Aportes de la formación universitaria en Periodismo y Comunicación Social a la construcción del sentido crítico de estudiantes argentinos

Abstract

Changes that have occurred during the last decade in relation to the informational routines of young people—importance of the smartphone as the preferred interface, preeminence of social networks, consumption of news in parallel with leisure and entertainment practices—require a reflection on the academic career of journalists and social communicators. This article aims to understand the influence of university studies in the construction of a critical sense of freshmen and sophomores of Journalism and Social Communication careers who study in both private and public universities in Argentina. To meet this goal, we analyzed data from fourteen mixed focus groups (four held in private universities and ten in public universities) of between six and eight participants. The analysis indicates that, during the first years of the academic career, students develop activities such as debates and reading of specialized bibliography, combined with specific social communication practices such as source checking and analysis of disinformation strategies. These actions allow them to build a critical view of processes of production, circulation and consumption of information in the media. Likewise, students expressed their awareness that their critical sense is under construction and the responsibility that comes with the role of social communicator.