Analysis of journalism and political information

Študijné programy UPJŠ

Kredity

4

Ukončenie:

hodnotenie

Rozsah:

1P+1C/14P+14C

Semester:

zimný

Teachers

Mgr. Peter Dubóczi, PhD.

Mgr. Tomáš Dvorský, PhD. 

O predmete

The subject Analysis of Journalism and Political Information provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary for monitoring and analyzing political and journalistic communication in the online environment. It focuses on working with tools designed to monitor Internet and social media content, identify key actors and narratives, and interpret trends and dynamics of the information environment. It also includes familiarization with methodological frameworks for data processing, annotation, and analytical evaluation. OSINT is presented as one of the complementary methods that expands the possibilities of working with open sources. The subject develops the ability to critically evaluate information, systematically analyze it, and present results in a political science (and possibly also security) context.

Brief course outline

  1.  Fundamentals of political and journalistic communication
  2. Complexity and modern challenges of the information environment
  3. Cyber ​​and cognitive security in the context of political activities and communication (threats, actors and measures)
  4. Tools, opportunities and challenges of information environment monitoring
  5. Instrumentalization of labels and narratives in political/​news communication
  6. Tools, opportunities and challenges of open source intelligence (OSINT) investigative activities
  7. Cyber ​​Threat Intelligence (CTI)

Achievements

Acquisition of comprehensive knowledge of journalistic and political communication and, above all, building skills in practical monitoring of the information environment. Through the course, students will orient themselves in the online space and, after completing the course, will be able to monitor the information environment using selected monitoring tools and open sources (OSINT). The acquired skills mainly include data collection, their subsequent annotation and analysis, and their comprehensive evaluation with an emphasis on the presentation of findings. This knowledge will be, among other things, essential for the use of OSINT techniques in the work of a KIB specialist and a security analyst within Cyber ​​threat intelligence (CTI).

Lectures

Conditions for completing the course

The condition for awarding a grade for the subject is active participation in classes and obtaining a sufficient number of points for the interim assessment (activity in meetings, interim reports) and the final assessment (final paper/​policy brief). The final grade for the subject is calculated based on the sum of the points for the interim and final assessment. The student is allowed a maximum of two absences. In the case of more than two absences, the student does not meet the conditions necessary for the successful completion of the subject. In the event of any problems with attendance, the student contacts the teacher on his own initiative with information about his absence. Possibility of obtaining points for the assessment for activity during classes.

Final assessment: The final assessment will result from the seminar paper (policy brief) that students will submit at the end of the semester (max. 20 points; min. 12 points). The seminar paper should be 10 to 15 pages long and should meet the formal requirements of an academic final paper. In terms of content, it will be devoted to the description of the issue, its analysis and the provision of a set of recommendations with an emphasis on good and bad practices. Its structure and requirements should correspond to the form of a policy brief.

Continuous assessment: During the semester, students will prepare short reports on selected issues of political and news communication for meetings (max. 20 points). Continuous preparation and presentation of reports (a total of five reports during the semester) is a condition for admitting the student to the exam in the subject. Students are also required to study the assigned texts for the needs of seminar colloquia during the semester.

Course methodology

Recommended literature

  • BAZZELL, Michael: Open Source Intelligence Techniques: Resources for Searching and Analyzing Online Information. Bloomington: Independently Published, 2023.  
  • BELLINGCAT Investigative Team: We Are Bellingcat: An Intelligence Agency for the People. London: Bloomsbury, 2021. 
  • BENKLER, Yochai – FARIS, Robert – ROBERTS, Hal: Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. 
  • BERGER, J.M. – MORGAN, Jonathon: The ISIS Twitter Census: Defining and Disrupting the Jihadist Presence on Social Media. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2015. 
  • BERINSKY, Adam J.: Political Rumors: Why We Accept Misinformation and How to Fight It. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2022. 
  • BLUMLER, Jay G. – KAVANAGH, Dennis: The Third Age of Political Communication. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1999. 
  • CASEY, Eoghan: Handbook of Digital Forensics and Investigation. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2020. 
  • CLARKE, Richard A. – KNAKE, Robert: The Fifth Domain: Defending Our Country, Our Companies, and Ourselves in the Age of Cyber Threats. New York: Penguin Press, 2020. 
  • CURAN, James: Media and Power. New York, Routledge, 2002. 
  • ESSER, Frank – PFETSCH, Barbara: Comparing Political Communication: Theories, Cases, and Challenges. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 
  • FARKAS, Johan – SCHOU, Jannick: Post-Truth, Fake News, and Democracy: Mapping the Politics of Falsehood. New York: Routledge, 2019. 
  • GALEOTTI, Mark: We Need to Talk About Putin: Why the West Gets Him Wrong, and How to Get Him Right. London: Ebury Press, 2019. 
  • GILES, Keir: Russia’s ‚New‘ Tools for Confronting the West: Continuity and Innovation in Moscow’s Exercise of Power. London: Chatham House, 2016. 
  • HASSAN, N.H. – HIJAZI, R.: Open Source Intelligence Methods and Tools: A Practical Guide to Online Intelligence. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2020. 
  • JOLLEY, Daniel – DOUGLAS, Karen M.: The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories. London: Routledge, 2022. 
  • KATZ, Rita: ISIS: The Viral Caliphate. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018. 
  • KOTLER, Philip – KARTAJAYA, Hermawan – SETIAWAN, Iwan: Marketing 4.0: Moving from Traditional to Digital. Hoboken: Wiley, 2017. 
  • LOCK, Andrew – HARRIS, Phil: Political Marketing and the Future of Politics. New York: Routledge, 2010. 
  • LUCAS, Edward: The New Cold War: Putin’s Russia and the Threat to the West. London: Bloomsbury, 2015. 
  • MAAREK, Philippe J.: Political Marketing and Communication. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. 
  • MILLER, Carl: The Death of the Gods: The New Global Power Grab. London: William Heinemann, 2018. 
  • NEGRINE, Ralph: The Transformation of Political Communication: Continuities and Changes in Media and Politics. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. 
  • NIMMO, Dan: Political Communication and Public Opinion in America. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2001. 
  • NYHAN, Brendan – REIFLER, Jason: Misinformation and Fact-Checking in American Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. 
  • RID, Thomas: Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020. 
  • SCAMMELL, Margaret: Consumer Democracy: The Marketing of Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. 
  • SINGER, P.W. – BROOKING, Emerson: LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. 
  • SKOPIK, Florian: Collaborative Cyber Threat Intelligence: Detecting and Mitigating Advanced Persistent Threats. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2017. 
  • STROMBÄCK, Jesper – KAID, Lynda Lee: The Handbook of Election News Coverage Around the World. New York: Routledge, 2008. 
  • WARDLE, Claire – DERAKHSHAN, Hossein: Information Disorder: Toward an Interdisciplinary Framework for Research and Policy Making. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2017. 
  • WIRTZ, James: Understanding Intelligence Failure: Warning, Response, and Deterrence. New York: Routledge, 2020.