Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
International Journalism
Teaching staff
Request an appointment: ajimeneze@uic.es
Introduction
Contemporary international journalism faces a radically different landscape compared to past decades, marked by immediacy, climate crises, structured disinformation, and the complexity of hybrid conflicts. It is no longer enough to be a passive observer or to process information from global agencies. This course was created to offer an updated theoretical, ethical, and practical framework, providing the methodological tools required to analyze current geopolitics, hold power structures accountable, and address international realities with critical rigor.
Throughout the course, the classroom will function as a collaborative laboratory for cross-border investigation. We will combine innovative methodologies with the essential principles of the profession: fieldwork, in-depth research, and narrative reporting. Technology will serve as a tool to enhance journalism, always maintaining ethics, the human perspective, and the impact of events on communities at its core.
The approach of this subject is fundamentally practical and oriented toward professional excellence. This elective is designed for those seeking to go beyond conventional theoretical concepts, understand the dynamics that shape the world, and produce a piece of investigative journalism ready for publication.
Pre-course requirements
No prerequisits
Objectives
The main objective of this course is to equip students with the theoretical, methodological, and ethical skills required to conceive, develop, and publish international journalistic investigations. Throughout the semester, students will learn to analyze contemporary geopolitical complexity through the use of advanced sources, digital data verification, and cross-border networking. Furthermore, the course aims to foster critical skills to hold global power institutions accountable, master transmedia narrative techniques and long-form reporting, and consolidate an original journalism project that meets the highest standards of rigor, ethical commitment, and human perspective.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- 01 CG - Capacity for self-evaluation and professional order
- 02 CG - The ability to learn and act an autonomously and responsibly
- 03 CG - The ability to work in a group
- 14 CE - The ability to plan technical and human resources
- 17 CE - The ability to produce spoken and written texts for journalistic projects
- 18 CE - Ability to detect newsworthy events
- 22 CE - The ability to critically analyze Spanish, European and World journalism.
- 27 CE - The ability to understand and work with different agents of the journalistic profession
- 29 CE - The ability to understand and apply different journalistic genres and formats
- 36 CE - Knowledge and mastery of the distinction between opinion and information / colloquial and cultured registers
- 37 CE - Knowledge and mastery of different techniques to contrast information
- 43 CE - The ability and capacity to take responsibility for the communication area of an organization
- 47 CE - The ability and capacity to expertly and strategically manage of corporate communications
- 53 CE - The ability to know specialized areas of the journalistic profession
Learning outcomes of the subject
Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:
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Analyze contemporary geopolitical reality through the critical use of updated theoretical frameworks, identifying global actors, power dynamics, hybrid conflicts, and the informational challenges of the digital era.
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Apply advanced journalistic research methodologies, combining digital tools to cross-check information in environments of high disinformation.
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Design and execute cross-border journalistic projects, collaborating through networks and applying international coverage techniques that guarantee rigor, source security, and access to hard-to-reach information.
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Master the languages of transmedia storytelling and in-depth reporting, structuring high-impact international investigations capable of integrating analytical rigor with elevated literary quality and a human dimension.
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Evaluate the ethical and deontological dilemmas of international journalism, applying criteria of social responsibility, methodological rigor, and human rights protection in the coverage of global crises and vulnerable communities.
Syllabus
Block 1: (Weeks 1-3) The New Map of International Journalism. Critical Framing, Demystifying the "Classic Correspondent," and Ethics.
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Week 1: The End of Colonial Reporting and Wire-Service Journalism. How to narrate the world without an Eurocentric/Western gaze. From "parachute journalism" to embedded local reporting and community partnerships.
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Week 2: Geopolitics of Chaos and Hybrid Warfare. Reporting on conflicts in the era of infowar: cyberattacks, algorithmic manipulation, psychological warfare, and state propaganda.
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Week 3: Ethics in the Trenches and Reporter Dilemmas. Covering trauma, protecting victims, secondary traumatic stress in journalists, and managing physical and digital security.
Block 2: (Weeks 4-7) The Toolkit: Advanced Investigation and Data. 21st-Century Investigative Journalism Applied to the Global Stage.
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Week 4: Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). How to monitor humanitarian crises directly from your screen.
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Week 5: Money Has No Borders (Follow the Money). Tracing transnational corruption, tax havens, illicit trafficking, and major corporations (ICIJ methodologies and investigative journalism networks).
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Week 6: Verification in High-Disinformation Environments. International fact-checking, identifying deepfakes, botnet campaigns, and verifying user-generated content (UGC).
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Week 7: Environmental Journalism and the Climate Divide. The defining global crisis of our time: climate refugees, extractivism, environmental racism, and holding global summits/agreements accountable.
Block 3: (Weeks 8-11) Captivating Narratives: From Data to the Human Face. Turning Complex Investigations into Unforgettable Stories.
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Week 8: The Art of Long-Form International Narrative. How to build characters, atmosphere, and tension without warping reality. Literary prose in service of the truth.
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Week 9: Transmedia Storytelling and Emerging Formats. Narrative podcast journalism, immersive reporting, vertical video for younger audiences, and specialized geopolitics newsletters.
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Week 10: The Voice of the Displaced: Migration and Borders. How to cover migration while avoiding sensationalism, hollow statistics, and hate speech.
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Week 11: Interviewing Power and Victims. International interview techniques: from political leaders and dictators to survivors of human rights violations.
Block 4: (Weeks 12-15) The Lab: From Hypothesis to Publication. Real-World Production Phase and Wrap-Up.
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Week 12: Cross-Border Collaborative Journalism. How to coordinate investigations among journalists across different countries, languages, and time zones.
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Week 13: The Pitch Session. How to pitch an investigation to major international media outlets (The Guardian, El País, BBC, The New York Times, etc.). Pitching workshop.
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Week 14: Lab Work / Intensive Editing. Writing, cross-verification (internal fact-checking), and clinical editing of final projects.
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Week 15: Pitch Fest. Public presentation of final projects.
Teaching and learning activities
In person
| TRAINING ACTIVITY | ECTS CREDITS |
| Lectures. In lectures, lecturers/professors not only transmit content or knowledge, but also, and above all else, attitudes, motivation, skills and values, etc. They also ensure that participants can express their opinions and arguments to the other students. | 1 |
| Meeting Point. Meetings will be organised with notable people from the professional and scientific fields or the international field, and students. These sessions will take the form of conferences, work sessions, discussions, or interviews, etc. | 0.4 |
| Coaching. Monitoring how students learn the content of the subject, either individually or in groups. In the coaching sessions, mistakes will be corrected, queries answered, and exercises and activities to achieve the established objectives will be suggested. | 0.4 |
| Focused Praxis. Handing in occasional exercises to learn theory through practice. | 1.2 |
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
| Evaluable Component | Percentage | Description |
| 1. Research Logbook (Weekly submissions) | 40% | Small weekly progress milestones completed in class (topic definition, source mapping, OSINT verification, structural draft). |
| 2. Final Investigative Project (Feature / Long-form) | 40% | Submission of the fully written and edited investigation (30%) + Quick oral defense at the final Pitch Fest (10%). |
| 3. Attendance and Active Classroom Presence | 20% | Mandatory attendance, participation in current affairs discussions, and valuable contributions to group debates. |
Course Requirements:
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In-Person Attendance:
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Minimum required: Attendance to at least 80% of in-person classes is mandatory.
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Ethical Rigor and Zero Tolerance for Plagiarism:
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Fabricating sources, falsifying testimony, or plagiarizing text (including the undeclared or unjustified use of generative AI tools to substitute research) will result in an automatic failing grade of 0.0 for the course.
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Passing Requirements:
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Students must score at least 5/10 in both the Research Logbook and the Final Project in order to compute the final course grade.
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Bibliography and resources
Bibliografía Básica (Obras de referencia, crónica e investigación):
- Carrion, Jorge (2012). Mejor que ficción: Crónicas ejemplares. Anagrama.
- Guerriero, Leila (2024). La llamada. Anagrama.
- Jiménez, David (2019). El director. Libros del K.O.
- Jiménez Enoa, Abraham (2023). La isla oculta. Libros del K.O.
- Jiménez Enoa, Abraham (2024). Aterrizar en el mundo. Libros del K.O.
- Martínez, Óscar (2021). Los muertos y el periodista. Anagrama.
- Martínez, Óscar y Labrador, Efrén (2024). El rey desnudo: Anatomía del régimen de Bukele. Debate.
- Morales, Agus (2018). La música de los dioses / Nómadas: La hipocresía solidaria. Kairós / Arpa.
- Peker, Luciana (2020). La odiocracia: Redes, odio y violencia machista. Paidós.
- Sánchez, Rubén (2022). Las élites que dominan España: Quiénes son y cómo nos controlan. Akal.
- Turati, Marcela (2023). San Fernando: Última parada. Viaje al crimen autorizado en Tamaulipas. Aguilar.
Pódcasts e Investigaciones Sonoras:
-El hilo (Radio Ambulante Estudios) – Análisis narrativo en profundidad sobre América Latina y el contexto global.
-Radio Ambulante (NPR) – Crónica sonora, retrato humano y narrativa periodística en español.
-Hoy en El País (El País) – Periodismo diario de explicación y contexto sobre grandes temas internacionales.
-Guerra 3 (Podium Podcast) – Ficción sonora sobre geopolítica, guerras híbridas y desinformación.
-In the Dark (APM Reports / The New Yorker) – Periodismo de investigación riguroso sobre vacíos de poder y fallos judiciales.
-Las raras – Pódcasts de historias reales que desafían el estatu quo global.
-De eso no se habla (Isabel Cadenas Cañon) – Investigación sobre el silencio, la memoria y la ética de lo no dicho.
-The Daily (The New York Times) – Referente internacional de adaptación de la actualidad a la narrativa sonora.
-Sello de raza / Pódcast de Revista 5W – Entrevistas de fondo y crónicas sonoras sobre crisis globales.
-La Aldea Irreductible – Geopolítica histórica y análisis de conflictos desde una perspectiva divulgativa.
Filmografía y Documentales de Análisis
-Isla Familia (Abraham Jiménez Enoa y Patricia Pérez, 2024) – Exilio, separación familiar, memoria e identidad en la distancia.
-20 días en Mariúpol (Mstyslav Chernov, 2023) – Periodismo de guerra de alto riesgo sobre el cerco a Mariúpol.
-Collective (Alexander Nanau, 2019) – Investigación periodística sobre la corrupción en el sistema sanitario rumano.
-La cordillera de los sueños (Patricio Guzmán, 2019) – Periodismo de ensayo, trauma político y memoria histórica en Chile.
-No soy tu negro (I Am Not Your Negro) (Raoul Peck, 2016) – Racismo estructural y deconstrucción del discurso hegemónico.
-Citizenfour (Laura Poitras, 2014) – Vigilancia masiva, filtraciones y ciberperiodismo a través del caso Snowden.
-The Cave (Feras Fayyad, 2019) – Cobertura sobre el trabajo médico bajo el conflicto bélico en Siria.
-Honeyland (Tamara Kotevska y Ljubomir Stefanov, 2019) – Crisis ambiental, extractivismo y sostenibilidad.
-Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom (Evgeny Afineevsky, 2015) – Registro en directo de movimientos sociales y crisis políticas.
-El silencio de otros (Almudena Carracedo y Robert Bahar, 2018) – Memoria histórica, justicia transnacional y derechos humanos.
Herramientas e Iniciativas Periodísticas Singulares:
-Bellingcat – Inteligencia de fuentes abiertas (OSINT), geolocalización y verificación satelital.
-ICIJ (Consorcio Internacional de Periodistas de Investigación) – Red global de periodismo colaborativo (Panama Papers).
-OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) – Red transfronteriza especializada en crimen organizado y corrupción.
-CLIP (Centro Latinoamericano de Investigación Periodística) – Investigaciones transfronterizas en América Latina.
-IDL-Reporteros (Perú) – Investigación sobre corrupción política y corporativa en la región.
-Disclose (Francia) – ONG periodística sobre industria militar, seguridad y medio ambiente.
-Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma – Ética, cobertura de crisis y salud mental del periodista.
-Forbidden Stories – Red dedicada a continuar el trabajo de periodistas amenazados o asesinados.
-Público / Maldita.es / Chequeado (Red IFCN) – Verificación de datos (fact-checking) e identificación de desinformación.
-Storyful / InVID Project – Herramientas avanzadas de verificación de vídeo e imágenes en entornos de crisis.