"Beyond Media and Politics", Interview with Professor Tatiana Coutto

In this course we explore two broad avenues of research, qualitative – looking in-depth and into the contexts –, and quantitative – where we can use data sets for analysis –, or we combine both areas. There is a more predominate qualitative component, where we look at a specific media material more in depth and explore its nuances and context, such as geographical, temporal or economic. We set criteria to guide the research and the activities that students will be doing, which helps us guide the discussions. We also take a critical approach and question what the media presents and why, as well as what aspects are not presented. We apply this analysis to both textual and visual data. I like to do a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches. There is so much in the field of big data that we can also bring into the analysis.

The first step is to be conscious that the media tells us something about the world, about how we see the world, and keep in mind that there are many different factors that affect the ways events are reported. There are economic aspects or aspects that may be related to the ownership of the outlet, whether it’s governmental or not, whether it’s traditional media or social media or user-generated content.

The second thing I would say is try to as much as possible to access news from different sources, for example from newspapers from different leanings, as they will tell the same story but from different prisms. Also, although it may seem obvious, remember to have a look at the sources of information, especially if you’re sharing them online. If the source of the URL looks weird, question it because you may be contributing to the spread of misinformation, which can have political, social and economic impacts.

To sum it up, the first step is to have a critical perspective about every piece of information that you read, the second step is to access different sources and the third step is to check the sources of the information you’re sharing.

I think the great thing about this course is that it combines concepts and course content, so the students get to know more about the relationship between media and politics itself. There is a critical perspective that comes naturally from the discussions, from the debates, and from the lectures. Part of the course is devoted to the analysis of textual data and also to provide students with transferable skills that they may use elsewhere, further in their studies or in their work life. Emiliano and I are particularly keen on using the R programming language. I would say the main takeaway of the course is the combination of the concepts, data analysis and the critical perspective that comes from working in an international online environment.