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2020/2021

Political Communication, Democracy and Public Opinion

Code: 103591 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2501933 Journalism OT 4 0
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Ezequiel Ramón Pinat
Email:
Ezequiel.Ramon@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
spanish (spa)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
Yes

Prerequisites

It is required that the students have knowledge of the political and social news.

Objectives and Contextualisation

1. To identify the relationships between media, political actors and publics.

2. To analyze the contribution of the media to democracy.

3. To analyze the processes of creation of public opinion.

Competences

  • Demonstrate adequate knowledge of Catalonia’s socio-communicative reality in the Spanish, European and global context.
  • Demonstrate ethical awareness as well as empathy with the entourage.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and be able to relay them effectively in Catalan, Spanish and a third language.
  • 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.
  • Disseminate the area’s knowledge and innovations.
  • Generate innovative and competitive ideas in research and professional practice.
  • Properly apply the scientific method, raising hypotheses regarding journalistic communication, validating and verifying ideas and concepts, and properly citing sources.
  • Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  • Rigorously apply scientific thinking.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse the influence of the media on public opinion.
  2. Apply scientific methods in a cross-cutting manner in the analysis of the relations between technological change and media access.
  3. Appraise the social impacts of technological mediation in modern communication.
  4. Demonstrate ethical awareness and empathy with the entourage.
  5. Describe Catalonia’s socio-communicative reality in the Spanish and European context from the political point of view.
  6. Develop critical thinking and reasoning and be able to relay them effectively in Catalan, Spanish and a third language.
  7. Disseminate the area’s knowledge and innovations.
  8. Generate innovative and competitive ideas in research and professional practice.
  9. Lay the foundations for modern semiotic trends and apply them to communication and journalism.
  10. Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  11. Rigorously apply scientific thinking.

Content

1. Introduction.

2. Media logic and political logic.

3. Mediatization of society.

4. Democracy, public opinion and media: historical perspective.

5. Models of democracy and public sphere.

6. Media fragmentation and polarization.

7. Political communication and public opinion.

8. Information and political dissafection.


The calendar detailed with the content of the different sessions wil be presented on the day of presentation of the subject. It will be uploaded to the Virtual Campus, where students will also be able to access the detailed description of the seminars, the various teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject.

The gender perspective will be incorporated as an integrated part of the program.

Methodology

The teaching will use a combination of teaching methods to promote student learning:

Directed activities

a) Lectures: in these sessions the lecturer will cover the basic concepts and notions of the subject and will allow students to discuss and reflect on the main content through active participation.

b) Seminar: work sessions focused on readings, oral activities or group presentations, individual work.

Supervised activities

a) Tutorial meetings: students will have acces to lecturer in the subject at certain times which may help to clear up any doubts that they may have about the subject

b) Evaluation sessions.

Autonomous activities

a) Self-organized work: reading texts and the search for information, writing individual work.

 

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Seminar 14 0.56 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 3
Theory and practice classes 30 1.2 1, 11, 4, 5, 10
Type: Supervised      
Evaluation 4 0.16 1, 2, 5, 3
Tutorial meetings 15 0.6 1, 11, 5, 6, 8, 3
Type: Autonomous      
Self-organized work 54 2.16 1, 2, 11, 4, 6, 7, 10

Assessment

Students of first enrolment: continuous evaluation

The subject consists of the following evaluation activities:

  1. Synthesis exam: 50% on the final grade.
  2. Individual written work: 30% on the final grade.
  3. Seminar: 20% on the final grade.

To be able to pass the subject, it is necessary to obtain a minimun grade of 5 in synthesis exam.

The student will be entitled to the revaluation of the subject if he or she has been evaluated of the set of activities the weight of which equals a minimun of 2/3 of the total grade of the subject. To have acces to revaluation, the previous grades should equal or superior to 3.5. The activities that are excluded from the revaluation process are the individual written work and the seminar.

Students of second enrolment: final evaluation

In the case of a second enrolment, students can do a single synthesis exam at the end of semester. The grading of the subject will correspond to the grade of the synthesis exam.

Plagiarism

The student who performs any irregularity (copy, plagiarism, identity theft...) than can lead to a significant variation of the qualification of an evaluation act, will be qualified whith 0 this act of evaluation. In case there are several irregularities, the final grade of the suject will be 0. 

Note

The teaching methodology and assessments proposed may be subject to changes depending on the attendance restrictions imposed by health authorities.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Individual written work 30% 15 0.6 1, 11, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 3
Seminar: group presentations and participation 20% 14 0.56 2, 11, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10
Synthesis exam 50% 4 0.16 1, 2, 11

Bibliography

Chadwick, Andrew. 2006. Internet politics: States, citizens, and new communication technologies. New York: Oxford University Press. 

Chadwick, Andrew. 2017. The Hybrid Media System: Politics and Power. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Curran, James. 2011. Media and Democracy. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Donsbach, Wolfgang & Michael W. Traugott, eds. 2008. The Sage Handbook of Public Opinion Research. London-Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Esser, Frank & Jesper Strömbäck, eds. 2014. Meditatization of Politics. Understanding the Transformation of Western Democracies. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Gerbaudo, Paolo. 2019. The digital party: Political organisation and online democracy. Londres: Pluto Press.

Grossi, Giorgio. 2007. La opinión pública: Teoría del campo demoscópico. Madrid: Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas.

Mazzoleni, Gianpietro. 2010. La comunicación política. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.

Ortega, Felix. 2011. La política mediatizada. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.

Semetko, Holli & Margaret Scammell, eds. 2012. The SAGE Handbook of Political Communication. Londres: Sage Publications.

Street, John. 2001. Mass media, politics and democracy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.