Since the early 20th century, when journalism training moved from the newsroom to the university, the professionalization model has been the dominant paradigm for explaining the development of American journalism. This paper considers the limitations of the professionalization model, finding the most obvious shortfall to be that it does not provide a good "fit" for the study of journalism. The paper then examines the McIntyrean concept of social practice as an alternative paradigm, exploring its intellectual roots and describing the model's characteristics. The social practice model is further defined in relation to the way the goals of a practice are transmuted by history. More research using the paradigm to study specific aspects of journalism practice would test the proposal made in the paper, that MacIntyre's approach retains the positive aspects of the professionalization paradigm, but provides a better analytical tool for assessing journalism's development and performance. Eighty-four notes are included. (NH)