Web News Content Creation and Reporting is focused on adopting a journalistic judgement oriented to work in digital media. Therefore, it pays attention to the skills related to plan and produce journalistic contents with the specific features of digital media language (hypertext, multimedia and interactivity) and with the evolved characteristics, principles and narrative functions of the journalistic genres in Internet.



This subject is connected with the courses of the degrees of Communication that addresses journalistic writing, style and genres in media: Informative genres, Informative writing for press (both in first year), Writing for radio and television (taught in second year) and Reporting and Interpretative genres (both in third year).



It is connected too with subjects oriented to information edition in different formats (video, audio, graphs, etc.): Audiovisual creation techniques (first year), Multimedia production and edition or Photojournalism (both in third year).



The work developed in this course allows students to practice with the most common information, interpretative and opinion genres on Internet, like news, reports, interviews, chronicles, column, etc. from an hypermedia, multimedia and participative perspective.



The knowledge required to take this course is the following: basic use of web; basic use of the main social networks; how to search and select sources; basic use of office IT and knowledge of current affairs.



The subject is part of an educational innovation project run by the IKD3 laboratory at the University of the Basque Country (Educational Advice Service) called “Teaching to communicate in and for a globalized world. Boosting Transversal Skills (TSs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in learning based on entrepreneurial transmedia projects” (2020/2022). The aim of the project is to propose added value methodological formulas in order to bring university teaching up to date in terms of multimedia journalistic formats and genres on the web, which have been integral to Communications degree lesson plans for almost a decade (EHEA), as a response to the constant professional and conceptual evolution of online journalism. What is more, the project helps those studying Online Journalism subjects put in place specific criteria for the development of a more responsible, sensitive and critical view of current social problems linked to global and digitalized citizenship

CORE AND GENERAL COMPETENCES



G001. Express fluently and effectively in oral and written communication, knowing how to make use of the linguistic resources that are most appropriate to the different media in the print press, radio and television, and online.

G002. Searching, selecting, hierarchising and analysing different sources, adapting their contents to narrative forms and strategies.

G003. Develop skills and apply techniques, technologies and resources to communication and information processes.

G004. Correctly design the formal and aesthetic aspects of the media contents according to the characteristics of the different media.

G005. Devise, plan, execute and successfully manage news or communication projects.

G006. Apply the main journalistic genres and formats to news work using the language of each of the media.

G007. Analyse, interpret and explain social facts and processes based on the knowledge and methodologies of the social sciences (Sociology, Economics, Law, and Contemporary History) in the context of the work of the media.

G008. Acquire knowledge and understand the meaning and relevance of theories, concepts and methodologies in the interdisciplinary context of communication.



CB1. Possess and understand knowledge in an area of study that builds on the foundation of general secondary education, and is usually at a level that, while relying on advanced textbooks, also includes some aspects that involve knowledge from the cutting edge of their field of study.

CB2. Know how to apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional manner and possess the abilities usually demonstrated through the development of arguments and problem solving within their field of study.

CB3. Have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within their field of study) to make judgements that include reflection on relevant social, scientific or ethical issues.

CB4. Be able to convey information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.

CB5. Develop those learning skills necessary to undertake further studies with a high degree of autonomy.



TRANSVERSAL SKILLS



CT1. Autonomy and self-regulation.

CT2. Communication and multilingualism.

CT3. Information management and digital citizenship.

CT4. Innovation and entrepreneurship.

CT5. Teamwork.



SPECIFIC SKILLS



C2CC01. Develop techniques and methodologies for working with documentary sources, applied to research and problem solving in the field of information and communication.

C2CC02. Analyse, design and plan the production of informative and communicative projects, applying techniques and technologies, adopting strategies for their development and the optimisation of teamwork.

C2CC03. Communicate, argue and present the objectives, procedures and achievements of communicative work and research, applying formal conventions characteristic of the different media.

C2CC04. Develop strategies of oral, written and audiovisual expression and communication appropriate to the different genres and formats of the different media: radio, television and Internet; as well as advance in the technological skills of these media.



LEARNING OUTCOMES



1. The student knows the theoretical-conceptual and practical foundations related to web journalistic writing, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of news products on the web.

2. The student appropriately applies hypermedia and interactive multimedia formats to design, plan and edit content in an internet medium.

3. The student organises, hierarchises and prioritises textual, visual, audiovisual, sound and/or graphic web information to compose simple (news, chronicle) and complex (report, infographics, interviews) informative pieces, as well as opinion pieces.

4. In coordination with other classmates, the student designs, organises and participates in tasks typical of online newsrooms: information search and documentation, editing multiplatform contents and updating information.

5. The student uses social media with a strategic vision of multiplatform content and for the promotion of the media brand.

Theoretical syllabus:



1. Introduction to online journalistic writing

2. Media system on Internet and working in online editorial offices. Trends in the sector: multimedia convergence.

3. The message on the web media.

3.1. Essential features of journalistic language on Internet.

-Hypertext and hypermedia: concept; hypertextual writing techniques (composition, structure and narrative strategy).

-Multimedia: concept; content convergence and crossmedia.

-Interactivity: concept and typology.

3.2. Web journalistic genres: style, features, uses and classification.

-News

-Report

-Chronicle

-Interview

-Infograph

-Opinion genres

3.3. Writing for search engines

-Basic SEO and web analysis

3.4. Content verification

3.5. Approaching Artificial Intelligence in Web Communicatio



Practical work consists of the development of a journalistic Project. It includes, at least, the following contents:



- Two journalistic basic contents (piece of news, interviews, chronicle…)

- One multimedia coverage and/or one multimedia report



Groups of students will work individually, collaboratively and cooperatively within and outside the classroom in order to design, plan and create in-depth news reports or websites offering a thorough coverage of areas linked to the SDGs. Each sub-workgroup must undertake the following tasks in these stages:

1. Preparation stage/Hackathon (group innovation). Subgroups work in order to think together and identify opportunities for entrepreneurship, innovation and the creation of public interest projects with different approaches (hyperspecialization in SDGs, microtargeting, etc.).

2. Analysis and market research stage. Each sub-group will evaluate the interest of the project in relation to the current media business and market, viability, etc. creating a multiplatform brand of its own (website and social media) and justifying the importance of the brand strategy used.

3. Product development stage (report, web documentary, special website, etc.) Each in-depth news product (special report or website) will be taken across to other media or communications sphere (transmedia approach) by means of public presentations, classroom debates, creation of podcasts, etc.



To pass the practical part and to support the aforementioned Works, complementary practical work is required:

- Promotion of contents through social networks.

-Use of different tools to create, among other possibilities, informative timelines, infographs and interactive pictures.



*All the practical Works will be handed in the established deadline. To pass the practical part of the subject, students have to hand in a detailed report that includes: the works developed during the quarter, their personal vision and assessment of the learning process, highlighting the challenges and achievements.

On-site tasks: attendance in lectures; lab practical works; presentations in classes; theoretical works



Off-site tasks: study of topics and exam; search of information and preparation of works/projects/practical tasks; readings and essays.



The project includes the SDGs and the development of complex skills through already known and implemented methodologies (Case Method, Problem- and Project-based Learning, and Cooperative Learning), incorporating Inquiry-based Learning (IBL) and Research-based Learning (RBL). All the tasks proposed in this section involve individual and cooperative working strategies. Furthermore, these are classroom-based tasks that are compulsory for the continuous assessment of the subjects.

• Continuous Assessment System
• Final Assessment System
• Tools and qualification percentages:
  • Written test to be taken (%): 30
  • Realization of Practical Work (exercises, cases or problems) (%): 60
  • current affairs knowledge (%): 10

Students that choose continuous assessment:



Theoretical part will be assessed with an exam that can be a multiple choice test or a written test (30% of the final mark). In case of being a multiple choice test, wrong answers can be penalized.



Current affair’s knowledge can be included in the exam.



To pass the practical part, students have to complete practical works in computer room (a minimum of seven exercises and a maximum of 14). Most of them will be individual, although some of them will be collaborative and require teamwork. The weight of each exercise in the final mark varies according to its degree of complexity. Plagiarism results in failing grade of the subject.



General factors about ordinary call:



To pass separately theoretical and practical parts is required to pass the subject.

Additional exercises: 10% of the final grade.

Practical part: 60% of the final grade.

Theoretical part: 30% of the final grade.

All the practical works are obligatory.



Students that choose final assessment:



* Students that cannot participate in the continuous assessment system have to follow article 8 of Regulatory rules for the assessment of students in Official Bachelor's degrees. To renounce the continuous assessment, students have to follow article 8.3 of the aforementioned rules.





Students that choose final assessment have to hand in a journalistic web project with the practical works described in the section about ordinary call. This project represents 70% of the final grade. The rest, 30%, is related to a theoretical exam. This exam can include current affairs knowledge assessment. The exam can be oral or written.



In case of failing one of the two parts of the subject, passed part's grade will be maintained only until extraordinary call.

In extraordinary call, when the maintenance of established assessment system is not possible, a new system that allows to certificate the required knowledge and skills will be used following article 9.3. of Regulatory rules of the assessment of students in Official Bachelor's degrees.



The evaluation system will be the same as in the ordinary call.

Basic bibliography

ABRAMSON, Jill (2018): Merchants of truth. New York: Simon & Schuster.

BROWN, C.; GROVES, J. (2020). Transforming Newsrooms: Connecting Organizational Culture, Strategy, and Innovation. Routledge

CARR, Nicholas (2010). The shallows. What the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: WW Norton.

DE WOLK, Roland (2001): Introduction to online Journalism. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

HALL, Jim (2001). Online journalism: a critical primer. London: Pluto Press.

KAWAMOTO, Kevin (ed.) (2003). Digital journalism: emerging media and the changing horizons of journal. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.

LARRONDO URETA, A. (2022). Fundamentals of web newswriting and reporting in the hybrid media system. Leioa: UPV/EHU

PARISER, Eli (2011). The filter bubble. What the Internet is hiding from you. London: Penguin books.

ROSALES, Rey G. (1998). The elements of online journalism.

RUSBRIDGER, Allan (2018). Breaking news. The remaking of journalism and why it matters now. London: Cannongate books.

THURMAN, N.; LEWIS, S.; KUNERT, J. (eds.) (2021) Algorithms, Automation, and News. New Directions in the Study of Computation and Journalism. Routledge.

In-depth bibliography

BASS, F. (2001). The Associated Press guide to Internet research and reporting. Cambridge Perseus. BOCZKOWSKI, P. J. (2004). Digitizing the news. Cambridge: MIT Press.
CRAWFORD, K.; (2000) Writing for the Web: Writers’ Edition; Self Counsel Press, USA
GUNTER, B. (2003). News and the Net. Mahwah, New Jersey: Erlbaum.
HERBERT, J. (2000): Journalism in the Digital Age. Theory and Practice for Broadcast, print and on‐line media. Oxford: Focal Press.
LORIMER, R. (2004). Online journal publishing. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
MARTIN, S.; HANSEN, K. (1998). Newspapers of record in a digital age: from hot type to hot link. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. PAVLIK, J. (2001). Journalism and new media. New York: Columbia University Press.
RODZVILLA, J. (2002). We’ve got a blog: how weblogs are changing our culture. Cambridge: Perseus.

Journals

ZER
Estudios del Mensaje Periodístico
Comunicación y Sociedad
Textual & Visual Media
Análisi
Revista Latina
Trípodos
Ámbitos

Web addresses

Columbia Journalism Review: http://www.cjr.org
Center for Digital Storytelling: http://www.storycenter.org/index1.html
Editors Weblog: http://www.editorsweblog.org
E‐periodistas weblog (Journalism and academic blog): http://e‐periodistas.blogspot.com
Five Elements of Digital Storytelling: http://www.inms.umn.edu/Elements/index.php
Journalists'blogs: http://www.journalism.co.uk/directory/Journalists__blogs/index.shtmlInfotendencias: http://infotendencias.com
Institute for New Media Studies (University of Minnesota): http://www.inms.umn.edu/research.htmlInteractive Narratives: http://www.interactivenarratives.org/classic
NewsLab Research Online Storytelling: http://www.newslab.org/research/onlinestory.htm
Online Journalism: http://www.macloo.com/journalism
Periodistas 21 (Journalism blog): http://periodistas21.blogspot.com/
Poynter Institute: http://www.poynter.org