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2022/2023

Communication Structure

Code: 103855 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2501933 Journalism FB 1 2

Contact

Name:
Ana Isabel Fernández Viso
Email:
ana.fernandez.viso@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

Other comments on languages

Theory is taught in Spanish. The practical seminar will be taught either in Spanish or in Catalan.

Teachers

Ana Isabel Fernández Viso

Prerequisites

Follow-up of news about the media system (mainly in Catalonia, Spain and Europe) is recommended.

Objectives and Contextualisation

To provide students with an introduction to the knowledge of structural features of media systems in the Western European environment, with special attention to Spanish and Catalan cases, where he/she will develop his/her professional activity.

Thus, in the first approach the economical, political and social actors that make up or contribute to the formation of these systemes will be considered, without neglecting the analysis of the North American model, due to its influence on the development of European and Latin American media systems. On the other hand, emphasis will be placed on the impact of the Internet and digitalization on the redesign of communication structure at local, state and international levels.

Eventually, aspects related to other media systems can be included if a particularly relevant fact occurs.

Competences

  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
  • Demonstrate a self-learning and self-demanding capacity to ensure an efficient job.
  • Demonstrate adequate knowledge of Catalonia's socio-communicative reality in the Spanish, European and global context.
  • 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.
  • Research, select and arrange in hierarchical order any kind of source and useful document to develop communication products.
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • 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.
  • Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
  2. Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
  3. Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
  4. Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
  5. Demonstrate a self-learning and self-demanding capacity to ensure an efficient job.
  6. Describe the structure of the media and its dynamics.
  7. Disseminate the area's knowledge and innovations.
  8. Identify the media system and groups that have had, at a given point in time, the power to inform, and be able to describe the legal framework that exerts a certain governance on the media.
  9. Identify the principal forms of sex- or gender-based inequality and discrimination present in society.
  10. Identify the social, economic and environmental implications of academic and professional activities within one's own area of knowledge.
  11. Identify the structural foundations of the communication system.
  12. Interpret and discuss texts regarding the main communication and journalism theories and present the summary of the analysis in writing and in public.
  13. Propose projects and actions that are in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and obligations, diversity and democratic values.
  14. Research, select and arrange in hierarchical order any kind of source and useful document to develop communication products.
  15. Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  16. Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  17. Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  18. 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.
  19. Weigh up the impact of any long- or short-term difficulty, harm or discrimination that could be caused to certain persons or groups by the actions or projects.

Content

1. Conceptual delineation and theoretical perspectives. What is a media system? Typology, characteristics and actors. Comparing media systems.

2. Analysis of actors that contribute to the articulation of media systems: public media, private communication groups, business associations, audience measurement bodies and telecommunications companies and digital platforms with businesses in the audiovisual field. The role of the State and independent regulators.

3. Analysis of media sectors (press, radio, television and digital environment). General overview, characteristics of the offer and regulation. Transformation of business or consumption models.

Methodology

Two thirds of face-to-face teaching will be developed with the full group and a third, in seminars with small groups.

Sessions with the full group will consist of lectures, that may include interactive activitites, held by the faculty, who will explain the contents related to the thematic blocks and solve the doubts regarding the compulsory readings that the students have to do and the work resulting from the planned self-learning work.

The seminars will include practical activities aimed at helping to develop a deep understanding of the course topics. It may require searching and analyzing in advance different types of learning resources (pieces of news, academic texts, reports, etc.). 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 of the subject will incorporate the gender perspective in all possible aspects, from the contents to the methodologies applied to the dynamics of work and student participation in the classroom, so as to facilitate an egalitarian interaction.

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 14, 5, 6, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16
Theory 34 1.36 3, 14, 5, 6, 4, 7, 8, 11, 10, 12, 13, 18, 17, 16
Type: Supervised      
Evaluation 7 0.28 3, 14, 5, 6, 4, 7, 8, 11, 10, 12, 18, 16
Tutorial 5 0.2
Type: Autonomous      
Personal study 80 3.2 3, 14, 5, 6, 4, 8, 11, 10, 18, 16

Assessment

The course consists of the following assessment activities:

 1. Various exercises related to the questions treated in the seminar, that will suppose 20% 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. Other practical follow-up activities that could be done either in the seminar or in the lecture sessions. They will be detailed the first day of class and together they will be worth 10% of the final degree.

 4. Two partial examinations on the theoretical contents, each one of which represents 30% of the final qualification, and that are liberatory of matter.

 

In order to pass the course, a grade equal to or higher than 4 must be obtained in both midterm exams and the average of both must be equal to or higher than 5. In case of failing, 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 recovery of one of the two exams is not passed, because a grade lower than 4 is obtained in it or, even being between 4 and 4.9, the student does not achieve an average grade of 5 with the other midterm exam, the final grade of the course will be the one obtained in this failed exam (or the average of the two midterm exams 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 may choose to be evaluated by the same evaluation system as the first enrollment students or only by taking the two mid-term exams provided for the first enrollment students, but in order to pass they must obtain a grade equal to or higher than 4 in these two mid-term exams and the average of both must be equal to or higher than 5. In case of failing, students will be able to opt for the recovery of each one of the mid-term exams, as long as they have been previously evaluated in both of them.

If the student chooses the second evaluation system, the grade of the course will correspond to the average of these two mid-term exams, as long as he/she has obtained a grade equal to or higher than 4 in both of them. If one of them is not taken, the final grade will be "not evaluable" and if one of them is failed with a grade lower than 4, the final grade of the course will be the one obtained in this exam (or the average between the two, if both are failed).

It will be understood that students from the second 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 two mid-term examen.

Plagiarism

In the event that the student performs any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation of an evaluation act, this evaluation act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that could be instructed. In the event, that several irregularities occur in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Intervention in seminars 10% 2 0.08 3, 1, 14, 2, 5, 6, 4, 7, 8, 11, 10, 9, 12, 13, 18, 15, 16, 19
Mid-term exams 30% + 30% 2 0.08 3, 2, 5, 6, 4, 7, 8, 11, 10, 12, 18, 17, 15, 16
Practical follow-up activities 10% 1 0.04 3, 14, 2, 5, 6, 4, 7, 8, 11, 10, 12, 13, 18, 17, 15, 16
Seminar exercices 20% 2 0.08 3, 14, 2, 5, 6, 4, 7, 8, 11, 10, 12, 13, 18, 17, 15, 16

Bibliography

Basic bibliography:

CEREZO, Pepe (2022). Deconstruyendo los medios. Cómo adaptar las empresas de comunicación al entorno digital. Córdoba: Editorial Almuzara.

CIVIL i SERRA, Marta; LÓPEZ, Bernat (Eds.) (2021). Informe de la comunicació a Catalunya 2019-2020. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya. Col·lecció Lexikon Informes, 7: https://ddd.uab.cat/record/245270

HALLIN, Daniel; MANCINI, Paolo (2008). Sistemas de medios comparados. Tres modelos de relación entre los medios de comunicación y la política. Barcelona: Hacer.

NEWMAN, Nic; FLETCHER, Richard; ROBERTSON, Craig T. ; EDDY, Kirsten; KLEIS NIELSEN, Rasmus. (2022). Digital News Report 2022. Oxford: Reuters Institute. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/es/digital-news-report/2022

QUINTAS-FROUFE, Natalia; GONZÁLEZ-NEIRA, Ana (Coords.) (2021). Los estudios de la audiencia. De la tradición a la innovación. Barcelona: Gedisa.
 

SALAVERRÍA, Ramón; MARTÍNEZ-COSTA, Pilar (Eds.) (2021) Medios nativos digitales en España. Caracterización y tendencias. Salamanca: Comunicación Social.

Additional bibliography:

AGUADO-GUADALUPE, Guadalupe (2018). Las relaciones Prensa-Estado en el reparto de publicidad institucional en España. Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodistico24(2), 993.

ALMIRON, Núria (2010). Journalism in crisis. Corporate Media and Financialization. Cresskill: Hampton Press.

CEREZO, Pepe (2018). Los medios líquidos. La transformación de los modelos de negocio. Barcelona: Editorial UOC.

CONSELL DE L'AUDIOVISUAL DE CATALUNYA (2022). Informe 2021. L'audiovisual a Catalunya. Barcelona: Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya.

CONSELL DE L'AUDIOVISUAL DE CATALUNYA (2017). Llibre blanc de l'audiovisual de Catalunya. Barcelona: Consell de l’Audiovisual de Catalunya. https://www.cac.cat/sites/default/files/2018-03/Acord_6_2017_llibre_blanc_0.pdf

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.

GARCÍA SANTAMARÍA, José Vicente (2016). Los grupos multimedia españoles. Análisis y estrategias. Barcelona: Editorial UOC.

PEIRANO, Marta (2019). El enemigo conoce el sistema: Manipulación de ideas, personas e influencias después de la economía de la atención. Barcelona: Debate.

TÚÑEZ-LÓPEZ, Miguel; CAMPOS-FREIRE, Francisco; y RODRÍGUEZ-CASTRO, Marta (Eds.) (2021). The values of public service media in the Internet society. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

ZALLO, Ramón (2011) Estructuras de la comunicación y la cultura. Políticas para la era digital. Barcelona: Gedisa.

Software

Basic tools of Microsoft Office package, Moodle applications and free online learning platforms.