University and critical thinking: training in communication

Introduction

Q49_Introduction_EN.pdf 132.69 KB

Monographic theme: University and critical thinking: training in communication

The logic of mercantilism, the current basis of university studies. A reflection on the Bachelor's Degree in Journalism

Q49_Terron_EN.pdf 276.07 KB

Abstract

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We set out to show how the neoliberal discourse of the World Bank achieved, since the end of the last century, that the operation and purposes of universities were guided to a great extent by the logic of the market. Universities internalized its discourse, its instruments and its utilitarian reason. Both teaching and research have been traversed by the logic of competition, profitability and accounting. The curricula have been reduced and fragmented, and the fundamental is dissolved in the novelty. At the same time, the how is more deprived than the what. These tendencies increase in professional degrees, as is the case of journalism, which can also easily fall into technocentrism.

José Luis Terrón Blanco
Audiovisual Communication and Critical Thinking: Challenges for University Education

Q49_Sanchez_Franganillo_EN.pdf 276.35 KB

Abstract

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This work raises the challenge and the need to train Audiovisual Communication students in what we term critical thinking. This way of thinking, which is logical, reflexive and grounded, is a central pillar of audiovisual communication and university training, as it allows evidence, arguments and opinions to be analysed and evaluated in a reasoned way. It is a key skill for citizens in the digital age, where misinformation and manipulation are frequent and decidedly dangerous phenomena. Media and information literacy is an effective strategy for developing critical thinking in the audiovisual field. It is also necessary to face new educational challenges related to the inappropriate use of mobile phones, the internet or video games; the consolidation of gender stereotypes through social networks; the social isolation caused by abusive use of the mobile phone, and the ethical and credibility problems generated by the rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence.

Lydia Sánchez i Jorge Franganillo
The Communication Library and General Newspaper Archives (UAB): Fifty years of public service supporting teaching and research

Q49_Civil_etal_EN.pdf 316.42 KB

Abstract

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The Communication Library and General Newspaper Archives at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), founded 50 years ago and closely tied to the Faculty of Communication Studies (UAB) —the longest-standing communication studies programme in Catalonia— has evolved to become a key actor for students, teachers, researchers and journalists, and for society in general, keeping apace with digitalisation.

This article sets out to further explore the evolution of this facility and the knowledge in its collections, both of which have made it a benchmark in the arena of university libraries and in support for teaching and scholarly research specialising in communication. The quality and uniqueness of the holdings also provide a glimpse into a time period and a country.

Marta Civil i Serra, Marta Rial Pan i Teresa Santos Prados
Digitalisation, labour market and training. Opportunities and vulnerabilities for Communication graduates

Q49_GaGalera_etal_EN.pdf 362.59 KB

Abstract

x Digitalisation has caused changes in the job search strategies of young people, who are increasingly dependent on specialised internet portals. For Communication graduates, having digital skills is also a requirement to find a job in this professional sector. The present study examines the impact of digitalisation on Communication graduates in both facets of access to the labour market. With this dual purpose, a survey was conducted among recent graduates (N=198) to learn about their job search strategies, and interviews were carried out with professionals in the communication sector (N=11) to identify the competencies and skills that companies require from young graduates. The results indicate that personal contacts continue to be the main way to find a job, and that companies in the sector demand technical/technological skills from new graduates that university training does not seem to be sufficiently providing.

María del Carmen García Galera, Beatriz Catalina-García i Manuel Martínez Nicolás
YouTube as a tool of formative dissemination of the final project: The case of the bachelor’s in Advertising and Public Relations at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Q49_Lazaro_Zeler_EN.pdf 710.36 KB

Abstract

x This article proposes the use of YouTube as a tool of formative dissemination of the activities associated with the final project in the bachelor’s in Advertising and Public Relations at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Specifically, it examines this formative approach through the creation of video tutorials, while also seeking to promote students’ active participation, giving them a prominent role in their own training process by asking them to produce videos to present and defend their final projects.

Patrícia Lázaro Pernias i Ileana Zeler

Articles

Homonormativity or marginality: the double pattern in LGTBIQ+ characters in TV series.

Q49_SchezSoriano_EN.pdf 2.51 MB

Abstract

x In the last decade there has been an increase in the number of LGTBIQ+ characters in television series, both in linear channels and distribution platforms. This fact, together with the importance of the media and the social problems that this group has historically suffered, raises the objective of understanding the narrative patterns with which these LGTBIQ+ characters are constructed. For this reason, the research carried out a content analysis based on three levels: physical dimension, social dimension and psychic dimension. Thus, a random and representative sample of Western television series has been analysed: Euphoria; Looking; Orange is the New Black; Pose; Sense8; Shameless; Transparent; Élite; El Ministerio del Tiempo; Malaka; Merlí: Sapere Aude; Veneno; Vis a Vis and Vivir sin permiso. The results show, among others, the existence of two opposing narrative patterns, one that places these characters in marginal places, and a second that constructs them with homonormative profiles, with characters who have assimilated socially acceptable standards of heteronormativity. We conclude, therefore, by affirming that stereotypical constructions from other eras are still maintained alongside others of recent appearance.

Juan-José Sánchez-Soriano
The invisibility of women's sport in Catalan Public Television news in March 2023

Q49_Pecino_Gomez_EN.pdf 644.91 KB

Abstract

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This article investigates, from a gender perspective, the presence of women’s sports on primetime television news on TV3 during the month of March 2023 as a whole, and on 8 March in particular, with the aim of quantifying the coverage of sports involving women as compared to men. It is verified that Catalan public television only devotes 14.39% of the time in its sports block to women’s competitions. The research also emphasises the fact that football, both women’s and men’s, is the main focus of the sports section. Finally, it examines the contradiction that means that the news media fails to respect its own style book in terms of issues of equality and gender parity.

Isaac Pecino Peláez i Lorena Gómez Puertas

Critical Book Reviews

Calvo, D., Llorca-Abad, G, Cano-Orón, L, i Cabrera, D.H. (coords.). Academia (des)acelerada. Encierros, entusiasmos y epidemias

Q49_Review_Garcia_Ull_EN.pdf 253.58 KB

Francisco José García-Ull
Benasayag, M. The Tyranny of Algorithms: Freedom, Democracy, and the Challenge of AI

Q49_Review_Gozalo_EN.pdf 294.35 KB

Ignasi Gozalo Salellas
Saavedra, M., Grijalba, N. i Gago R. (coords.). XX AdN. La historia del festival universitario de cortometrajes más veterano de España

Q49_Review_Sancho_EN.pdf 242.54 KB

Celia Sancho Belinchón

University and critical thinking: training in communication

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