The article discusses the techniques of portraying as a method of teaching journalistic disciplines. In particular, students analyze existing portraits of teachers and create media portraits of teachers by themselves, representing different academic and educational schools. The research is one of the sections of the project on studying Russian schools of journalism which was organized at the Department of Theory of Journalism and Mass Communications of St. Petersburg State University. The purpose of the study is to reveal the role of the individual in the process of formation of academic and pedagogical schools and to extrapolate the results to the educational process at the university. The obtained data will be used to create a database on the status and prominent representatives of academic and pedagogical schools of journalism and mass communications in Russia. The methodological and psychological-pedagogical aspects of the portraying process were the priorities in the study.