Communication and Public Opinion
Code: 104979 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2501933 Journalism | OT | 3 |
| 2501933 Journalism | OT | 4 |
Contact
- Name:
- Mercedes Diez Jimenez
- Email:
- merce.diez@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
Students are required to be aware of current political and social issues. A proactive, participatory attitude, an interest in the geopolitical context and a sensitivity to local social conflicts are also indispensable conditions.
Objectives and Contextualisation
- Identify political actors (in a broad sense of the concept) and civil society, and establish their relationships with the media.
- Analyze the contribution and influence of the media to democracy.
- Analyze the processes of public opinion creation.
Competences
- Journalism
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- 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.
- Introduce changes in the methods and processes of the field of knowledge to provide innovative responses to the needs and demands of society.
- 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 be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse a situation and identify its points for improvement.
- Analyse the influence of the media on public opinion.
- Appraise the social impacts of technological mediation in modern communication.
- Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Identify phenomena and consider theoretical problems regarding audiovisual communication.
- Identify situations in which a change or improvement is needed.
- Identify the fundamentals of theories and the history of communication.
- Propose new methods or well-founded alternative solutions.
- Propose new ways to measure the success or failure of the implementation of innovative proposals or ideas.
- Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
- 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 be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- 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
- Introduction.
- The 'demos', the state and the culture of solidarity as democratic conditions.
- Economic prosperity and the geopolitical context as facilitators.
- The role of the communication system and the management of the space for debate and deliberation.
- From totalitarian propaganda to coercive persuasion.
- The public sphere of Habermas and public opinion as social control.
- Collective mobilization, from its origins to the Internet and Web 2.0.
- Critical studies 2.0, algorithms, big data and future perspectives.
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.
The gender perspective will be incorporated as an integrated part of the program.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Theory and classroom activities | 30 | 1.2 | 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 16 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Seminar | 14 | 0.56 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 15 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Self-organized work | 54 | 2.16 | 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 |
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) Seminars: 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.
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.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual written work | 30% on the final grade | 26 | 1.04 | 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 |
| Participation in the classroom | 10% on the final grade | 8 | 0.32 | 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13 |
| Seminar | 20% on the final grade | 14 | 0.56 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 16 |
| Synthesis exam | 40% on the final grade | 4 | 0.16 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 13, 15 |
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, the classroom participation 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.
Unique assessment
The subject's unique assessment system is based on the following percentages:
- 40% Theory test. It must be approved (5 or more) to pass the subject (essential condition).
- 40% Individual oral presentation of three readings listed in seminar classes, to be determined by the teaching staff.
- 20% Delivery of an academic essay, under the same requirements as regular students.
A (40%) + B (40%) + C (20%) = 100% FINAL GRADE OF THE SUBJECT
Recovery: single assessment
- According to regulations, in order to participate in the recovery process, students must have previously been assessed for at least 2/3 of the subject's total assessable activities.
- The theoretical test can only be recovered if the student has obtained a grade lower than 4.9. It will consist of a written test to assess theoretical knowledge.
- Both the research essay and the oral presentation are not recoverable and the grade achieved on each paper (whether passed or not) will form part of the weighted average of the final grade.
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.
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.
Software
Not mandatory.
Language list
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (SEM) Seminars | 11 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 12 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |