Media Criticism: Between Theory and Practice

Abstract

The article raises the problems of modern journalism, denotes such concepts as mass communication, media, media criticism. In the authors' opinion, media criticism is an invitation to the reader to a discussion, an open conversation, an appeal to pressing socio-political problems, publication of an alternative opinion that is necessary for any free society. Media criticism acts as a science, where both analysis, synthesis and forecast are present. The social importance of media criticism is underlined. It is noted that mass media criticism is no less important than professional media criticism. According to the authors, non-professionals in journalism can act from critical positions and are quite professional in relation to the media, for example, sociologists, economists, politicians. The authors analyze the current state of critical analytics in various media and communication. In detail, the research is undertaken with respect to the journal «Journalist» and «Novaya Gazeta», which present various aspects of media analysis. The authors tried to find out what has changed in journalism over the past few years? What is the status of journalistic criticism today? On the basis of the analysis, conclusions were drawn that the publications in «Novaya Gazeta» can be attributed to professional criticism, since the authors themselves are a representative of the journalistic profession. On the other hand, the media criticism of «Novaya Gazeta» can be called mass, since it is addressed to civil society. An example of professional criticism is, with full justification, the publications of the journal «Journalist», since academic criticism presupposes a scientific analysis based on theoretical comprehension, the ability to correlate social problems with their reflection in media products.