Privacy, a challenge for journalists and communicators. Analysis of privacy in university communication studies of Europe and the United States

Abstract

The right to privacy of citizens and their concern for the protection of their data has been accentuated with the consolidation and massive use of the Internet, where millions of personal references of both direct users and sporadic surfers are increasingly exposed.

But if there is a profession that is subjected to the difficult balance between respect for privacy and the rigorousness of a work that is of public interest, this is journalism and its professionals, who have previously been trained in universities around the world.

This article aims to show in what contexts and how the issue of privacy is addressed in journalism and communication studies. To this end, we present the results of a quantitative and qualitative study that analyzes 865 subjects of the 25 degrees that make up the 13 best universities in communication and media in Europe and the United States, according to the international indexes "QS World University Ranking by Subject".

The conclusions point out that, despite the

interest generated by the public, universities relegate teaching related to "privacy" and data protection to a clearly minority position in their curricula. The necessary changes to adapt to the new reality must be assumed by future professionals from their learning centers, because this is the only way to achieve the true meaning of their work: that of committing themselves ethically to society.