ABOUT US

Introduction

The Postgraduate Program in Journalism (PPGJOR) of the State University of Ponta Grossa (UEPG) started its activities in 2012, standing out by being the first stricto sensu postgraduate course in Paraná and the second in the country. Over the last thirteen years, PPGJOR has worked in the integration and verticalization of graduation and postgraduation, by teaching, research and extension actions, in order to qualify reflections about the experiences of journalistic productions, the communicational practices, the research excellency and the active participation in the local community.

Throughout its trajectory, the Program has grown and strengthened, counting dozens of thesis presented, representative scholar’s production, and significant placing of new masters into the journalistic market, the journalism Graduation teaching and into postgraduate programs throughout the country. The program has also become an attraction pole for researchers from all over the country to develop postdoctoral researches.

Such aspects regarding trajectory, added to the expansion of projects carried out in partnership with other educational and research institutions from the country and abroad, consolidate PPGJOR as a prolific room for the formation of researchers who contribute for the Communication and Information area. A concrete outcome of this process was the achievement of grade 4 in the latest quadrennial evaluation (2017-2020) and the authorization for the starting of a Doctorate in Journalism course (2024) which is in the implementation stage.

MISSION

Qualifying - through an excellency postgraduate formation based on the comprehension of Journalism as a historical, social, cultural and technological phenomenon - researchers to work in teaching, research and extension fields, with autonomy, independence and social responsibility in the formation of critical and creative researchers, committed to democracy and human rights.

GOALS

PPGJor’s mission is articulated to the general goal of “enabling human resources for the exercise of teaching and research activity in graduation and postgraduation in Journalism”.

Specific goals

1. Forming researchers with autonomy and knowledge to develop research projects in PPGJor’s integratedly with other existing research groups from other institutions, whether in regional, national or international level;
2. Contributing with the integration of teaching and research actions in the Journalistic Processes area of concentration, through the production of knowledge within PPGJor’s action area (Journalism);
3. Qualifying researchers, professors and professionals of the field to interfere in society, coming from investigation and knowledge construction in journalistic processes;
4. Enabling researchers to meet social demands originated from journalistic productions, encouraging research culture in Journalism and contributing with the development and strengthening of post graduation in Communication in Paraná state;
5. Verticalizating qualification aiming to deepen theoretical dimensions, critically comprehending practical dimensions and proposing innovative solutions that optimize and improve journalists’ work, journalistic products and the social reception of Journalism;
6. Developing knowledge interface with primary formation courses via introduction of topics of journalism research in social issues of Brazil, Paraná and Ponta Grossa - which is displayed in the intersection of the research work with the extension projects developed in graduation.

Concentration area: Journalistic Processes

The concentration area – structured on two research lines (LP1: News Production Processesand LP2: Journalistic Processes and Social Practices) –seeks to address both aspects regarding the Journalism epistemology, with theoretical and conceptual bases focusing the dynamics, productive routines, and mediatic production aspects, and the Journalism relationship with other knowledge fields, valuing the communication interfaces with social representations. Both research lines move towards the studies on the journalism internal and external dynamics, offering different perspectives, which complement each other, in the observation of journalistic (communicational) phenomena.

History

The Postgraduate Program (Master’s) in Journalism of the State University of Ponta Grossa (UEPG), concentration area: Journalistic Processes was recognized by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal the Nível Superior – CAPES [Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel] in 2012  (Proposal APCN 7334), and started its activities in the first half of 2013.

The Program approval resulted from the consolidation of the UEPG Journalism undergraduate course, which existed since 1985, and outstood in the communication area for their actions in the defense of quality higher education, the communication research developed by their team of professors, and active participation in the local community with outreach projects and activities supporting community and citizen media.

The Journalism Master’s Program, first in this area in the state of Paraná and second in Brazil, from the very beginning of their activities, acknowledged the challenge of integrating graduate and undergraduate programs, keeping research lines with expressive participation of scientific initiation students and voluntary researchers. Also, without neglecting the undergraduate course teaching trajectory, the program staff have promoted the integration between research and outreach activities, aiming to quality the reflection upon journalistic production experiences and insertion in the local community.

Journals

The Journalism Postgraduate Program believe in scientific dissemination actions and keeps three journals that are specialized in this area. The Revista Internacional de Folkcomunicação [Folkcommunication International Journal] (available at http://www.revistas.uepg.br/ ), edited at UEPG since 2004, is produced by the UEPG Journalism Master’s Program, in partnership with the Rede de Estudos e Pesquisa em Folkcomunicação [Study and Research on Folkcommunication Network] (Folkcom Network) and Cátedra UNESCO/UMESP of Communication. The journal is issued three times a year and is rated Qualis B-3. It is published in April, September, and December.

Another publication is the Revista Pauta Geral - Estudos em Jornalismo[General Agenda – Journalism Studies] ( http://www.revistas2.uepg.br/index.php/pauta ). This journal was created in 2014 to be published every six months. It aims to disseminate Journalism studies and research by publishing the results of concluded or ongoing investigations, seeking to strengthen the journalistic field at the graduate level in Brazil.

This program also participates in the editorial of the Revista Brasileira de História da Mídia [Media History Brazilian Journal] ( http://www.ojs.ufpi.br/index.php/rbhm/index ), whose main objective is to disseminate research focusing on the media and history relation to incentivize research on this knowledge area. This journal is a publication by the Associação Brasileira de Pesquisadores de História da Mídia [Brazilian Association of Media History Researchers]. It is published twice a year, and is rated Qualis B-2.

The Program also develops projects with the main scientific institutions in Brazil and has invested in partnerships with other teaching institutions in Brazil and abroad to strengthen the research developed by the groups.

UEPG and the region

The State University of Ponta Grossa celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2020. The institution is located in the center-south of the state and its area of influence comprises 22 municipalities.UEPG was created by the state of Paraná government through the Law n° 6.034, of 6^th November 1969, and Decree n° 18.111, of 28^th January 1970. It is one of the most important higher education institutions in Paraná. Currently, the university keeps 40 undergraduate courses in the most diverse knowledge areas, and 35 postgraduate programs, out of which 25 are at the Master’s level (22 academic and 3 professional programs) and 10 are PhD programs.

The Journalism Master’s Program reveals their importance in the institution environment and in the context of academic qualification in the area by considering a scientific development framework focusing on the following aspects:

a) higher education quality (undergraduate and graduate) at UEPG;

b) the demand for qualified professionals in communication in the state of Paraná (around 550 professionals a year);

c) out of the total number of professionals that graduate each year in Paraná, the Union of Professional Journalists in the state estimates that 450 get their degree in one of the 22 higher education institutions (HEI) that keep Journalism courses in Paraná;

d) the geographical location of the institution and the theme axis of the Communication Postgraduate Programs in the State (four programs in the following institutions: Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná [Tuiuti University of Paraná], concentration area:Communicational Processes; Universidade Estadual de Londrina [State University of Londrina], concentration area: Visual Communication; Universidade Federal do Paraná [Federal University of Paraná], concentration area: Communication and Society; and Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa [State University of Ponta Grossa], concentration area:Journalistic Processes).

By setting specific targets of qualification at the graduate level and valuing the development of researcher committed to the promotion of reflections that dialogue with Journalism, the Journalism Master’s Program has sought to develop actions favoring research in the area, through interchange with other institutions and partnerships with other programs whose interests are close to its action field.