Abstract
Giving example of the situation in the United States, the study reveales the role and function of massmedia in the contemporary world. Conclusion of the analysis presents the summary of professional journalism development.
Democratic theory presumes, that the society needs journalism, that is the "watchdog of power structure behavior". But in the last decades, an attack on the professional journalism independance is carried out, as well as commercial attacks on the journalistic work and conservative critique of "liberal media".
These three factors brought about a pathetic state of the american journalism in the beginning of the 20th century. McChesney sees the way out in a higher quality journalistic work, which can only grow from vast changes in the concept and structure of the media.