Journalism on the Internet (21325)
Degree/study: Journalism
Year: 2nd
Term: 2nd
Number of ECTS credits: 4 credits
Hours of studi dedication: 100 hours
Teaching language or languages: catalan
Teaching Staff: Javier Díaz Noci
1. Presentation of the subject
The subject Journalism on the Internet is one of the subjects related to the Internet; the other ones are taught both on third and fourth years as optional subjects: Design, graphism and production Workshops on the Internet (8 ECTS credits) and Dynamic Journalism on databases (4 ECTS credits). The students will have the possibility to choose one of the most complete itineraries that Spanish universities offer, which will prepare them to acquire the necessary abilities for this new developing language.
This subject will work basically on the writing of texts and discourses that make the most out of the features and potential of the digital world. We will insist on these features of the digital language and on the possibilities they offer.
This subject tries to transmit the basic concepts of journalistic writing adapted to a digital version, to explain how this adaptation is made and how new genres appear, by analysing the features mentioned before and by studying their application to the media nowadays and the description of text typologies. It also insists on learning the techniques and routines of the digital medium.
It is an essential subject in order to understand the importance of cyberjournalism and of the development of a new language that, 20 years after the appearance of the World Wide Web, is still undergoing an adaptation process and a change. Another objective is for the students to discover its current tendencies via a continuous learning. We want them to feel curious all the time, and not only to learn new fast-developing techniques, but to reflect and cogitate about them.
2. Competences to be attained
General:
Be able to justify with solid arguments one's opinions and defend them in public
Be able to communicate properly, both speaking an writing, in the two official languages in Catalonia - Catalan and Spanish -, in front of expert and inexpert audiences
Ability to work with the computer tools and knowledge of their essential applications to regular academic activities
Ability to work in groups, participating actively in the assigned tasks, making decisions and discussing your opinions with others until you come to an agreement
Be self-disciplent, self-demanding and rigorous when doing academic tasks, and organise your time correctly
Develop the sense of curiosity, wanting to know what we don't know, which is an essential competence in all teaching processes and in all professional activities
Ability to progress in the learning process autonomously and continuously
Specific of the degree:
Knowledge and application of the technologies and systems used to process, produce and transmit information
Knowledge of the social impact of the informative technologies.
Knowledge of the structure of a communication company, as well as how it works and how it is administered
Be able to communicate properly, both speaking an writing, in the two official languages in Catalonia
Ability to communicate in the language of each communication medium
Ability to retrieve, organise, analyse and process information with the purpose of being broadcasted or disseminated
Ability to work with data and statistics properly, making them understandable for almost all publics.
Specific of the subject:
Knowledge of the information society.
Knowledge of how ICT work.
Knowledge of the basic criteria of journalism on the Internet.
Ability to treat, organise and write information online.
3. Contents
Features of the communication media on the Internet and of the digital society. Main concepts and languages about the Internet and the digitalisation process of journalism. Analysis of online communication media and the participative phenomena. Basic knowledge of organising, catalogueing, presenting and writing information on the digital communication media.
Part 1. The digital society
•1. Features of the digital society
•§ Origin and development of the Internet
•§ Features of the digital language: hypertextuality, multimediality and interactivity.
•§ Web 2.0: definition and features of the social network.
•§ The citizen journalism
Part 2. Information sources and looking for them on the Internet
•2. Advanced-search strategies on the Internet
•3. Assessment and organisation of information sources
•4. Informative databases
Part 3. Surfing the Internet. Utility softwares. The communication media on the Internet
•5. Definition of "cybermedia"
•6. Specific features of cybermedia: continuous updating of information, use of memory and research
•7. Analysis
•8. Journalistic design on the Internet
Part 4. Classification and structure of the communication media on the Internet
•9. Types of communication media on the Internet (cybermedia)
•10. Analysis of digital media's typology
Part 5. Multimedia writing
•11. Possibilities of the new multimedia writing
•12. Work routines of the "digital journalist"
•13. Convergence of media
•14. Cybermedia as databases
Part 6. Cyberjournalistic genres and writing on the Internet
•15. Guidelines to write and put titles on the Internet
•16. Informative, interpretative, dialogic and argumentative genres on the Internet
4. Assessment
We will assess the following elements: Exams, Individual Tasks, Task in groups, and Presentations.
There will be a continuous assessment, divided in two parts:
1) Creation and maintenance of a thematic, informative, and updated blog, in groups of three people (25% of the final mark). The students will be asked during the first weeks of the term to form 3-people groups and to choose a topic to follow informatively, reachable for them. The subject, though, should be about digital journalism and its different versions, such as: digital journalism in Catalonia; organisation of editorials; convergence of the digital media; new mobile devices; news and academic productions about journalism on the Internet like conferences, articles, books, etc.; compilation of press news about digital journalism in Europe, the US, etc. They can open a blog in whatever platform they like (Wordpress, Blogspot, etc.) or even to download and install the software of one of them (say, Wordpress) in order to create their own digital magazine. At least once a week one of the members of the group must make an entry (a post) on the blog, and, generally, all entries needed to offer good information about the chosen subject. We will appreciate especially:
- other Website adressses (sources or other entries on the blog).
- multimedia elements (images, sound, video) and the use of other podcasting or video platforms like Youtube.
- use language correctly and follow the guidelines for journalistic writing.
- if necessary, direct coverage of news using tools like Coverlt Live.
On the "profile" section of the blog, the students will have to include a photograph of each member and some biographical information, and their curriculum vitae.
All materials on the blog (photos, sound, texts, etc.) will have to be original. When copying somebody else's materials, quotation is compulsory.
The teacher will revise continuously the contents of the students' blogs.
The students will have to show and explain in public, from time to time, what they ae doing.
So the goal is for the students to be able to use digital edition tools.
2) Writing tasks (50% of the final mark). The most important part of the subject are the writing tasks, which will be done during the second part of the subject, individually. We will assess the students for this knowledge:
1) Elaborate concept maps and flowcharts of information. A complementary exercise will be to distinguish, show and see the flowcharts of typical news of the communication media.
2) Incorporate to the informations the digital discourse's features: hypertextuality, interactivity and multimediality, as a development of the journalistic message.
You will do 5 tasks:
1) A piece of news that will be corrected but not marked, as a test.
2) A piece of news assessing the use of hypertextual resources that redirect to the sources. The sources will be agency information (quotating the author, if known, and origin, of course) and the very Internet. The students will have to assess, with the help of the teacher, the credibility of these sources, and try to compae them to others.
3) A report article assessing the use of hypertextual resources and the use of multimedia resources (image, sound, surveys, etc.). Three subjects will be offered, so that 1/3 of the students will do subject 1, 1/3 subject 2 and 1/3 subject 3.
4) An interview. We will assess interaction, a part from the other features already mentioned. You will interview some current character and you will upload it to the blog. All photos, videos and sounds must be original.
5) Multimedia report. It is not very important to do the whole report (that will be done in Workshop and Writing on the Internet); what is important is to elaborate a full and realistic script for a report, including a flowchart explaining nodes and links, a catalogue of self-produced multimedia elements that could be used in a very real way, and interactive elements. Three subjects will be offered, so that 1/3 of the students will do subject 1, 1/3 subject 2 and 1/3 subject 3.
The tasks will be done using word or, preferably, using specific software that permit html edition, like Dreamweaver. However, please note that knowing how to use these softwares is a requirement of the next subject, Workshop and Writing on the Internet. In this subject, which is more of an introduction, we expect from the students to understand the features of the digital society and of cyberjournalism, and not a specific knowledge on advanced software. Another alternative is to use free software like OppenOffice, which allows you to elaborate html documents easily.
The continuous assessment will take into consideration the marks obtained from the correction of the tasks and from the presentations in class. We will also take into account the evolution and improvement in the acquisition of the subject's competences.
This way, the final mark is the result of adding the average marks of each part's tasks.
3) Seminars. We will assess especially the participation in the seminars. There will be three seminars, distributed during weeks 2, 3 & 4; 5, 6 & 7; 8 & 9 (week 10 is left to hand in tasks and to presentation).
One of the seminars will be dedicated to elaborate a glossary, using the tool for that in Moodle, including the most important terms of journalism on the Internet: features of the digital edition, main technologies, biographies of relevant characters...
Another one will be dedicated to the analysis of the digital media features, elaborating an optional task (10% of the final mark).
The other seminar will depend on the term, but some of them might be:
•a) Reception devices and work technical tools of "digita journalists"
•b) Investigation on digital journalism
4) Seminar work (25% of the final mark).
a) Analysis of the features of digital media: The students will ahve to analyse, in groups of three people, the digital media in Catalonia; a methodology adapted to teaching necessities following heuristic methods of design analysis and methos of analysis of contents via multiple stage sampling during a month (last 4 weeks of the term). We want to offer a panoramic view of the situation of the digital media in Catalonia. You will have to keep an eye on some media to know what information they give and how they do it. These tasks will be presented in class during the last week, and, once corrected, uploaded in Moodle for all the students to consult.
b) Glossary and search for concepts: The students will have to find bibliographical information, and on the Internet, of some concepts (two per person) from a list given by the teacher (see Appendix), although the students can propose others, encouraging the participative and collaborative spirit. They will have to write two entries following the guidelines, using the tool in Moodle. The students will have to cite the sources used as a final bibliography. Some short part of the sessions will be dedicated to the presentation of these entries on the glossary in public.
5. Bibliography and teaching resources
5.1. Basic bibliography
BRIGGS, Mark. Periodismo 2.0. Austion: Knight Foundation, 2007.
CAIRO, Alberto. Infografía 2.0. Visualización interactiva de información en prensa. Madrid: Alamut, 2008.
CASTELLS, Manuel. L'Era de la informació: economia, societat i cultura. Barcelona: UOC, 2003 (3 volums).
CRAWFORD, Kilian. Escribir para la web. Bilbao: Deusto, 2001.
DIAZ NOCI, Javier: Salaverría, Ramón (coords). Manual de Redacción Ciberperiodística. Barcelona: Ariel, 2003.
GRAELLS, Jordi. Innovar per Internet, manual per a innovar serveis per Internet. Barcelona: Escola d'Administració Pública de Catalunya, 2005.
KRUG, Steve. No me hagas pensar. Madrid (etc.). Prentice Hall. 2001.
LARRONDO, Ainara. Los géneros en la redacción ciberperiodística. Bilbao: Universidad del País vasco, 2009.
NIELSEN, Jakob. Usabilidad de páginas de inicios. Análisis de 50 sitios web. Madrid, Prentice Hall, 2002.
ROJAS ORDUÑA, Octavio Isaac (coord.). Web 2.0. Manual [no oficial] de uso. Madrid: ESIC, 2007.
SALAVERRÍA, Ramon. Redacción Periodística en Internet. Pamplona, EUNSA, 2005.
5.2. Complementary bibliography
CASTELLS, Manuel i PEKKA Himanen. La Societat de la informació i l'estat del benestar el model finlandès. Barcelona, Pòrtic UOC, 2003.
EDO, Concepción. Internet en la noticia, las fuentes y los géneros. Sevilla: Comunicación Social Ediciones i Publicaciones, 2003.
FRANQUET, Rosa - SOTO, M.Teresa - RIBES, Francesc Xavier - FERNÁNDEZ, David. Assalt a la xarxa. Barcelona, Col·legi de Periodistes de Catalunya - Diputació de Barcelona, 2006.
FLORES, Jesús; ARRUTI, Alberto Miguel. Ciberperiodismo. Madrid, Ediciones 2010-Limusa, 2001.
LLOMBART, Sílvia (edició i recopilació de textos): Bits o paper les conclusions del 1er. congrés de la publicació electrònica. Barcelona, Col·legi de Periodistes de Catalunya - Diputació de Barcelona, 2004.
LLORET, Oriol. Converses sobre els orígens d'Internet a Catalunya; Alfons Cornella, [et al.]. Barcelona, Beta Editorial, 2000.
LÓPEZ GARCIA, Guillermo. Modelos de comunicación en Internet. València, Tirant lo Blanc, 2005.
LÓPEZ GARCIA, Xosé; PEREIRA FARIÑA, Xosé (ed.). Convergencia digital. Reconfiguración de los médios de comunicación en España. Santiago de Compostela: Servicio de Publicacions, 2010.
NAFRÍA, Ismael. Web 2.0.El usuario, el nuevo rey de Internet. Barcelona: Gestión 2000, 2007.
NEGROPONTE, Nicholas. El Mundo Digital (4ª edició). Barcelona, Ediciones B, 1999.
NGUYEN, An. The Penetration of Online News: Past, Present and Future? Berlin: VDM Publishing, 2008
PATERSON, Chris; DOMINGO, David (eds.). Making online news. The ethnography of new media production. New York etc.: Peter Lang, 2008.
RODRÍGUEZ, Òscar - TRONCOSO, Roberto - BRAVO, Sagrario. Internet. La Biblia (Edición 2006). Madrid, Anaya, 2006.
RUVALCABA, Zak. Dreamweaver 8. Madrid, Anaya, 2006.
SALAVERRÍA, Ramon (coord.). Cibermedios, el impacto de internet en los medios de comunicación en España. Sevilla, Comunicación Social Ediciones y Publicaciones, 2005.
TEJEDOR CALVO, Santiago. La enseñanza del ciberperiodismo. Sevilla, Comunicación Social Ediciones y Publicaciones, 2007.
5.3. Teaching resources
All lessons have a PowerPoint presentation in order to illustrate what the teacher says in class. Pdf format. They will be available after each lesson in Moodle.
Two texts about digital journalistic texts and about journalistic design (see Appendix) that will also be available for the students in Moodle.
Extra material: texts, web adresses, etc. that the students will consult.
Instructions for the tasks: Important information that the students need for every task, always available in Moodle.
We regard Moodle as an essential tool, but complementary to regular teaching, not a substitute for it. Moodle allows teachers to organise groups, publish the tasks and materials for the subject and make announcements, as well as to communicate with the students. The students will be able to take advantage of this tool to access the mentioned materials, keep an eye on the subject's activities, and even hand tasks in in time. Moodle also allows the teachers to establish exact deadlines for tasks, for example.
6. Metodology
Different and complementary techniques will be used in this subject (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8)[1]:
Lectures: Learn the basic theoretical concepts related to the information society and to the writing for digital media. This will be complemented by studying other texts (your own or the ones in the bibliography). Acquisition level: basic.
Supervised analysis of texts: The students will be asked to read, comment and present in public some texts about the analysis of journalistic websites' methodology. Acquisition level: Deepening. This task will be done in the seminars.
Search, elaboration and publication of information by the students: Elaboration of a glossary using the specific tool for that in Moodle, so that part of the studying material will have been published by the students. The goal is to make the students collaborate more. This will be done in the seminars.
Individual tasks and laterf meetings: Practical application of the acquired theoretical knowledge via the already mentioned exercises. There are some exercises in groups (goal: develop the abilities of leadership, teamwork and collaboration) and there are others that are individual (informative writing following the instructions given by the teacher). The meeting with the teacher will be after having elaborated the task. The teacher will keep an eye on their work and will correct their tasks. Acquisition level: Deepening.
Tasks in groups: The students will work in groups when elaborating a blog -a communication medium specialised in some subject-. For those who want a better mark, we will offer the possibility to hand in a task, always in groups of three people, on the analysis of the features of some digital media. We will use a methodology adapted to the teaching necessities following the heuristic methods of design analysis and methods of content analysis via multiple stage sampling during a month (last four weeks of the subject).
Individual tasks: the students will do the writing tasks individually, especially in the first three tasks (two piece of news and a report article) when the students will have to work with computers, in similar conditions to those of a real editorial, with its typical time limitations. The teacher will always be there to supervise and give some advice. The correction and comment of the tasks and the supervision of their progress in learning will also be individualised.
Seminars: The students will attend one or more of the three seminars that will be taking place in consecutive weeks. Their aim is to improve the mark and develop some of the final tasks: glossary, features, etc. One of these seminars and tasks is compulsory in order to pass the subject; the others are recommended to improve the final mark.
[1] In class: 1) Lectures; 2) Seminars; 3) Meetings with the teacher; 4) Tasks (laboratory...)
At home: 5) Task in groups; 6) Individual tasks (memories, exercises...); 7) Other tasks; 8) Personal study.
7. Planning of activities
|
Week[1] |
Activities in class / Type of activity |
Activities at home / Type of activity |
|
Week 1 |
Lectures. Presentation of the subject (contents, rules, tasks to do, bibliography, etc.). Give contact emails, photos and distribution of groups of three people to work in the blog. Lecture: The information society. Assign terms to develop on the glossary. |
Read introduction texts (available in Moodle) to comment next week |
|
Week 2 |
Lecture: web 2.0 and Citizen journalism. Lecture: Explain how to search and assess sources. Comment texts assigned during the first week. |
Look for information about the assigned terms in the glossary. Write glossary entries. Meeting: about searching and writing of glossary terms.
|
|
Week 3 |
Lecture: features of the digital language and its application to journalism: hypertextuality, multimediality, and interactivity. Choose subject for the blog and form groups. Explain how to write on a blog. Lecture: journalistic design on the Internet, surfing and software utilities. |
Write glossary entries. Hand in glossary entries. Hand in glossary entries in Moodle. Start blog. |
|
Week 4 |
Lecture (students): explain terms of the glossary. Lecture: explain analysis methods of the features of digital language (for the optional task). Lecture: classification and structure of the communication media on the Internet. |
Entries on the blog (once per week and per person, at least). Meeting: about optional final task. |
|
Week 5 |
Exam in class about the terms on the glossary. Lecture: journalistic writing on the Internet. Catalogue, classify and organise information. Informative genres on the Internet: the piece of news. Seminar: how to elaborate the final optional task. Voluntary writing exercise: piece of news (I). Hand in first piece of news at the end of the session. |
Read readings about journalistic writing on the Internet. Entries on the blog. |
|
Week 6 |
Lecture: informative and interpretative genres on the Internet. The report article. Correction and presentation in public of the voluntary writing exercise: piece of news (I). Compulsory writing exercise: piece of news (II). |
Read texts about journalistic genres on the Internet: informative genres. Entries on the blog. Compile data for the optional final task (analyse features and cases). |
|
Week 7 |
Lecture: dialogic genres on the Internet. The interview. Correction and presentation in public of the compulsory writing exercise: piece of news (II). Compulsory writing exercise: write and hand in a report article. Presentation of the entries on the blog (by students). Debate. |
Read texts about journalistic genres on the Internet: dialogic genres. Entries on the blog. Compile data for the optional final task (analyse features and cases). Prepare an interview with a current character. Meetings: assitance. Interview a current character. Tests of compilation and analysis of data for the optional final task Meetings: assitance. |
|
Week 8 |
Lecture: interpretative genres on the Internet: the report. Correction and presentation in public of the compulsory writing exercise: report article. Compulsory writing exercise: write the interview and upload it to the blog. Students: present the subject and point of view chosen for the report project. |
Read texts about journalistic genres on the Internet: interpretative genres. Entries on the blog. Compile data for the optional final task (analyse features and cases). Look for information and data about the report project. Meetings: assistance. |
|
Week 9 |
Correction and presentation in public of the compulsory writing exercise: interview. Present entries on the blog. Write in class the report project, with the assistance of the teacher.
|
Read reports about the situation of digital journalism. Entries on the blog. Compile data for the optional final task (analyse features and cases). Look for information and elaborate report project. Meetings with the teacher for assitance.
|
|
Week 10 |
Compulsory writing exercise: Present in class the report projects. Hand them in. Present tasks on the analysis of media: features and cases. Lecture: final comments about journalistic writing on the Internet: short introduction to the use of CMS. |
Last entries on the blog. Final report of the group assessing the blog. Hand in report (10 pages approx.). |
[1] Please note that every week there are two lectures, in different days.