Journalism as a science

For many years of research in the field of journalism, scientists have not been able to develop a unified definition of science and achieve an understanding of its subject. The three main areas of journalism — text, context, and the communication process — must be studied together with the media economy, which has already become another major part of the media polysystem. In the framework of a systematic approach, journalism, its subject and method should be considered as a separate humanitarian science, which touches on the issues of human being and the world around it. But there is still a need to create a unique journalism science system based on existing theories.

Despite the fact that scientists have been studying journalism for more than a decade, there is still debate about its subject area. Researchers constantly argue about the place of journalism among the humanitarian disciplines; they do not have unity in understanding its methodology. Like philosophy, journalism does not have an exact scientific definition, changing both in the historical and in the methodological dimension, depending on scientific schools and areas of research.

According to some researchers, journalism is an independent discipline with its own separate subject area and special methodology. Another group of scientists considers journalism as part of social disciplines, which does not require the development of a separate methodology. The subject of journalism has been explored in a wide variety of works in various humanitarian disciplines.

- sociology, political science, cultural studies, linguistics, etc.

Such a variety of approaches to journalism as a science is due to the lack of a universally recognized definition of the contribution and functions of practical journalism in society. Many traditionally attribute journalism to crafts, and reduce its study to narrow practical activities. From this point of view, journalism can be considered as a countable combination of knowledge and skills necessary for the implementation of professional activities. Such an approach contributes to the effective training of students and novice journalists in the necessary skills. However, this point of view may lead to the inability to adequately assess the impact of journalism on society, to understand the basic principles of journalistic work and the prospects for this activity in a changing world.

Journalism can also be defined as a professional field of activity related to the collection of information, its processing and further dissemination through various media channels. The main function of journalism in this case is to modernize the ideologies of social groups by means of selecting facts, ratings and comments that are timely and important at a particular point in time. Perceived in this way, journalism becomes part of the multifunctional institutions of society.

- press, television, radio, internet, etc. Another definition of journalism is the actualization of the worldview of social groups by means of the selection of facts, assessments and comments, which are topical and significant at this time.

The scientific approach to journalism is based on the collection, systematization and critical analysis of facts that create the basis for the synthesis of new knowledge. Moreover, it is important here not only to observe and describe the current situation in the media sphere and its changes, but also to create our own causal relationships, which will allow us to make reliable forecasts. As Mendeleev said, science begins when they begin to measure.

The approach to the study of journalism as a science should be based on an interconnected system of creative, cultural, historical, sociological and other disciplines. Such a system should not only include all cycles of creating and managing practical journalism, but should also reflect the mutual influence of journalism and society. The main role here is given to the subject of journalistic theory. Despite the multiplicity of subject areas, the text is still the cornerstone of journalistic theory. Researchers can study texts from various perspectives and approaches. For example, texts can be considered as a specific set of symbols and meanings or as a unit of the communication process between the media and the audience. Another key element of journalism research and a possible subject area is media economics. The development of media institutions and special economic relations between them opens up a new field for scientific research. The media economy reveals particular forms of interaction between text, context and the communication process as parts of the media polysystems.

In the framework of this approach, journalism with its own separate subject and separate methodology can be considered as a separate humanitarian discipline that deals with issues of human nature and environment. Despite all the differences in the definition of the subject and value of journalism, the general framework for this science was formed on the basis of information, communication and management theories.