The article gives an assessment of the recent books, devoted to theory of journalism, in particular 'Mass communication: essence and current state in contemporary Russia' by E.P. Tavokin, 'Journalism as a system of activities: essence, content, forms' and 'The function of journalism and mass media functions' by T.V. Naumenko. The author of the article introduces a socio-philosophical methodology of analyzing journalism, he insists on the idea of using not a single theory, but a synthesis of theories, interaction and mutual enrichment in journalism research.