about what other people think. About whether you’re handsome, smart, king of the hill … at least for me.”

And this is key.

“I realized how much energy I was spending trying to impress other people. And how much energy I HAD AVAILABLE when I wasn’t using it all” to impress others.

After listening to Dr. Chivian, I want a little advance on 60 for my 50th birthday.

Wait a second. Could Dr. Chivian be undermining my premise as he articulates the power of aging.

If we in the 50+ crowd are less concerned about impressing others;

If we, as Dr. Chivian and many other highly successful people have told me, are more productive now than in any earlier period of our lives;

If we care less about what others think …

Perhaps we SHOULD be kicked out of the demo because we’re too wise, too shrewd, too experienced, too tough a sell for the programmers and advertisers.

I must entertain that possibility.

OK, I’m finished entertaining.

What Dr. Chivian’s comments add up to may be a road map for high-quality programming sponsored by advertisers spreading the word about high quality products for a high achieving, information-seeking, audience of trusted INFLUENTIALS who are just hitting their stride as they turn 50.

I don’t know whether my 50on50 campaign will ever win the Nobel Peace Prize. I’m confident it will be nominated, if I have anything to say about it.

What would be so compelling to the Nobel committee?

My mission is to develop A NEW DEMO FOR A NEW AGE. And, while I must do more reporting before creating the parameters of that demo, I already know this. It will be more inclusive and less arbitrary than 18-49. It will bring people of all ages together under one roof, rooted in a common foundation of values, for the betterment of mankind. Oh yes. I can taste that nomination.

The 18-49 demo is dying. It doesn’t take a Nobel Prize winner to figure that out. But it helps to have his insights.

About Michael Schulder: Michael Schulder is a Senior Executive Producer at CNN. He's also a man on a mission. A mission to take on the myth of the 18 - 49 "Demo" and create a New Demo for a New Age. Schulder is a frequent contributor to Anderson Cooper’s CNN site AC360.com: News and Commentary Direct from the AC360º Newsroom.

I feel safer now at work than I did yesterday. Not that I didn’t feel safe in the first place. Turner Security is first rate. But something one of the female security guards here at CNN did to me this morning left an impression. It started with a big wind.

First of all, let me give you fair warning. If you ever see the woman in this photo, don’t even THINK about trying to sneak past her. Don’t even THINK about trying to divert her attention from the mission at hand. She will NOT be distracted.

How do I know?

It was 9:57 am this morning. I was walking up the outside stairs to the bridge that only Turner employees are allowed to use as a work entrance.

It was raining this morning, so right there, by the guard’s side, at the entrance to the bridge outside, was a metal stand with about a hundred of those long plastic bags to put your wet umbrellas in so the floor inside doesn’t get wet.

Just as I was approaching the bridge, the wind kicked up, and the bags blew down. The wind was preparing to carry the bags away. I immediately jumped on the bags and wrestled them to the ground – with the help of the Turner Security woman’s boot. I did the hard work. All I could see was her boot on the bags. I could also hear her infectious laugh. It was a slapstick beginning to the day.

I was able to grab up all the bags, and, with a little help from the guard, get them anchored. She said she’d call Facilities to have them taken away. This all took a couple of minutes. I then proceeded to walk across the bridge to the CNN entrance, satisfied that I’d been able to help out. That’s when the guard called out to me. “Did you swipe your card?!”

In my effort to capture the bags, I’d forgotten to swipe my CNN ID security card. And the security guard NOTICED. The blowing bags did not distract her.

When I realized what a wonderful example this was of situational awareness I ran back out to the bridge to find out who that security guard was. She had already left for her shift at an indoor post. I tracked her down and introduced myself.

Her name is Patricia George. Private Patricia George. I took her photo, with her permission. And I started peppering her with questions. She answered everything with good humor, as she directed me to her side so that I wouldn’t to block her view of any potential work crasher.

As the flow of people approached her post to get on the elevators she interrupted each answer to my question with – “Mornin’ – can I see your badge ma’am? Mornin’ can I see your badge sir?” Question – Answer – Badge Please – Continue Answer – staccato style for 10 minutes.

She let me know she wasn’t ignoring me. “I’m watching my badges,” she said.

How does this story fit into my 50on50 campaign to destroy the worshipers of the 18-49 year old audience “demo?” How does this fit in to the idea that making 49 the cutoff point in the search for the most valuable audience is insane?

I had to leave my manners aside on this one. I asked Private George if she minded telling me her age.

“57,” she answered. And a grandmother too.

Yes! I’ve struck gold again. Private George’s savvy and situational awareness, built up over more than a decade of experience in her field, and many more years of life experience, provides me with more evidence, as if I needed any more, that leaving the Private Georges of the world out of the prime audience “demo” makes no sense.

I did not want to put Private George in the position of formally endorsing my 50on50 mission. But I’m confident about this.

I can trust Private George.

And I know, if she were in charge of the entrance for the ideal audience demo, she would not arbitrarily exclude the 50+ crowd.

When I succeed in creating A NEW DEMO FOR A NEW AGE, I’m stationing Private George at the checkpoint.

About Michael Schulder: Michael Schulder is a Senior Executive Producer at CNN. He's also a man on a mission. A mission to take on the myth of the 18 - 49 "Demo" and create a New Demo for a New Age. Schulder is a frequent contributor to Anderson Cooper’s CNN site AC360.com: News and Commentary Direct from the AC360º Newsroom.

My campaign to destroy the 18-49 demo is based in part on the wisdom I’ve gained as I approach my 50th birthday. There are people in this world you can trust. And there are people you can’t trust. The fact that you cannot trust The Royal Society For The Prevention of Cruelty To Children (The RSPCC) is a lesson for all of us, whatever our age, whatever our profession. It’s a particularly important lesson for journalists.

Just to be clear, there are a number of reputable organizations with names that sound similar to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

There’s the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

There’s the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

And I imagine there are others I’ve missed. So who could blame anyone for being favorably inclined to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. For all I know, somewhere in this great big world there is a legitimate, respectable, RSPCC.

But not the one of which I’m aware.

I’ll get to the evil RSPCC in a moment. But first let me tell you what I’ve learned from a quarter century in journalism.

You can’t necessarily judge an individual or organization’s agenda – you can’t judge whether a source of information is reliable – based solely on its name. I’ve lost count of how many organizations that hold themselves out as a potential news sources call themselves non-profit and non-partisan independent research organizations. But that description, on its own, doesn’t really help us understand whether the information we get from them is reliable. That takes more digging.

Same with individuals who have fancy titles and stellar reputations.

Bernie Madoff was considered a reliable source by much of the financial establishment, until he wasn’t.

Harry Markopolos, who spent a decade trying to sound the alarm on Madoff, was an extremely reliable source who was ignored, until he wasn’t.

Every single story of importance in the news today, from health care, to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and, as we approach Copenhagen, the issue of climate change and the human population’s carbon footprint, requires us to determine as journalists, and as citizens, who we can trust.

Which brings me back to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

My oldest daughter, who was 9 at the time, was the one who taught me I could not trust this group. The group, I began discovering on page 55 of Roald Dahl’s children’s classic, was a coalition of witches whose sole goal was to kill every child in England by lacing irresistible candies with a formula that turns the children into mice. Mouse traps would do the rest of the job.

Dahl’s fictional masterpiece, “The Witches,” teaches all of us a lesson we keep learning the hard way. A nice sounding title doesn’t necessarily reflect the underlying goals of an organization, or the reliability of an individual. Sometimes it does. But sometimes it doesn’t. And when it doesn’t, we can get burned.

Because from the time we’re children we wrestle with the challenge of who to trust.

Who is a “safe side” adult, as one of the best videos out there tries to help us and our children determine.

How do we know?

Who is a reliable source, we journalists ask ourselves every day. How do we know?

The answer is usually based on some combination of the source’s credentials, his or her past reliability, and our own knowledge of the subject matter at hand. It also involves the reservoir of experiences that build over years in our guts.

And so, when we come across stories that trigger controversy, like war, and health care, and climate change, we look to our experience, and knowledge, and guts, to determine the most trustworthy voices.

By the time you have 50 years of life experience, you are hopefully a better judge of who to trust than earlier on in your journey.

That’s one reason I’m convinced the 18-49 demo is about to die as the golden target audience. Age 49 is an insane cutoff point for any valued audience.

It’s not that you can’t trust younger people. It’s that people with more experience tend to have more acute radar for detecting who can be trusted and who can’t. In other words, good BS meters skew older. They have more influence in the community. We want them in our audience.

Of course, we know the elderly are often the most vulnerable targets of scams. Sometimes the older you get, the harder you want to believe that good news is true.
That’s something the very old and the very young can have in common.

I believe there are more good people out there than there are witches, so to speak.

I believe there are more people you CAN trust than people you CANNOT.

But I know it takes time to build trust.

It takes time to figure out who we CAN trust in our own lives.

It takes time to know who we journalists can rely on as reliable sources of information.

I know it takes time. I’m about to turn 50. Trust me.

About Michael Schulder: Michael Schulder is a Senior Executive Producer at CNN. He's also a man on a mission. A mission to take on the myth of the 18 - 49 "Demo" and create a New Demo for a New Age. Schulder is a frequent contributor to Anderson Cooper’s CNN site AC360.com: News and Commentary Direct from the AC360º Newsroom.

I just had lunch with a fat kid who took up running for laughs.  He made the U.S. Olympic  marathon team.  Now, he’s a popular and influential running coach.  And this week, after following him to the Whole Foods salad bar where he filled his plate with black-eyed peas and steamed vegetables, he and I trampled the 18-49 year old demo.

Exorcising Lazy

The marathon runner I had lunch with is Jeff Galloway.  When Galloway was a kid, his father was in the Navy so the family moved a lot.  13 schools by the time he reached 7th grade.

Because of those frequent moves, Galloway never really had a chance to get involved with school sports.  As a result, he says, “I was a fat, inactive, lazy kid.”

When they settled for good in Atlanta, 13-year-old Jeff Galloway’s school required the boys to choose a sport.

Galloway says he sought advice from “the other lazy kids.”  They suggested track and field because the coach was lazy too.  “Tell the coach you’re gonna run on the trails and then hide out in the woods.”

Galloway’s story might have ended there – an overweight kid hiding in the woods.  But some of the older kids who he liked on the team insisted he come running with them.

“They started telling jokes,” he remembers.  “I ran to keep up with them so I could hear the jokes – and the gossip.”

Drawn by the conversation, Jeff Galloway started losing weight and gaining strength.

Running for Joy

Galloway’s career as a running coach began just after the 1972 Olympics.

His calls his training approach “run-walk. “

You’ll have to go to his web site (www.jeffgalloway.com) to get the details on what he considers proper running technique.

The bottom line is, it’s easier than I thought.  Running should be joyful, he says.  That’s why Galloway encourages runners to break up their long runs with walking if they’re starting to feel lousy.  Run-walk-run.

That approach to building up stamina, says Galloway, harnesses the essence of long distance running.  It’s all about “conservation of resources.”  Hey – I can do that.

Maturity & Me

The ability to conserve resources takes some real self-control.  That’s why, Galloway suggests, “mature adults” are naturals at long distance running.

Uh oh.  There’s that term I keep seeing in my mailbox the closer I get to 50.  Mature Adults.  That term irritates me like my kids’ 30-something babysitter Anna irritated me when she suggested the cold rain didn’t sting my face on my run the other day because I hadn’t “gotten speed.”  (50on50: Thanksgiving Day Speed) In other words, I didn’t run fast enough for the rain to hit me hard.

Mature.  Slow.  This is not what I had in mind when I set out to destroy the 18-49 demo and create A NEW DEMO FOR A NEW AGE.

On the other hand, perhaps I’m judging pre-MATURELY.

After all, Galloway, who’s still running  marathons at age 64, has designed his technique to help keep people running “Until You’re 100 Years Old.”

If my 50th birthday marks the beginning of 50 year run, then bring on 50.

I took a deep breath and summarized for Jeff Galloway what I’d learned from his book and our conversation about beginning long-distance running on the verge of age 50.

“I guess us mature adults are less impulsive,” I concluded.  “I guess conserving resources, which, according to you is the essence of long-distance running, would come more naturally to us than those who are less mature.”

“I guess cutting off “THE DEMO” at the arbitrary age of 49 will miss a huge number of us marathon men and women,“ I added.

YES, Galloway happily acknowledged.  I had summarized his thoughts accurately.

In fact, by “trying to be mature,” Galloway proudly told me, he has not had an “overuse injury” in 31 years of running.  He had many injuries as a young competitive runner.  But never as a mature adult.  That’s why he’s become an evangelist for his running technique.  A method that allows people of ALL AGES to run long distances injury-free – so that they can experience the pure joy of endorphins.

And so, I left lunch with Jeff Galloway inspired to prepare for my first half-marathon.  13.1 miles.  13.1 at 50.  I like it.

Consider This Fair Warning

You network execs and advertisers can therefore expect me to be in the market for frequent purchases of new running shoes and layer after layer of high-tech performance wear designed to wick sweat from my MATURE body.

Yes, I AM THE WICKING DEMO!

Some TV and traditional media insiders say we mature adults are easier to reach than younger Americans because we spend more time watching TV and reading newspapers and doing all the things that get advertisements in front of our eyes.  We’re easy gets, the conventional thinkers say.  So we’re taken for granted.

Well, I’ve got news for you.

You’ll discover quickly that my mature friends and I, under the influence of Jeff Galloway, may be harder to get than ever.

We, the mature members of your potential audience, will be out running.

Those of you chasing the 18-49 demo – are running in the wrong direction.

Happy trails.

About Michael Schulder: Michael Schulder is a Senior Executive Producer at CNN. He's also a man on a mission. A mission to take on the myth of the 18 - 49 "Demo" and create a New Demo for a New Age. Schulder is a frequent contributor to Anderson Cooper’s CNN site AC360.com: News and Commentary Direct from the AC360º Newsroom.

Sometimes you have to put an obsession aside — even an important one like overthrowing the 18-49 demo worshippers in time for my 50th birthday.  That’s a lesson you hopefully learn by the time you’re about to turn 50.  Prioritize.  So I’m putting my New Demo for a New Age campaign aside for a couple of days to focus on the most pressing issue of this week:  Afghanistan.  My question today is unusual:  what does fly fishing have to do with the U.S. role in Afghanistan?

Read the full article: Fly Fishing and Afghanistan on the AC360º blog.

About Michael Schulder: Michael Schulder is a Senior Executive Producer at CNN. He's also a man on a mission. A mission to take on the myth of the 18 - 49 "Demo" and create a New Demo for a New Age. Schulder is a frequent contributor to Anderson Cooper’s CNN site AC360.com: News and Commentary Direct from the AC360º Newsroom.

With just a day to go before the Atlanta Thanksgiving Day Marathon & Half Marathon, I spent some time at the event’s Runner’s Expo. I’m happy to report, the huge community of long distance runners is trampling the 18-49 demo worshippers. Virtually everything I learned at the Runner’s Expo left the idea of an 18-49 audience demo in the dust.

The Older I Get The Faster I Was

I wish I had thought of that line. “The older I get the faster I was.” It was on a t-shirt at the Runner’s Expo.

But the lesson I learned from the expert runners and coaches at the runner’s expo was that, for the 50+ crowd, speed doesn’t really matter. Health does. The joy of running does. But not competing for the best time against others. It’s about finishing your run, injury free.

What Pace Means

I was introduced to Atlanta Track Club Coach Andy Carr, who started running in 1972 after watching American runner Frank Shorter win the Munich Olympics – (when running shorts were Shorter.) Coach Carr was talking to me about the importance of pace. I started getting self-conscious because, as I reported yesterday I apparently don’t even run fast enough in the rain for the rain to sting my face. I’m a little sensitive to my slow speed. And here was Coach Carr talking about the importance of PACE.

Then Coach Carr explained that by “pace” he didn’t mean “fast.” He meant pace yourself, as in, don’t go burn up the road and burn out. Long distance running means “listening to your body.” That’s a phrase you hear a lot at a runner’s expo. Listen to your body.

Listening To Your Body

It’s tough to listen to your body when you’re listening to your IPod. Running to U-2s “It’s a Beautiful Day” can drown out what you’re body’s telling you. Sometimes I wonder if my body could be shutting down while the music of Hezekiah Walker & The Love Fellowship Crusade Choir keeps my legs moving all the way to heaven. So I may need to rethink running with my IPod. Maybe it’s not so safe for a runner to do the “IPod Shuffle.”

Beat Your PR

Coach Carr, by the way, is 46. He’s nearing the end of “the demo.” He’s already, as he puts it, “on the other side.” That’s on the other side of competitive running. His competitive streak now has one main target. Beating his PR.

PR? I heard that term a few times at the Runner’s Expo. Public Relations? Puerto Rico? No. Personal Record. When you approach the end of the 18-49 demo you get wise. You’re still competitive. But you know the value of self-improvement. Beat your PR.

How Old Are You Now?

In some ways, the runner who gave me the most ammunition to destroy the despicable 18-49 demo worshippers was the calmest, most peaceful, comfortable- in-his-own-skin person I met at The Expo. His name is Greg Sheats. He’s out of the demo. But he’s in the zone.

Greg ran on his high school and college track teams. Now he runs for pure pleasure. When I asked him how old he was he surprised me with the answer. 52. (He doesn’t look anywhere near 52.) Then he added this spontaneous reflection.

“If I Did Not Know How Old I Was I Would Not Know How Old I Was.”

I Googled that line and came up with zero results. It was an original, spontaneous thought. Sheats said: “I don’t think age is relevant to my quality of life and outlook.” He was speaking from the heart. And his heart helped give me heart, to pursue my campaign against the absurd category of 18-49.

Sheats’ observations gave me a strong lead to defining what I call “A New Demo for a New Age.”™

Sheats is a senior employee at a running shoe company. His longest run of the week is Sunday mornings. He doesn’t keep track of his distance or speed. He just runs for two hours. He can’t run longer on Sunday morning, because he goes to Church. Two hours of running gets him to the church on time.

The Ultimate Demo?

I asked him what his company’s target demo is. “Well,” he explained, “because of the nature of physical fitness, with walking, running, everything in between, our demo is – “18-75.” VICTORY. The Runner’s Demo – people who can keep running when many younger people would surrender – is 18-to-75. Hmm, seems 18-49 misses a few healthy consumers, to say the least. Wait, it gets better.

As Greg thought about it, these words calmly crossed the finish line of our interview.

“The World is Our Demo,” he stated softly.

THAT’S IT! THE WORLD IS OUR DEMO!™ Another original phrase from Greg Sheats that did not appear in the results of a Google search. I’m putting a protective tm on it – on Greg’s behalf. It’s for him. Not for me. I will use his new trademarked World is Our Demo™ thought to help destroy the 18-49 demo.

You TV execs who still worship old conventional wisdom – you ad men and women who still pursue the 18-49ers as if it’s a meaningful category – you can’t handle The World is Our Demo.™ It’s too much for you. Forget about it. Forget Greg Sheats ever said it. Forget that I passed it on in this column. You stick to 18-49 and see where it leads you. Greg and I are heading in a broader direction. We’re identifying a healthier, more active, more influential audience. The world is our demo.™ Good luck to you!

Being Inclusive

Those of you who are between the ages of 18-49, please don’t get me wrong. You’re not being cut out of A New Demo for a New Age.™ The new demo is inclusive. You can be part of it.

As long as you can keep up with those of us “on the other side.”

About Michael Schulder: Michael Schulder is a Senior Executive Producer at CNN. He's also a man on a mission. A mission to take on the myth of the 18 - 49 "Demo" and create a New Demo for a New Age. Schulder is a frequent contributor to Anderson Cooper’s CNN site AC360.com: News and Commentary Direct from the AC360º Newsroom.

I was proudly telling our 30-something year old babysitter of my 30-something minute jog this week in the cold, hard rain. Another example, I thought, of why, as I turn 50, her 18-49 year old demo is finished as a meaningful category. That’s when our babysitter said something that hit me like a cold hard rain.

The Atlanta Half-Marathon

Our 30-something babysitter’s name is Anna. And, apparently, Anna runs more than I do. Not necessarily better. Just more. She’s going to run in the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving Day.

When I told her how much I enjoyed running in the cold rain this week, she asked me if I wore a hat.

A hat? … I chuckled. What kind of hat?

One of those new high-tech UnderArmour hats with the little flap in front that protects your face from the biting rain, she answered.

I recently went on an UnderArmour shopping spree, which you can read about here, but I didn’t come across any hat.

Besides, I chuckled again, I loved the feel of the cold rain on my face as I sailed through the hills of my neighborhood.

That’s when she hit me with this aside.

“I find that without a hat, the rain hurts your face when you’ve got speed.”

When you’ve got speed?!

A HARD RAIN

Oh, I get it. The faster you run, the harder the rain hits your face.

So the fact that it was raining hard in the first place but that it wasn’t bothering my face might be an indication that I DIDN’T HAVE SPEED!

Well, I can’t deny it. I’m running strong as I approach 50. Strong but slow.

I won’t reveal my speed. It’s measured in minutes per mile. That’s as specific as I’ll get.

But the idea that I never picked up enough SPEED for the rain to hurt my face stings me.

Where can I get that hat, I asked Anna.

That’s when she informed me of the pre-half-marathon runner’s paradise going on today a couple of miles from my house. The Runner’s Health & Fitness Expo!

THE RUNNER’S DOG TAG

Our babysitter, Anna, is hoping that, among other products they’ll be selling at the Runner’s Expo today, is the Lance Armstrong style band that allows you to wear your name and contact information on your wrist.

Aah, yes. I understand. Those of us in the heart of and the about-to-be-out of “the demo” have a lot more in common than you’d think. We all want to be identified … just in case.

And a wrist band is less cumbersome than carrying your driver’s license if you’re trying “to get speed.”

Our babysitter’s description of the variety of paraphernalia that might be available at the Runner’s Expo has convinced me I must pay a visit today. I will report my findings to you in this space.

MY RUNNING DEMO

I’ve told Anna, about my 50on50 campaign to destroy the 18-49 year old demo worshippers. When I asked her whether I could expect to meet a lot of people “out of the demo” at the Runner’s Expo, she was encouraging.

The people in her training group include a wide variety of ages, she said, adding that there are “people in their 50s!” … Pause … “And 60s too.”

At The Runner’s Expo, I will try to enlist them in my campaign against the 18-49 demo.

And while I’m there, I may buy that hat.

Because in this battle to create a new demo for a new age – as I turn 50, I plan to pick up speed.

About Michael Schulder: Michael Schulder is a Senior Executive Producer at CNN. He's also a man on a mission. A mission to take on the myth of the 18 - 49 "Demo" and create a New Demo for a New Age. Schulder is a frequent contributor to Anderson Cooper’s CNN site AC360.com: News and Commentary Direct from the AC360º Newsroom.

Just as I’m about to turn 50, the Obama Administration and its allies in the Senate are pushing what’s been dubbed Botax. A 5 percent tax on cosmetic procedures, like Botox injections and face lifts. I’m actually excited about turning 50. I’m excited about my current life mission to take down the worshipers of the 18-49 year old “demo.” So I don’t need a LIFT for my spirits. But many do. It’s a big deal.

I’m Transparent

On a personal note, as a journalist, I don’t think I could ever feel comfortable with a significant cosmetic procedure. I want to be trusted. I don’t want to hide anything. Don’t get me wrong. I go to work fully clothed.

But the idea of doctoring your face makes me as uncomfortable as doctoring a photo. In fact, in that photo of me at the top of this story, I had the option of having the photographer airbrush out some wrinkles. He could have worked magic with his mouse. But I said NO, after I thought about it for a while. What you see is what you get. I’m turning 50. I want to LOOK like I’m telling the truth.

The Plastic Surgeon’s Perspective

Of course there’s the issue of empathy. The President Elect of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Dr. Phil Haeck, points to women who are out of work and looking for jobs . He says many of them may be at a competitive disadvantage without a plastic surgeon on their side.

“They’re competing with people 10 to 15 years younger than them,” he notes, “and they want to look better.”

Women, please comment below on whether you agree or disagree with Dr. Haeck on this point. Your radar is stronger than mine.

Money

We can all acknowledge, there’s a fortune at stake. By one estimate, nearly 2-billion dollars was spent on Botox injections alone last year. One procedure – nearly 2 billion dollars. That’s certainly a lift for a sagging economy. We don’t know whether a 5 percent tax would eat into the industry. On the other hand, as our Researcher Emma Lacey-Bordeaux just wondered aloud, could it trigger a run on procedures?

In other words, get your tucks before the tax.

I’m also aware that my dermatologist could not make a living if every patient were like me. “The mole’s normal. See you next year.” Not a lot of profit there.

I have noticed that some dermatologist offices that did very few cosmetic procedures 25 years ago have turned into hotbeds of beauty shots. I’ve asked many dermatologists and have heard the same thing from all of them. It’s where the money is.

“As Long As You Have Your Health ..”

When it comes to appearances, I think you’ve got to prioritize. As my grandmother used to say, “as long as you’ve got your health.”

In that spirit, Bubbie, were she alive, would probably endorse Sanjay Gupta’s new book Cheating Death as a better way to spend your money than elective surgery.

Cheating Death includes fascinating stories about new state of the art techniques being used to save lives. For example, you can learn (as you would have if you watched Gupta’s CNN documentary) that a new, simpler form of CPR that does not include mouth-to-mouth is having greater success than the old CPR that had been pounded into our minds. Just quick, rapid, chest thumping until the EMTs arrive is the key.

Rather than get an injection, I’m considering buying copies of Dr. Gupta’s book for everyone who might have a chance of being near me in the event I have a heart attack so that they know the best way to keep me alive until the pros arrive.

The Danger Of Looking Too Good

Eliminating wrinkles, making your face look younger, your jaw look stronger, your stomach look trimmer, your eyes look rested . it’s tempting, but could it be dangerous to look TOO good. These procedures could disguise evidence of your underlying health problems.

“Guess who died today?”

“Who?”

“Michael Schulder.”

“Michael!? He looked so good!”

“Still does.”

I’m not ready to go down. Not unless I can take the 18-49 demo with me.

Competing Values

I can’t take a position in support or opposition to a Botax. I can tell you the argument for a tax is that it could help defray the expense of guaranteeing health care to the millions of uninsured Americans. The argument against it is that it might get in the way of an industry that provides a lift to our sagging economy, and make some procedures cost prohibitive for people of modest means.

You could also view this whole debate as a question of competing values.

What do we Americans value more? Tight budgets or tight faces.

About Michael Schulder: Michael Schulder is a Senior Executive Producer at CNN. He's also a man on a mission. A mission to take on the myth of the 18 - 49 "Demo" and create a New Demo for a New Age. Schulder is a frequent contributor to Anderson Cooper’s CNN site AC360.com: News and Commentary Direct from the AC360º Newsroom.