Palabras mayores. La necesidad de los estudios etarios en comunicación para un cambio social

As part of Cultural Studies, Age/ing Studies in Communication is a quite recent academic discipline in Spain, Europe, and Latin America. In the last decade, the American and British academic influences, as well as the growing awareness and need to focus on age/ing, have allowed academics to start translating their research interest into mono-graphs, specially edited volumes, and articles in scientific journals. In addition, the global pandemic of 2020 brought older people to the forefront of mass media as victims of the COVID-19 disease itself and of another social ailment: ageism in its various manifestations. This article explains this ageism and the progress made in recent years, particularly in Spain, in the fight against ageist stereotypes and the discrimination of older people. It also presents the articles contributing to this special issue, pioneers in the Spanish Age/ing Studies research field.