Journalism as a synergistic object

The study highlights the latest mass-media trends and constructs in the context of the synergetic paradigm. Journalism is described as an open, non-linear, unbalanced, dynamic system which is capable of self-organization. The components of the synergetic cycle of the presented system are identified. Its actual phase of development is defined as post-journalism. The most typical phenomena with fractal features are determined. They include participative and amateur journalism. Manifestations of the holistic principle in the functioning of the system are also traced at the level of individual factors of the communication system - sender, recipient, message and code. Powerful influence of fluctuations of the external for journalism systems is outlined. Media picture of the world, which integrates not only information, but also pseudo-information elements that are also part of the functional field of journalistic influence, is defined as a systematic result of the «work» of the given system. The author outlines the transformation of the two-stage communication model, the complementation of the communication system with such factors as «bubble filter» and «content aggregators», expansion of the functional and role position of the sender.It is stated that the increase in the level of entropy in the journalism system is due to the non-compliance with professional standards, ethical norms, and accepted functional roles from the fractal phenomena that are currently only beginning to be formed within the system. From the standpoint of synergetics, the phenomenon of mediatization, which is the result of self-organization of the journalism system in interaction with the actors of the environment, is disclosed.Methodological features of the synergetic approach to the study of journalism are also revealed. They include metaphorization of the synergetic terminology; discreteness in the application of the synergetic paradigm, which foresees emphasis on some regularities in the development of the system while levelling the others; implementation of the synergetic approach in a simplified version through the analysis of the objects as a set of the system features.