Communication System Structure
Code: 104721 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2503873 Interactive Communication | FB | 2 | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Carmina Crusafon Baques
- Email:
- carmina.crusafon@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
- Javier Salla García
- Francesc Manuel López Chaves
Prerequisites
The course has no mandatory prerequisites. However, the previous contents taught in the courses Digital Law and Law of ICT, and Theory and History of Interactive Communication, will be important for a better understanding of the course content. It is also recommended to follow up on current information related to the main topic of the course: the structure (political, economic, cultural, etc.) of the globalized communication system and related to technology and communication companies.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The main objective of the course is to introduce students to the global communication system based on four dimensions (economic, political, sociocultural and technological). The course analyzes the functioning dynamics of digital markets and offers analysis tools to understand the functioning of global interactive communication, with special emphasis on the impact of the internet and technological platforms in the redesign of the digitized communication system itself.
Competences
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Act within one's own area of knowledge, evaluating sex/gender-based inequalities.
- Distinguish between and apply the principal theories, conceptual frameworks and approaches regulating interactive communication.
- Introduce changes in the methods and processes of the field of knowledge to provide innovative responses to the needs and demands of society.
- 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, academic papers, presentations, etc.
- 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 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 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.
Learning Outcomes
- Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
- Cross-check information to establish its veracity, using evaluation criteria.
- Describe the regulation issues in the communications and new media market.
- Differentiate between the actors of communication structure in new media. .
- Discuss data from social behaviours in the interconnected society.
- Distinguish the salient features in all types of documents within the subject.
- Identify situations in which a change or improvement is needed.
- Identify the social, economic and environmental implications of academic and professional activities within one's own area of knowledge.
- Interpret and discuss documents on the main theories of interactive communication and communication structure.
- Plan and conduct academic studies in the field of theory, history and structure of communication and photography.
- Propose new methods or well-founded alternative solutions.
- 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.
- Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
- Propose viable projects and actions to boost social, economic and environmental benefits.
- Submit course assignments on time, showing the individual and/or group planning involved.
Content
The syllabus of the course consists of:
THEME 1: What is the structure of the communication system?
1.1 Conceptual delimitation and theoretical perspectives.
1.2. Methodological proposal: the 4 dimensions of analysis (economic, political, sociocultural and technological).
THEME 2: The dynamics of the global structure of the communication system
2.1 Media,
2.2 Global media groups
2.3 Technology giants.
THEME 3: The digital communication markets
3.1 Sectors
3.2 Business models and types of companies
3.3 Users
3.4 Hubs and clusters
THEME 4: Regulation of the digital communication system
4.1 The role of the state and independent regulators.
4.2 Digital regulation: European Union, United States and China.
THEME 5: The challenges of the digital communication system
5.1 Screens, consumption and free production
5.2 Entertainment
5.2 The meaning of interactive communication in the 21st century
Methodology
The course is developed in a theoretical-practical way. Alternate sessions and theoretical content with the development of seminars and practical work aimed to better understand the course syllabus. In this way, the topics covered in the theoretical classes can be developed through innovative activities and practical analysis. Lectures will follow the inverted classroom methodology.
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 course.
The syllabus will be sensitive to aspects related to the gender perspective.
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 | 30 | 1.2 | 1, 2, 6, 4, 5, 9, 10, 15, 11, 12, 13, 14 |
| Theoretical sessions | 30 | 1.2 | 1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 8, 7, 9, 10, 11 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Continuous evaluation: practical work throughout the course | 30 | 1.2 | 1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 9, 10, 15, 12, 13, 14 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Autonomous work: reading and practical tasks | 50 | 2 | 1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 8, 7, 9, 10, 15 |
Assessment
The evaluation of the subject is summative and includes the following activities:
A. Essays and case analysis (50%): They are tasks in which the student, in a group or individually, performs activities guided or supervised by the teacher. Each of the practices or case analyses has a specific qualification.
B. Test (30%): written test to assess knowledge of the theoretical concepts of the subject.
C. Inclass participation (20%): student participation in the activities during the lectures (current tests, debates or opinion gathering, etc.). An attendance of 80 percent of the sessions is mandatory to obtain the grade.
It is mandatory to participate in all evaluation activities in order to obtain the final grade. In case of justified reasons (health, death, or serious family problem), the essays, case analysis, and test can be done on alternative dates indicated by the coordinator. There is no possibility to reevaluate the activities of the group participation dynamic.
The grades of each activity will be published on the Virtual Campus and queries or rectifications can be made up to 10 days after their publication. After this period, the grade cannot be modified.
Any written work that has five spelling errors and/or barbarisms (adding 5 errors in total) will get a zero mark. Any job with a plagiarism percentage that exceeds the usual rules of the authors' rights will also obtain a zero mark. To detect possible plagiarism, computerized procedures may be applied to the digital files of the submitted works, either by applying them to all or only to random samples. The student who makes any irregularity (copying, plagiarism, identity theft...) that may lead to a significant variation in the mark of an assessment act, will be rated 0 in this assessment act. In the event of several irregularities, the final grade for the course will be 0.
Revaluation
Students who fail the course inthe continuous evaluation (the result of the sum of the evaluation activities) may choose to apply for a revaluation of the course. The revaluation test will consist of an exam on all the content taught throughout the theory and practice classes. In the revaluation test, the professors will be able to ask about the current aspects of the course syllabus. Students will have the right to the revaluations 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 mark for the course. To be able to apply for the course revaluation, it will be necessary to obtain a minimum average grade of 3.5.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essays and case studies | 50% | 6 | 0.24 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 15, 11, 12, 13, 14 |
| Inclass participation | 20% | 2 | 0.08 | 1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 8, 7, 9, 15, 11, 13 |
| Test | 30% | 2 | 0.08 | 1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 8, 7, 9 |
Bibliography
ALBARRAN, Alan B. (2019). A Research Agenda for Media Economics. Cheltenham: Elgar.
ALBORNOZ, Luis i GARCÍA LEIVA, Trinidad (eds.) (2017) Diversidad e industria audiovisual. El desafío cultural del siglo XXI, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
BREVINI, Benedetta; SWIATEK, Lukasz (2020) Amazon: Understanding a Global Communication Giant. New York: Routledge
CEREZO, Pepe (2019). Los medios ante los modelos de suscripción. Barcelona: UOC.
CRUSAFON, Carmina (2012). La nueva era mediática: Las claves del escenario global. Barcelona: Bosch Comunicación.
DÖNDERS, Karen (2021). Public service media between theory, rules, and practice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOYLE, Gillian (2016) Digitization and changing windowing strategies in the television industry: negotiating new windows on the world, Television and New Media, 17(7), p. 629-645.
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
FLEW, Terry; IOSIFIDIS, Petros; i STEEMERS, Jeanette (eds.) (2016) Global media and national policies. The return of the State, Londres: Palgrave Macmillan.
FUCHS, Christian (2011) A Contribution to the Critique of the Political Economy of Google, Fast Capitalism, 8(1), 31-50. doi:10.32855/fcapital.201101.006
FUCHS, Christian; CHANDLER, David (2019). Introduction. Big Data Capitalism – Politics, Activism and Theory. In: Chandler, D. & Fuchs, C. (eds.). Digital Objects, Digital Subjects: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Capitalism, Labour and Politics in the Age of Big Data. London: University of Westminster Press. Pp. 1-20. http://doi.org/10.16997/book29a
GARCÍA SANTAMARÍA, José Vicente (2016). Los grupos multimedia españoles. Análisis y estrategias. Barcelona: Editorial UOC.
GERSHON, Richard A. (2020) Media, Telecommunications and Business Strategy. London: Routledge
GIRALDO-LUQUE, Santiago; FERNÁNDEZ ROVIRA, Cristina (2020a). “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
GIRALDO-LUQUE, Santiago; FERNÁNDEZ ROVIRA, Cristina (2020b). “Redes sociales y consumo digital en jóvenes universitarios: economía de la atención y oligopolios de la comunicación en el siglo XXI”. Profesional de la información, v. 29, n. 5, e290528. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2020.sep.28
HALLIN, Daniel i MANCINI, Paolo (2008). Sistemas de medios comparados. Tres modelos de relación entre los medios de comunicación y la política. Barcelona: Hacer.
HARSIN, Jayson (2015). Regimes of Posttruth, Postpolitics, and Attention Economies. Communication, Culture and Critique, 8 (2), 327-333. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1111/cccr.12097
LEE, Micky (2019) Alphabet: The Becoming of Google. London: Routledge.
MANSELL, Robin (2012). Imagining the Internet: Communication, Innovation and Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
MANSELL, Robin I STEINMUELLER, W. Edward (2020) Advanced Introduction to Platform Economics. Cheltenham: Elgar.
PARISER, Eli (2017) El filtro burbuja: Cómo la web decide lo que leemos y lo que pensamos, Barcelona: Penguin Random House Grupo Eidtorial.
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
PEIRANO, Marta (2019). El enemigo conoce el sistema: Manipulación de ideas, personas e influencias después de la economía de la atención, Barcelona: Debate.
SHEN, Hong (2021) Alibaba: Infrastructuring Global China. London: Routledge.
TANG, Min (2020) Tencent: The Political Economy of China’s Surging Internet Giant. London: Routledge
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.
TURKLE, Sherry (2019). En defensa de la conversación. El poder de la conversación en la era digital. Barcelona: Ático de los libros.
ZALLO, Ramón (2016) Tendencias en comunicación. Cultura digital y poder, Barcelona: Gedisa.
During the semester, the teacher can suggest additional bibliography and other online sources.
Software
Basic Microsoft Office tools, applications in the Moodle environment, and free virtual learning platforms.