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.