Subject

Information Theory

  • code 09583
  • course 1
  • term Semester 1
  • type OB
  • credits 6

Main language of instruction: Spanish

Teaching staff

Head instructor

Dra. Maria del Carmen LLOVET - mdcllovet-alumni@uic.es

Office hours

Translation

Introduction

  • Information theory is the first scientific model of the communication process, formulated in the mid-twentieth century thanks to the specialization of the process of information transmission. Taking this mathematical reference to represent different expressions of human communication, however we start from a more proper context of social communication as a psychosocial phenomenon of interaction between human beings.

 

Pre-course requirements

  • Prerequisites are not necessary, although it is much needed an interest in the news, as well as the development of written and oral communication skills. The basic components of communication will be reviewed as a starting point for Information Theory.

 

Objectives


The objective is to introduce the student in the context of the informative activity as an essential element of communication - public and personal - and as a cultural good - not a commodity - in the scenario of digital transformation where the audience is active. The development of the subject will include knowing the main elements that make up the current news: the communicative panorama of newsrooms as collaborative organizations, the effects of the media in society and the roles of the informant in the current context threatened by ideological and economic inlfuences.


The student will value the journalistic tasks, genres and journalistic procedures (especially the use of journalistic sources and the newsworthiness criteria) that will determine the work of the publicist and the public relations professional to give notoriety to their clients. The relationships between these work areas allow us to appreciate the important role of communication professionals to guarantee the transparency and autonomy necessary for citizens to make decisions in their day to day.

Competences / Learning outcomes of the degree programme

  • 03 - The ability to plan personal resources (personnel, materials, seasonal...)
  • 04 - The ability of self assessment and professional self management
  • 05 - The ability to learn autonomously
  • 06 - The ability to act autonomously and responsibly
  • 07 - The ability to work in a group
  • 12 - The ability to produce spoken and written texts
  • 14 - Ability to analyse
  • 15 - The ability to synthesise
  • 21 - The ability of abstraction
  • 22 - The ability to generate debate and reflection
  • 26 - The ability to coordinate yourself and /or work together to / with a team
  • 58 - Knowledge and mastery of the static image and its ability to communicate
  • 60 - Knowledge and mastery of the techniques of continuous narrative transmission
  • 64 - Knowledge and mastery of bibliographic repertories
  • 67 - Knowledge and mastery of the digital culture
  • 69 - Knowledge and mastery of the different techniques used to contrast information
  • 73 - Knowledge and mastery of techniques to analyze sources of information.
  • 92 - The ability for analysis, synthesis and critical judgment
  • 93 - To know how to manage time
  • 98 - To skillfully manage terminology in English related to Communication

Learning outcomes of the subject

  • Enable students to identify themselves as a media audience interested in a type of meaningful information to make their own decisions and establish interactions 
  • Deepen the idea of becoming public service professionals to keep society informed, dynamic and able to participate in the public debate 
  • Analyze and discuss the tone and direction of global issues in different media 
  • Differentiate techniques from objectively reporting non-neutral techniques as limits to press freedom in a competitive and advertising environment 
  • Know great features of the evolution of journalism of the twentieth century to the present day 
  • Value the role of the audience in the creation and dissemination of news 
  • Know the organization of the news media in Spain 
  • Understand the context surrounding a discourse (sender, receiver, objective, pragmatic ...). 
  • Know the basic elements of the construction of stories and will be able to adopt a critical attitude towards the data and arguments of these.  
  • Learn to process information to generate personal knowledge and useful content for consumers
  • Acquire the expressive skills necessary to argue intelligibly and convincingly. 
  • Value active listening and critical thinking in the communication process. 
  • Search, select and integrate information in a journalistic documentation process 
  • Observe reality with journalistic criteria. 
  • Know the main theoretical concepts that support the informative work. 
  • Know the main types of information sources and information systems useful in journalism 
  • Understand the present with more knowledge of the cause and detect new trends. 
  • Deepen the culture and contemporary thought and its influences on personal and collective dynamics. They will have a historical basis to understand the present of the media. 
  • Facilitate relationships between people, groups of people, institutions, organizations, etc. 
  • Connect communication with perceptions

Syllabus


SUBJECT 1- What is the information? Components of communication. From the culture of the information society to the society of communication and knowledge. Changes due to digital transformation: segmented and active audience, collaborator of the media, media without counter-power or voice of the voiceless. 

SUBJECT 2- The information professional. Historical perspective of the journalist. Roles -transparency in the execution and management of power and make understand that power; public debate, give voice to the voiceless: investigative journalism. Threats of the journalist's role: lack of autonomy and lack of verification. Academic citation. 

SUBJECT 3- Journalism and news. Definition and function of journalism. What is news? Data, facts, events and pseudo events. Newsworthiness criteria Definition of sources and typology. The style and journalistic genres.

Teaching and learning activities

In person

  • The sessions will combine a theoretical part with an eminently practical part in which the students will work with all kinds of informative material the different contents developed throughout the subject. To dominate the contents, presence, attention and participation in class are required - reading texts, contributing to the discussion - as well as study time and personal and group work.

Evaluation systems and criteria

In person

  • Material handed in or presented in class, exam and practices, must be written with correct spelling and grammar (you can use the Word option to "check" - "spelling and grammar"), justification of the paragraphs (you can use the Word option) and citation of the references used as indicated by the APA style (https://normasapa.com/como-hacer-referencia-bibliografia-en-normas-apa/).The regulations of the university establish a reduction of half a point in the final mark of the subject for each failure made in an exam and up to one point in the case of a job. 
  • In the first sitting the FINAL EXAM (minimum 5/10) worths 50% of the total grade. The exam will evaluate your knowledge through 5 short questions (3 lines maximum) related to the theory. A mid term exam (minimum 6/10) will be conducted during the day before last class  (December 16) whose results will be announced in the last class (December 18). The exam deals with all the contents presented in class, especially the practices corrected in class. 
  • FOCUSED PRACTICE 40% - 4 practices, one every month. 
  • PARTICIPATION 10% - comments every day in class on exposed topics, search for news related to the theory ...  

  • In the second sitting and next ones  the student will have to pass a theoretical-practical exam that will involve 100% of the grade unless the student indicates that they want to preserve the practical part and in that case the exam will count 50% of the final grade in this convocation. From the third call onwards only 100% of the final grade will be applied

Bibliography and resources

Handbooks recommended
  • Ferrer, E. (1997). Información y comunicación. Méjico: Fondo de cultura económica.
  • Kovach, B., & Rosentiel, T. (2012). Los elementos del periodismo. Madrid: Santillana.
  • Ramonet, I. (2013). La explosión del periodismo. De los medios de masas a la masa de medios. Madrid: Clave intelectual.
  • Sánchez de la Nieta, M. A. (2016). El renacimiento del periodismo. Pamplona: EUNSA.
  • Seiler, W. J. & Beall, M. (2005). Communication: making connections. New York: Pearson Education.
Handbooks cited 
    • Lippman, W. (1957). Crisis de la democracia occidental. Barcelona: Hispano Europea.
    • Lippman, W. (2003). La opinión pública. Madrid: Cuadernos de Langre.
    • Mc Luhan, M. (1964). Comprender los medios de comunicación. Las extensiones del hombre. New York. Londres. Reeditado por el MIT en 1995. Spanish edition, 1996 Barcelona: Editorial Paidós.
    • Mc Luhan, M. (1989). La aldea global. Transformaciones en la vida del mundo y los medios en el siglo XXI. En colaboración con Bruce R. Powers. New York. 1989. Spanish edition 1990, Barcelona: Editorial Gedisa.
    • Mc Luhan, M. (1967). El medio es el mensaje. Inventario de efectos. New York. Edición en español,Barcelona: Paidós.
    • Negroponte, N. (2000). El mundo digital. Barcelona: Ediciones B.
    • Parsons, P.J. (2016). Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice (PR in Practice). 3rd Edition. London: Kogan Page.
    • Wilcox, D., Glen T. Cameron and Bryan H. Reber (2014). Public Relations, Strategies and Tactics.11th Edition, New York: Pearson.
    • Wolton, D. (2010). Informar no es comunicar. Contra la ideología tecnológica. Gedisa: Barcelona
Academic journals cited    
  • Codina. L. (1996). Negroponte, medios de comunicación y cuñadas digitales. El profesional de la información.          http://www.elprofesionaldelainformacion.com/contenidos/1996/abril/negroponte_medios_de_comunicacin_y_cuadas_digitales.html
  • Fuente Cobo, Carmen (2017). Públicos vulnerables y empoderamiento digital: el reto de una sociedad e-inclusiva. El profesional de la información, v. 26, n. 1, pp. 5-12.
  • Harrison, S. & Moloney, K (2004). Comparing two public relations pioneers: American Ivy Lee and British John Eliot, Public Relations Review, 30, 205-215.
  • López Pérez, R. (1998). Crítica de la teoría de la información. Integración y fragmentación en el estudio de la comunicación. Cinta de Moebio, 3.
  • McChesney, R. (2013). Walter Lippman: Aquello fue ahora y esto fue entonces. Cuadernos de información y Comunicación, 18, 39-49.
  • Pineda Cachero, A. (2001). El modelo de propaganda de Noam Chomsky: medios mainstream y control de pensamiento. Ámbitos (6), 191-210.
  • Porter, L. (2010). Communicating for the good of the state: A post-symmetrical polemic on persuasion in ethical public relations, Public Relations Review, 36 (2010), 127–133.
  • Soengas Pérez, X., Rodríguez Vázquez, A.I. y Abuín Vences, N. (2014). La situación profesional de los periodistas españoles: las repercusiones de la crisis en los medios. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 69, pp. 104 - 124. Recuperado de           http://www.revistalatinacs.org/069/paper/1003_USC/06_S.htm
  • St John, B. (2006). The case for ethical propaganda within a democracy: Ivy Lee’s successful 1913-1914 railroad rate campaign, Public Relations Review, 32, 221-228
  • Torres, R.M. (11 de junio de 2005). Sociedad de la información / Sociedad del conocimiento. 
  • Vicondoa Álvarez, M. (1995). La independencia del ombudsman español. Communication & Society 8(2), 185-195.
Informative articles used  Journals and websites recommended

 

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