Curricular Unit:			Code:
Specialized Journalism II: Compared Political and Economic Journalism			1103JES2
Year:	Level:	Course:	Credits:
1	Master	Communication Sciences (Journalism)	7 ects
Learning Period:		Language of Instruction:	Total Hours:
Spring Semester		Portuguese/English	91
Learning Outcomes of the Curricular Unit:
This course unit aims to provide students with skills in the areas of economic and political journalism, that will enable them to have a more founded recognition of the limits of journalism in different political systems, of the impacts of the media in politics, and of the need for specific economic knowledge in economic coverage. Skills to be developed: analysis and synthesis; application of knowledge in different contexts; autonomous work.
Syllabus:
Introduction – concepts, problems and objectives 1. Comparative political systems and social communication: typology of political systems and the role of the media; freedom of the press, persuasion and political propaganda; freedom as an intrinsic value of democracy; political violence and the media. 2. Political journalism: audiences, communication and the formation of opinion; ethics and the myth of objectivity; different expressions of the fourth power; political journalism in practice. 3. Economic journalism: the jargon and the economic narrative; sources and statistics; interpretation of economic indicators; economic theory in journalistic communication; the timing of economic information and its financial implications; economic journalism in practice.
Demonstration of the Syllabus Coherence with the Curricular Unit's Objectives:
The subject provides referential knowledge in political and economic journalism. Section 1 seeks to recognize the explicit and implicit limits to journalistic practice in different political systems, reflecting on the role of journalism as a means of information, formation of public opinion, and political communication. Section 2 refers to democratic societies and points out the scope and the limits to political journalism. The risks of promiscuity between journalism and politics are highlighted and the difference between reporting and fabricating, facts and factoids, controversy and debate are pointed out. Section 3 presents basic terminology, indicators and central themes for economic journalism. The impacts and the timing of economic coverage, as well as the risks of the incompleteness, inaccuracy or deformation of the economic information are pointed out.
Teaching Methodologies (Including Evaluation):
Theoretical-practical approach. Theoretical presentation of contents. Practical application through the observation of contemporary political and economic themes, with particular emphasis on issues of relevance to the Portuguese economy. Analysis of alternative ways of reporting the same events. Assessment: Final test or final exam.
Demonstration of the Coherence between the Teaching Methodologies and the Learning Outcomes:
Specialized Journalism II is a theoretical-practical curricular unit. What is sought during the tutorial sessions is the critical recognition of factors that influence the production of information and the impacts thereby produced. Thus, in each section of the program, the theoretical exposition is followed by the analysis of contemporary political-economic themes, debating: the selection of topics; selection of approaches; ethical-deontological questioning; selection of sources; collection of information; processing specialized information.
Reading:
Altheide, D. e Snow, R. (1991). Media Worlds in the Postjournalism Era. NY: Aldine. Finkelstein, R. e Tiffen, R. (2015). When does press self-regulation work?, Melbourne University Law Review. 38(3), pp. 944-967. [B-on] Garcia, R., Rosa, M. e Barbosa, L. (2017). “Que número é este?”. Lisboa: Pordata. [online]. Herman, E. S. (2018). The Propaganda Model Revisited, Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine, 69(8), pp.1-12. DOI: 10.14452. Merrill, J. & Nerone, J. C (2002). The Four Theories of the Press Four and Half Decades Later: a retrospective, Journalism Studies, 3(1), pp. 133–136. DOI: 10.1080/14616700120107374. Radivoje, P. (2017). Forming the journalistic mindset as the key paradigm of journalism education: Revitalization of the truth in the shadow of the propaganda model of globalismo, Communication and Media, (41), pp. 105. Available at: [B-on] Servaes, J. (1988). “Beyond the Four Theories of the Press”. [B-on]