Communication Structure
Code: 104764 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2503868 Communication in Organisations | FB | 1 | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Aida Martori Muntsant
- Email:
- Aida.Martori@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Prerequisites
To follow-up news about media systems (mainly in Catalonia, Spain and Europe) is recommended, as well as to be aware of trends and changes in transnational markets and global communication industry.
Objectives and Contextualisation
This course introduces students to the knowledge of the structural features of media systems and the communicative and cultural industries. An approach will be made to the political, economic and social factors that contribute to the formation of these systems, and the strategies of different actors (regulatory bodies, communication groups, business and professional entities, etc.).
In addition to describing the structural features of media systems, interpretation keys are provided to understand the reasons for their configuration, considering the historical, economic, political, social, cultural and technological framework in which are developed.
The focus is mainly on the Catalan and the Spanish context, framing them in the Western Europe. The international sphere is also present, in the context of the digital era and media globalization. The impact of the internet and digitalisation on the redesign of the communication structure will be emphasized.
The central objective of the subject is to develop a reflective attitude and the ability to critically analyse current communicative trends.
Competences
- Differentiate the principal theories on communication in organisations, which underpin knowledge of the discipline and its different branches.
- Display thorough knowledge of the contemporary world in its social, economic, political and cultural dimensions.
- Manage time efficiently and plan for short-, medium- and long-term tasks.
- Search for, select and rank any type of source and document that is useful for creating messages.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
Learning Outcomes
- Cross-check information to establish its veracity, using evaluation criteria.
- Define the basic concepts of communication.
- Describe the structure of the media and its dynamics.
- Find what is substantial and relevant in documents within the subject.
- Identify the fundamental principles that structure the communication system.
- Interpret and discuss documents on the main theories of communication.
- Plan and conduct academic studies in the field of theory, history and structure of communication.
- Present a summary of the studies made, orally and in writing.
- Relate communication systems to the cultural evolution of contemporary society.
- Submit course assignments on time, showing the individual or group planning involved.
Content
1. Conceptual delineation and theoretical perspectives. What is a media system? Typology and characteristics. Comparing media systems.
2. Analysis of actors that contribute to the articulation of media systems: public media, companies and communication groups, community media, etc. The role of the state and independent regulators.
3. Analysis of media sectors (press, radio and television). General overview and characteristics of the offer. New services and new media. Transformation of business or consumption models.
Methodology
Two thirds of the on-site class will be developed with the full group and one third in seminars with small groups.
The sessions with the whole group will mainly take place on a lecture format, in which the contents will be explained, and the doubts related to mandatory readings and to the work resulting from the self-learning will be clarified.
The seminars will include in-depth activities, in some cases based on documents (news, academic texts or others). Current issues will be shared and discussed, with the active participation of students, in order to update the agenda and identify key elements relating to the evolution of media systems.
The approach to the subject will be sensitive to incorporate the gender perspective in all possible aspects, from the contents to the dynamics of work and student participation. Methodologies that promote gender equality and non-sexist attitudes that facilitate the intervention in the classroom of both -male and female students- will be used.
On the day of the presentation of the subject, more detailed information on the organization of the sessions will be given, and the Virtual Campus will be used to upload teaching materials and 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.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Seminars | 17 | 0.68 | 2, 3, 8, 5, 6, 7, 10, 9, 4 |
| Theory | 34 | 1.36 | 2, 3, 8, 5, 6, 9 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Evaluation | 3 | 0.12 | 2, 3, 8, 5, 6, 10, 9 |
| Tutorial | 5.5 | 0.22 | 2, 3, 5, 4 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Personal study | 80.5 | 3.22 | 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 4 |
Assessment
The course consists of the following assessment activities:
1. Various exercises related to the questions treated in the seminar, that will suppose 30% of the qualification. Due to their current nature, these evaluation activities will not be recoverable.
2. Intervention in seminars. The intervention of the seminars will be valued qualitatively (10% of the final grade). This evaluation activity will not be recoverable.
3. Two partial examinations on the theoretical contents, each one of which represents 30% of the final qualification, and that are liberatory of matter.
To pass the subject it is necessary to pass these two exams. In the event of a suspension, you can take part in the recovery, as long as you have previously assessed the two midterm exams and at least one of the other two assessment activities.
If one of the two partial exams is not taken the final grade will be "not assessable".
In the event that the retake of one of the two exams is not passed, the final grade of the subject will be the one obtained in this exam (or the average, if both are failed).
The dates of the evaluation and recovery activities will be announced on the day of the presentation of the subject. The information will also be available on the virtual campus.
Students from the second enrollment
From the second enrollment onwards, students can opt for the assessment by means of a synthesis test, with the option of retaking as long as they have previously presented. The grade of the subject will correspond to the grade of the synthesis test, on which more details will be given at the beginning of the course.
It will be understood that students from thesecond registration who do not communicate explicitly by e-mail and within the deadline announced at the beginning of the course their assessment option will take the synthesis test.
Plagiarism
The student who makes any irregularity (copy, plagiarism, identity theft ...) that could lead to a significant variation of the grade of an evaluation act will have a qualification of 0 in this act of evaluation. In case of various irregularities, the final grade of the subject will be 0
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partial exam 1 | 30% | 3 | 0.12 | 2, 3, 8, 5, 9 |
| Partial exam 2 | 30% | 3 | 0.12 | 2, 3, 8, 5, 10, 9 |
| Participation to the seminars | 10% | 1 | 0.04 | 1, 8, 10, 9 |
| Seminars (ejercicios) | 30% | 3 | 0.12 | 1, 3, 8, 6, 7, 10, 9, 4 |
Bibliography
- AGUADO-GUADALUPE, Guadalupe (2018) Las relaciones Prensa-Estado en el reparto de publicidad institucional en España, Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodistico, 24(2), 993.
- ALBORNOZ, Luis i GARCÍA LEIVA, Trinidad (eds.) (2017) Diversidad e industria audiovisual. El desafío cultural del siglo XXI, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
- ALMIRÓN, Núria (2010) Journalism in crisis. Corporate Media and Financialization, Cresskill, Nj: Hampton Press.
- ALMIRÓN, Nuria (2006) La financiarización de los grupos de comunicación en España: el caso del grupo PRISA, Pensamiento crítico, comunicación y cultura. I Congreso Nacional ULEPICC-España, Sevilla. BIRKINBINE, Benjamin; GÓMEZ, Rodrigo; i WASKO, Janet (2016) Global media giants, Londres; Nueva York: Routledge.
- CIVIL I SERRA, Marta i LÓPEZ, Bernat (eds.) (2019) Informe de la Comunicació a Catalunya 2017-2018, Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya, Col·lecció Lexicon Informes.
- CONSELL DE L'AUDIOVISUAL DE CATALUNYA (2018) Estudi sobre la comunicació local a Catalunya, Barcelona: Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya.
- CONSELL DE L'AUDIOVISUAL DE CATALUNYA (2019) Informe 2018. L'audiovisual a Catalunya, Barcelona: Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya.
- DÖNDERS, Karen (2019) Public service media between theory, rules and practice, Londres: Palgrave Macmillan.
- FERNÁNDEZ ALONSO, Isabel (Ed.) (2017) Austeridad y clientelismo: Política audiovisual en España en el contexto mediterráneo y de la crisis financiera, Barcelona: Gedisa.
- FLEW, Terry; IOSIFIDIS, Petros; i STEEMERS, Jeanette (eds.) (2016) Global media and national policies. The returnof the State, Londres: Palgrave Macmillan.
- GARCÍA SANTAMARÍA, José Vicente (2016) Los grupos multimedia españoles: Análisis y estrategias, Barcelona: Editorial UOC.
- GIFREU, Josep (dir.) i COROMINAS, Maria (coord.) (1991) Construir l'espai català de comunicació, Barcelona: Centre d'Investigació de la Comunicació.
- GUIMERÀ i ORTS, Josep Àngel (2014) Les polítiques de comunicació durant els governs de Jordi Pujol, Barcelona: Proa.
- HALLIN, Daniel i MANCINI, Paolo (2008) Sistemas de medios comparados. Tres modelos de relación entre los medios de comunicación y la política, Barcelona: Hacer.
- LEVI, Simona (2019) #FakeYou. Fake news i desinformació, Barcelona: Raig Verd.
- MIGUEL de BUSTOS, Juan Carlos y CASADO del RÍO, Miguel Ángel (coords.) (2012) Televisiones autonómicas. Evolución y crisis del modelo público de proximidad, Barcelona, Gedisa.
- PARISER, Eli (2017) El filtro burbuja: Cómo la web decide lo que leemos y lo que pensamos, Barcelona: Penguin Random House Grupo Eidtorial.
- PEIRANO, Marta (2019). El enemigo conoce el sistema: Manipulación de ideas, personas e influencias después de la economía de la atención, Barcelona: Debate.
- ZALLO, Ramón (2011) Estructuras de la comunicación y la cultura. Políticas para la era digital, Barcelona: Gedisa.
- ZALLO, Ramón (2016) Tendencias en comunicación. Cultura digital y poder, Barcelona: Gedisa.
Butlletí d'informació sobre l'audiovisual de Catalunya (BIAC)
Comunicació 21 (http://comunicacio21.cat)
During the course other complementary bibliographical references and online sources will be suggested to explore contents of the subject in depth and to follow up corrent affairs of the sector.