"Professionalism" as a concept has been historically formed in socio-humanitarian paradigm. Post-industrialism has made significant changes in the social structure of the modern world, the changes have affected both economic and socio-cultural spheres of life. The number of people employed in the manufacturing sector has decreased, and the number of people employed in non-productive areas such as trade, services, information sector has increased. The requirements for professional skills, attitudes towards professionalism have also changed. The aim of the study is to expose the changes concerning the concept of professionalism in journalism, associate external social factors with the professional qualities of the individual journalist. We have used comparative-historical method of studying the legal and regulatory framework, methods of qualitative social research: participant observation, personified interviews, expert inquiry. 52 journalists have been polled from 41 leading Russian publications. The study found that awareness of professionalism among journalists in Russia was formed in terms of high humanistic views. In Soviet times, these ideas underwent a qualitative change and were heavily politicized and idealized but did not lose their humanistic principles. As a result of the economic changes occurred in Russia at the turn of the century, the notion of professionalism in journalism assumes utilitarian and practical nature and is determined more by external circumstances (rating, careerism, political commitment) than the internal culture of the individual and the humanistic principles of the journalist. Formation of professional skills of the journalist is influenced by socio-cultural, economic, technological and political factors. The image of a professional journalist is not individual any longer, depersonalized workers with a certain set of skills and abilities are replacing the individuals in the profession
