Communication Structure
Code: 103855Credits: 6
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| Journalism | FB | 1 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Aida Martori Muntsant
- Email :
- aida.martori@uab.cat
Teaching staff
- Maria Corominas Piulats
- Angel Castellanos Diaz
- Aida Martori Muntsant
- José Bernardo Berna Alvarado
- Christian Alejandro Báez Valverde
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
Follow-up of news about the media system (mainly in Catalonia, Spain and Europe) is recommended.
Objectives
To provide students with an introduction to the knowledge of structural features of media systems in the Western European environment, with special attention to Spanish and Catalan cases, where he/she will develop his/her professional activity.
Thus, in the first approach the economical, political and social actors that make up or contribute to the formation of these systemes will be considered, without neglecting the analysis of the North American model, due to its influence on the development of European and Latin American media systems. On the other hand, emphasis will be placed on the impact of the Internet and digitalization on the redesign of communication structure at local, state and international levels.
Eventually, aspects related to other media systems can be included if a particularly relevant fact occurs.
Learning outcomes
- CM03 (Assess the impact of media policies on gender equity, and promote journalistic strategies that foster media equality and diversity.) Assess the impact of media policies on gender equity, and promote journalistic strategies that foster media equality and diversity.
- KM01 (Recognise the main theories of communication and their historical evolution, as well as their impact on shaping the current media ecosystem, society and culture.) Recognise the main theories of communication and their historical evolution, as well as their impact on shaping the current media ecosystem, society and culture.
- KM02 (Identify the organisational and operational models of media systems, including media policies, regulation and legal norms.) Identify the organisational and operational models of media systems, including media policies, regulation and legal norms.
Contents
1. Conceptual delineation and theoretical perspectives. What is a media system? Typology, characteristics and actors. Comparing media systems.
2. Analysis of actors that contribute to the articulation of media systems: public media, private communication groups, business associations, audience measurement bodies and telecommunications companies and digital platforms with businesses in the audiovisual field. The role of the State and independent regulators.
3. Analysis of media sectors (press, radio, television and digital environment). General overview, characteristics of the offer and regulation. Transformation of business or consumption models.
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tutorial | 5 | 0.2 | |
| Seminars | 17 | 0.68 | |
| Personal study | 80 | 3.2 | |
| Theory | 34 | 1.36 | |
| Evaluation | 7 | 0.28 |
Two thirds of face-to-face teaching will be developed with the full group and a third, in seminars with small groups.
Sessions with the full group will consist of lectures, held by faculty staff, who will explain the contents related to thematic blocks and solve the doubts regarding the compulsory readings that the students have to do and the work resulting from the planned self-learning work.
The seminars will include practical activities aimed at helping to develop a deep understanding of the course topics. It may require searching and analyzing in advance different types of learning resources (pieces of news, academic texts, reports, etc.). Current issues will be shared and discussed, with the active participation of students, in order to update the agenda and identify key elements relating to the evolution of media systems.
The approach of the subject will incorporate the gender perspective in all possible aspects (content, methodologies applied to work dynamics, student participation in the classroom, bibliography provided and use of inclusive language, among other aspects).
The detailed calendar with the content of the different sessions will be displayed on the day of the subject presentation and will also be available on the subject's Virtual Campus, where students will be able to find the various teaching materials and all the information necessary for the proper follow-up of the subject. In the event of a change in teaching modality due to force majeure according to the competent authorities, the teaching staff will inform of the changes that will occur in the subject's programming and teaching methodologies.
The professors of this subject will introduce innovative teaching methodologies, such as the flipped classroom, authentic learning (as a way to bring professional journalistic practice closer to theoretical subjects) or Challenge-based Learning, and they will organize conferences from the professional sector to connect the subject with current challenges in the media and communication sector.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seminar exercices | 35% | 2.5 | 0.1 | CM03, KM02 |
| Seminar intervention | 15% | 1 | 0.04 | CM03, KM02 |
| Mid-term exams | 25% + 25% | 3.5 | 0.14 | CM03, KM01, KM02 |
FIRST ENROLMENT STUDENTS
Continuous evaluation
Continuous evaluation consists of the following evaluation activities and percentages:
1. Two partial examinations related to theoretical content of the subject, and representing 25% of the final grade each. Every partial examination deals with different parts of the content.
To pass the course it is compulsory to pass these two exams (Minimum: 5/10 each). If one of the two partial exams is not taken the final grade will be \"not assessable\".
2. Several exercises related to the issues discussed in the seminar, which will represent 35% of the final grade.
3. Intervention in seminars. Students intervention and participation in the seminars will be assessed qualitatively (15% of the final grade).
Recuperation
Both exams are retakeable: there is no minimum grade to go for retake, but it is essential to have taken the test (the corresponding midterm or midterms) and to have been assessed, at least, in another assessment activity (in accordance with the regulations that indicate that students will have the right to retake the subject if they have been assessed in the set of activities, the weight of which is at least 2/3 of the total grade for the subject).
In the event that the second chance of one of the two exams isn’t passed, the final grade of the subject will be the one obtained in this exam (or the average, if both are failed).
Due to their current nature, there is no second chance for activities developed in seminars.
Single evaluation
Single evaluation consists of the following evaluation activities and percentages:
- Knowledgecontrol: 50% - Exam on the theoretical contents of the course. To pass the course it is compulsory to pass this exam (Minumum: 5/10)
- Realization of one or several practical exercises related to the issues covered in the seminar: 30%. It/They will be done on the same day as the two previous activities. This activity cannot be recovered; accordingly, in case of having to take the recovery, the grade obtained in this exercise in the first call will be maintained.
- Delivery of a task that will be assigned at the beginning of the course: 20%
1 (50%) + 2 (30%) + 3 (20%) = 100 % SUBJECT FINAL GRADE
In order to pass the course a final grade equal or higher than 5 must be obtained. The date of the revision of the grades will be the same as for the students of continuous evaluation and will be announced in class.
Recuperation
The knowledge control or final theoretical test is retakeable. There is no minimum grade to go for retake, but it is essential to have taken the test and been evaluated in at least one other evaluation activity (in accordance with the regulations that indicate that students will have the right to retake the subject if they have been evaluated in the set of activities, the weight of which is at least 2/3 of the total grade for the subject).
The retake will consist of an exam. To pass the subject, it is mandatory to pass the exam (minimum grade: 5). In the event that it is not passed, the grade for the subject will be that obtained in this exam.
The practical exercises and the task are not retaken.
SECOND ENROLMENT STUDENTS
In case of second (or third...) enrolment, students can choose between continuous examination (see above) and a single synthesis exam or final examination with second-chance option (no minimum grade, it is compulsory to have taken the examination in the first chance). The grading of the subject will correspond to the grade of the synthesis or final examination. In the event of failing the second chance examination, the final grade of the subject will be the one obtained in this (second chance) examination.
It will be understood that students from second registration who do not communicate explicitly by e-mail and within the deadline announced at the beginning of the course their evaluation option will take the synthesis test.
CALENDAR OF EVALUATION ACTIVITIES
The dates of the evaluation and recovery activities will be announced on the day of the presentation of the course. this information will also be available on the Virtual Campus.
PLAGIARISM
In the event that the student performs any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation of an evaluation act, this evaluation act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that could be instructed. In the event, that several irregularities occur in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (restricted use)
For this subject, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively in support tasks, such as bibliography searches, transcription/correction of texts or translations, if necessary. Students must clearly identify which parts have been generated with this technology, specify the tools used and include a critical reflection on how these tools have influenced the process and the final result of the activity. The lack of transparency in the use of AI in any assessable activity will be considered a lack of academic honesty and may lead to a partial or total penalty in the grade of the activity, or greater sanctions in serious cases.
ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT
The performance of any irregularity in an evaluation act (academic fraud, plagiarism or improper use of AI, unless this use is expressly authorized by the teaching guide), which may lead to a significant variation in the grade, assumes that this act will be graded with a 0. In the event that the teaching guide foresees that in order to pass the subject it is an essential requirement to have obtained a minimum grade in this evaluation act or that there are several irregularities in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade of this subject is 0. Apart from this, a disciplinary process may be instructed to the student that incurs any of these irregularities.
Bibliography
Basic bibliography:
ALBORNOZ, Luis A.; SEGOVIA, ANA i. & ALMIRÓN, Núria (2020) Grupo Prisa: media power in contemporary Spain. Nova York: Routledge. DOI https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429297717
ALMIRÓN, Núria (2008). La financiarización de los grupos de comunicación en España: el caso del grupo PRISA. Revista Eletrônica Internacional de Economia Política da Informação, da Comunicação e da Cultura-Eptic, 10(2). https://issuu.com/eptic/docs/121028221950-530f470a20724a74af12f844f9cabceb
CAÑEDO, Azahara, LIMÓN, Nieves & DE LA SIERRA, Susana (2025). La plataformización del sistema mediático europeo y español. Regulación, estructura y contenidos. Tirant Lo Blanc.
DIMITROVA, Daniela V. (2021). Global journalism: understanding world media systems. Rowman & Littlefield.
HALLIN, Daniel; MANCINI, Paolo (2008). Sistemas de medios comparados. Tres modelos de relación entre los medios de comunicación y la política. Barcelona: Hacer.
HUMPRECHT, Edda, CASTRO HERRERO, Laia, BLASSNIG, Sina, BRÜGGEMANN, Michael & ENGESSER Sven (2022). Media systems in the digital age: An empirical comparison of 30 countries. Journal of Communication, 72(2), 145-164. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqab054
JONES, Daniel (2005). Aproximación teórica a la Estructura de la Comunicación Social. Escribanía, (14), 19-30. https://revistasum.umanizales.edu.co/ojs/index.php/escribania/issue/view/226
LÓPEZ, Bernat; HUERTAS, Amparo; NAVARRO, Celina & PERES-NETO, Luis, eds. (2023): Informe de la comunicació a Catalunya 2023–2024. Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès): Generalitat de Catalunya i Institut de la Comunicació (InCom-UAB). https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/llibres/2023/284362/infcomcat_a2023.pdf
LÓPEZ-CEPEDA, Ana María; COSTA-SÁNCHEZ, Carmen & DRAGOMIR, Marius (2026). Governance Models in Public Service Media: Participation, Reputation, and Sustainability in the Era of Platformization. Routledge.
NEWMAN, Nic & CHERUBINI, Federica (2026, 12th January). Periodismo, medios y tecnología: tendencias y predicciones para 2026. Oxford: Reuters Institute. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/es/periodismo-medios-y-tecnologia-tendencias-y-predicciones-para-2026
PARISER, Eli (2017). El filtro burbuja: Cómo la web decide lo que leemos y lo que pensamos. Taurus.
ZALLO, Ramón (2011). Estructuras de la comunicación y la cultura. Políticas para la era digital. Barcelona: Gedisa
ZALLO, Ramón (2016) Tendencias en comunicación. Cultura digital y poder. Barcelona: Gedisa. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uab/detail.action?docID=4908814
ZUBOFF, Shoshana (2020). La era del capitalismo de vigilancia. Barcelona: Paidós.
Additional bibliography:
ACCIÓ (2026). El sector audiovisual a Catalunya. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya.
AGUADO-GUADALUPE, Guadalupe (2018). Las relaciones Prensa-Estado en el reparto de publicidad institucional en España. Estudios sobre el mensaje periodístico, 24 (2), 993-1005. https://e-archivo.uc3m.es/rest/api/core/bitstreams/818ae3b4-ce25-4815-853a-7b8071e0098c/content
ALBORNOZ, Luis y GARCÍA leiva, Trinidad (eds.) (2017). Diversidad e industria audiovisual. El desafio cultural del siglo XXI, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica. https://bibcercador.uab.cat/permalink/34CSUC_UAB/1eqfv2p/alma991007644409706709
ARRIAZA IBARRA, Karen i MORILLAS CANTERO, José G. (2022). After 4G and 5G, What will happen to open televisions in Spain? Situation of uncertainty for open televisions and the principle of universal access. ZER: Revista De Estudios De Comunicación = Komunikazio Ikasketen Aldizkaria, 27(53), 65–80. https://ojs.ehu.eus/index.php/Zer/article/view/23888
BIRKINBINE, Benjamin J; GÓMEZ, Rodrigo i WASKO, Janet (2016). Global Media Giants New York; Routledge. https://bibcercador.uab.cat/permalink/34CSUC_UAB/1eqfv2p/alma991000598599706709
BONINI-BALDINI, Tiziano, TÚÑEZ-LÓPEZ Miguel & BARRIENTOS-BÁEZ, Almudena (2021). Public service media in the age of platformization of culture and society. A: Túñez-López M, Campos-Freire F and Rodríguez-Castro M The values of public service media in the Internet society. Cham: Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 45-58. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56466-7_3
BREVINI, Benedetta & SWIATEK, Lukasz (2021). Amazon: understanding a global communicationgiant. Routledge. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uab/detail.action?pq-origsite=primo&docID=6367837
CAGÉ, Julia (2016). Salvar los medios de comunicación. Barcelona: Anagrama.
CAÑEDO, Azahara & SEGOVIA, Ana I. (2022). La plataformización de los medios de comunicación de servicio público. Una reflexión desde la economía política de la comunicación. A: Goyanes, Manuel & Campos-Rueda, Marcela (Eds.). Gestión de medios públicos en el entorno digital (pp. 65-88). Valencia: Tirant Humanidades.
CEREZO, Pepe (2022). Deconstruyendo los medios. Cómo adaptar las empresas de comunicación al entorno digital. Córdoba: Editorial Almuzara.
CONSELL DE L'AUDIOVISUAL DE CATALUNYA (2023). Informe sobre l'audiovisual a Catalunya 2025. Barcelona: Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya. https://www.cac.cat/sites/default/files/Informe_audiovisual_Catalunya_2025_CAC.pdf
CONSELL DE L’AUDIOVISUAL DE CATALUNYA. Butlletí d’informació sobre l’audiovisual de Catalunya. https://www.cac.cat/index.php/acords-recerca/biac-%28-informes-del-sector-quadrimestrals-%29 (Informes quadrimestrals)
DONDERS, Karen (2021) Public service media in Europe: law, theory and practica. Londres: Taylor & Francis Group. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uab/detail.action?docID=6550956.
DOYLE, Gillian (2018) Television and the development of the data economy: data analysis, power and the public interest. International Journal of Digital Television, 9(1), pp. 53-68. https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/175294/1/175294.pdf
EGAN, Jim; ROBERTSON, Craig T.; ROSS ARGUEDAS, Amy; NEWMAN, Nic; KLEIS NIELSEN, Rasmus; MUKHERJEE, Mitali & FLETCHER, Richard (2026). Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026. Oxford: Reuters Institute. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2023-06/Digital_News_Report_2023.pdf
FERNÁNDEZ ALONSO, Isabel (ed.) (2017). Austeridad y clientelismo. Política audiovisual en España en el contexto mediterráneo y de la crisis financiera. Barcelona: Gedisa. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=2352584
FLEW, Terry (2021). Regulating platforms (First published). Polity Press.
FRANCO, Marta G. (2024). Las redes son nuestras: una historia popular de internet y un mapa para volver a habitarla. Consonni.
GARCÍA SANTAMARÍA, José Vicente (2016). Los grupos multimedia españoles. Análisis y estrategias. Barcelona: Editorial UOC. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/bibliotequesuab/detail.action?docID=11286116
GOYANES, Manuel & CAMPOS-RUEDA, Marcela (Eds.). Gestión de medios públicos en el entorno digital. Valencia: Tirant Humanidades.
HARI, Johann (2023). El valor de la atención: Por qué nos la robaron y cómo recuperarla. Ediciones Península.
INNERARITY, Daniel & COLOMINA, Carme (2020). La verdad en las democracias algorítmicas. Revista CIDOB d'afers internacionals (124), 11-24. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26975706
LEVI, Simona (2024). Digitalització democràtica: sobirania digital per a les persones: com les institucions han permès que els nostres espais digitals quotidians siguin transformats en latifundis extractius privats... i com revertir-ho (Primera edició). Raig Verd Editorial.
MAGALLÓN ROSA, Raúl (2023) Updating news : información y democracia. Madrid: Pirámide.
MCDONALD, Paul (Ed.) (2022). The Routledge Companion to Media Industries. Routledge. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uab/detail.action?pq-origsite=primo&docID=6733218
PEIRANO, Marta (2019).El enemigo conoce el sistema: Manipulación de ideas, personas e influencias después de la economía de la atención. Barcelona: Debate.
QUINTAS-FROUFE, Natalia; GONZÁLEZ-NEIRA, Ana (coords.) (2021). Los estudios de la audiencia. De la tradición a la innovación. Barcelona: Gedisa.
SALAVERRÍA, Ramón; MARTÍNEZ-COSTA, Pilar (eds.) (2021) Medios nativos digitales en España. Caracterización y tendencias. Salamanca: Comunicación Social.
TARNOFF, Ben (2022). Internet for the people: the fight for our digital future. Verso.
TÚÑEZ-LÓPEZ, Miguel; CAMPOS-FREIRE, Francisco; y RODRÍGUEZ-CASTRO, Marta (eds.) (2021). The values of public service media in the Internet society. Londres: Palgrave Macmillan. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uab/detail.action?docID=6521535.
Webs:
Barlovento Comunicación https://www.barloventocomunicacion.es/
Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) – Blog https://blog.cnmc.es/
COMUNICACIÓ 21 https://comunicacio21.cat/
Guia de la radio: http://guiadelaradio.com/
Software
Basic tools of Microsoft Office package, Moodle applications and free online learning platforms.
Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE
| Type of teaching | Group | Language | Semester | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 2 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 11 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 12 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 13 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 21 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 22 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 23 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |