Theories of News: Deadlock over the Theory of Journalism

Abstract

In the study of the Theory of Journalism we come across two types of theoretical arguments. Firstly one claims the non-existence of a legitimate, epistemological journalistic interest and of a particular object that is not understood in other disciplines, especially when concerning Sociology, Politics and, with greater emphasis recently, Literary and Language studies. The other argument names journalism as a completely autonomous science without the need of other fields to understand its practice, and, therefore, defines the professional performances and the techniques, processes and products of the newspaper publishers as the only locus of the theory. The goal of this work is to criticize some of these approaches and deadlocks which are provoked, with the intention to discuss the Theory of Journalism and its object of study. Special attention must be paid to the limitations of research that shut out a possible Theory of Journalism within the Theories of News, which surround the techniques, processes and products of a professional routine.

Key words: Theory of Journalism, Theory of News, epistemology, field.