摘要：Trends in the development of journalism indicate the theoretical and practical level of the identity crisis of contemporary journalism. We note that the key elements of the profession, especially its autonomy and ethics, are in crisis. Our thesis is that the crisis of journalism is, first of all, the crisis of the journalist as a subject. In the “normative” model of quality journalism, the journalist takes the place of the (professionally competent) source of the communication process: he is a subject and is supposed to have control over the fundamental processes in media reality. But the practice of the journalistic discourse reveals that the journalist is losing his place as a subject in all stages of the communication process. His role is taken over by those who possess the economic power and/or political authority (multinational corporations, advertisers, politicians, public relations services etc.). The crisis of journalistic ethics is also discussed in the light of postmodernity: the relativistic, pragmatistic, and Machiavellian approaches to journalism have been advanced. The subject is disappearing, as is also the journalist's main instrument – the question: a journalist is not a subject and he is not asking journalistic questions. There is no question and no answer. There is no responsibility and ethics is in crisis. The crisis of the subject is the crisis of personality fulfilment, the crisis of the journalist as a person.
