Economic Journalism
Code: 103088 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2501933 Journalism | OT | 3 | 0 |
Contact
- Name:
- Santiago Giraldo Luque
- Email:
- Santiago.Giraldo@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Other comments on languages
Teaching sessions will be in Catalan and Spanish. Some part could be done in English.Teachers
- Jordi Badia Perea
- Francisco Baiges Planas
Prerequisites
The students must show interest in economic matters and maintain an advanced critical spirit on the knowledge of current news (national and international) on the economy. A minimum knowledge of basic concepts about the economy is a valuable aspect.
The students must also have a sufficient command of Catalan and Spanish, the languages in which the classes are taught and in which most of the teaching materials are prepared; have at least command of English at the reading level; and have a good command of the Word (or similar) software, spreadsheets and databases. It is mandatory to have reading comprehension at the university level.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The aim of the subject is to obtain, at the end of the semester and the corresponding class sessions, sufficient knowledge, tools and experience to assume journalistic functions in a section of economics of a generalist newspaper, in the writing of a specialized publication in economics or in a communications office that offers services to companies and institutions related to the economy and finance.
Competences
- Abide by ethics and the canons of journalism, as well as the regulatory framework governing information.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Demonstrate ethical awareness as well as empathy with the entourage.
- Differentiate the discipline’s main theories, its fields, conceptual developments, theoretical frameworks and approaches that underpin knowledge of the subject and its different areas and sub-areas, and acquire systematic knowledge of the media’s structure.
- Generate innovative and competitive ideas in research and professional practice.
- Relay journalistic information in the language characteristic of each communication medium, in its combined modern forms or on digital media, and apply the genres and different journalistic procedures.
- Research, select and arrange in hierarchical order any kind of source and useful document to develop communication products.
- Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Use a third language as a working language and means of professional expression in the media.
Learning Outcomes
- Conceptualise the theories and techniques of specialised journalism.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Demonstrate ethical awareness and empathy with the entourage.
- Demonstrate practical knowledge of specialised journalism.
- Generate innovative and competitive ideas in research and professional practice.
- Incorporate the principles of professional ethics in developing narrative journalism specialised in financial information.
- Know how to build texts in a third language that adapt to the structures of journalistic language and apply them to the different theme-based information specialisms.
- Relay in the language specific to each communication medium narrative journalism specialised in financial information.
- Research, select and arrange in hierarchical order any kind of source and useful document to develop communication products.
- Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Use interactive communication resources to process, produce and relay information in the production of specialised information.
Content
1. Historical elements and history of the economy and the economic press
1.1. What is the political economy and the political economy of communication?
1.2. The economic interest of the industrialized society
1.3. The historical relationship of the press with the economic interest of society: the history of the economic press
1.4. Crisis and models in the economy. The cycles and the eternal return
2. The recent history of an economy in sustained crisis (2008-2014)
2.1. The great crash (2008-2014)
2.1.1. The case of Iceland
2.1.2. The case of the United States
2.1.3. The crisis in Europe and Spain
2.2. The ideological foundations of the crisis: Keynesianism versus neoliberalism
2.3. The consequences of the crisis: the growth of inequalities
2.3.1. Tax solutions: Thomas Picketty
2.3.2. The Economy of the Common Good: Christian Felber
2.3.3. The commitment to decrease: Serge Latouche
3. Today's crisis: COVID-19
3.1. Differences from the 2008–2014 crisis
3.2. Discursive fluctuations. The ideological foundations of the crisis: Keynesianism versus neoliberalism II
3.2. Telework, employment and macroeconomics
3.3. The state (new or old)
4. Future debates
4.1. The Green New Deal
4.2. Labor reform in a new society: towards a new social contract
4.3. Taxes and future adjustment measures: successions, technological rates, the universal basic income and the minimum vital income
4.4. The end of capitalism? A new law of supply and demand?
4.5. The absolutist monopoly on technology
The calendar will be available on the first day of class. Students will find all information on the Virtual Campus: the description of the activities, teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject. In case of a change of teaching modality for health reasons, teachers will make readjustments in the schedule and methodologies.
The content of the course will be sensitive to aspects related to the gender perspective.
Methodology
The course will combine and alternate theory and practice in all class sessions, both in and out of the classroom. The course also involves attending events of different institutions related to current economic activity, conferences on journalism and the economy and on communication in social and civic organizations, as well as company or institutional press conferences.
The course is divided into the following methodologies:
a. participatory classes
b. specific seminars, conferences or workshops that provide theoretical and practical bases related to the course content
c. practical sessions in which the students will have to form a specialized media in economics, with the intention of producing content for the web, radio and television formats.
The division of the group of students into small groups makes possible a closer teaching, which directly involves and allows them to constantly assess their evolution. These learning activities take place in specific classrooms prepared to accommodate each type of activity, but non-contact learning activities can also be considered. This learning path is complemented and supported by individual tutoring or for work groups.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Autonomous work: production of weekly content | 25 | 1 | 9, 1, 3, 2, 5, 6, 10 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Evaluation and revaluation | 5 | 0.2 | 9, 8, 1, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6, 10, 7, 11 |
| Laboratory | 40 | 1.6 | 9, 1, 3, 4, 2, 11 |
| Mentorship | 10 | 0.4 | 8, 4, 10, 7, 11 |
| Seminars | 35 | 1.4 | 9, 8, 1, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6, 10, 7, 11 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Theoretical sessions | 20 | 0.8 | 9, 8, 1, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6, 10, 7, 11 |
Assessment
The evaluation of the subject will be based on the grade that each student reaches in the following evaluation activities:
A. Class practices (50%). These are activities in which the student, in a group, carries out the application of specialized journalistic production in different journalistic formats (audiovisual, radio and web). Each of the practices has a specific grade and will be considered for obtaining the 60% corresponding to class practices. The course plans to make at least 6 mandatory journalistic practices.
B. Book review (15%). Each student must submit, individually, a critical review of one of the books proposed in the course bibliography. The conditions and presentation dates of the review will be explained on the first day of class.
C. In-depth report (25%). During practical classes, in addition to preparing specialized journalistic content, an in-depth report on any current economic topic will be prepared in groups of 4 people. The conditions and presentation dates of the report will be explained on the first day of class.
D. Involvement, attitude and participation in classes (10%). In addition to the attitude, involvement and proactivity of the students in the theoretical and practical classes, professors will evaluate the follow-up that each student makes throughout the course of the economic events in the media. Professor may carry out current writing tests during classes. These tests will compute in a weighted way (up to 50%) in the qualification relative to involvement, attitude and participation.
Any written work that has five spelling errors and/or barbarisms (adding five errors in total) will get a zero mark. Any job with a plagiarism percentage that exceeds the usual rules of the right of appointment will also obtain a zero. In order to detect possible plagiarism, computerized procedures may be applied to the digital files of the works submitted, either by applying them to all or only to random samples.
Revaluation
Students who fail the subject in the continuous evaluation (result of the weighted sum of the evaluation activities mentioned) may choose to appear for a recovery of the subject, to choose to get passed in the course. The recovery test will consist of a written exam (theoretical and practical) about all the content taught throughout the theory and practice classes of journalism specialized in economics. In the recovery test, you can also ask about the most important news and personalities of the current economic situation. Students will have the right to the recovery of the subject if it has been evaluated from the set of activities, the weight of which is a minimum of 2/3 parts of the total grade for the course. To be able to appear for the recovery of the subject it will be necessary to have obtained a minimum average grade of 3.5.
The student who makes any irregularity (copying, plagiarism, identity theft ...) that may lead to a significant variation in the grade of an assessment act, will be rated 0 this assessment act. In the event of several irregularities, the final grade for the course will be 0.
In the case of second enrollment, students will be able to take a single synthesis test that will consist of an oral theoretical test of 20 questions and an expressly designed practical test. The grade of the subject will correspond to the grade of the synthesis test.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attitude, involvement and individual participation in the theoretical and practical activities and current affairs quizes | 10% | 5 | 0.2 | 1, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6, 10 |
| Book review | 15% | 0 | 0 | 9, 1, 3, 4, 2, 6, 10, 7, 11 |
| Economic journalism practices | 50% | 5 | 0.2 | 9, 8, 4, 2, 5, 6, 10, 7, 11 |
| In-depth report | 25% | 5 | 0.2 | 9, 8, 1, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6, 10, 7, 11 |
Bibliography
Atkinson, Anthony B. (2015) Inequality. What can be done? Harvard University Press.
Bauman, Zygmuynt (2015) ¿La riqueza de unos pocos nos beneficia a todos? Barcelona, Paidós.
Boada, Lluís (2017) La senectut del capitalisme. Un reto a la juventud. Barcelona, Economía Digital.
Bregman, Rutger (2017) Utopia per a realistes. Perquè fer un món millor és un somni realitzable. Barcelona, Empúries.
Campos, Vicente Ed. (2015) !Extra, Extra! Muckrakers orígenes del periodismo de denuncia. Barcelona, Ariel.
Chang, Ha-Joon (2016) 23 cosas que no te cuentan sobre el capitalisme. Barcelona, Penguin Random Haouse.
Costas, Antón (2017) El final del desconcierto. Península.
Crary, Jonathan (2015) 24/7. El capitalisme al asalto del sueño. Barcelona, Ariel.
Felber, Christian (2004) Diners. Noves regles de joc. Barcelona, Miret Editorial.
Felber, Christian (2012) La economia del bien común. Barcelona, Deusto.
Fernández-Rovira, Cristina y Giraldo-Luque, Santiago (2020). La felicidad privatizada. Monopolios de la información, control social y ficción democrática en el siglo XXI. Editorial UOC
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Fuchs, Christian (2020) Communication and Capitalism: A Critical Theory, University of Westminster Press.
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Giraldo-Luque, Santiago; Fernández Rovira, Cristina (2020). “The economy of attention as the axis of the economic and social oligopoly of the 21st century”. En: Park, Seun Ho; González Pérez, María Alejandra; Floriani, Dinorá (Eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of Corporate Sustainability in the Digital Era. Palgrave Mcmillan: Londres. ISBN 978-3-030-42411-4. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42412-1
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