为了改革“托管新闻学”公共性衰退的弊端，詹姆斯·凯瑞提出了“作为民主的新 闻”。“作为民主的新闻”反对将新闻看作是一种信息，而将其看作是人们获得新知的 一种方式和对话商谈维系社会关系的手段。这一理念可以追溯到近代欧洲和美国本土的 历史经验中，并由此推动了二十世纪八十年代以后的美国公共新闻运动。由于“作为民 主的新闻”理论存在过于理想化、剪裁史实、没有设定目标等问题，因此受到了各种批 评。但是，“作为民主的新闻”理念依然暴露出美国代议制民主体制下的深层次矛盾， 凯瑞在这场运动中扮演了公共知识分子的角色。

In order to reform the drawbacks of the public decline of trustee journalism, James Carey proposed "journalism as democracy". "Journalism as a democracy" opposes viewing journalism as a kind of information, but as a way of gaining new knowledge and a means of maintaining social relations through dialogue and negotiation. This idea can be traced back to the historical experience of modern Europe and the United States, and thus promoted the American public journalism movement after the 1980s. The theory of "journalism as democracy" has been criticized for its idealization, tailoring of historical facts and lack of goals. However, the concept of "journalism as democracy" still exposes the deep contradictions under the representative democracy system in the United States. Carey played the role of public intellectuals in this movement.