Abstract: The subject of the study is the concept of CORRUPTION from the point of view of its implementation in the tests of political discourse. The purpose of the study is to conceptualize the concept of CORRUPTION in the semantic space of the modern Russian language (based on the material of texts containing the concept of "corruption" in the electronic version of the journal "RBC"). The article concretizes the term "corruption", postulates its legal formality. The concept of discourse is detailed and the affiliation of the concept of CORRUPTION to institutional political and economic discourses is formulated. The specific examples published in an authoritative Russian business magazine and reflecting the current attitude of society to the phenomenon under consideration are analyzed. The methodological base includes conceptual analysis, semantic analysis, content analysis, description and systematization. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that the subject of the study is the implementation of public discourse in the form of media tests published for a wide audience, in which social, and linguistic transformations become noticeable before other written sources. This makes it possible to actualize an important social phenomenon. The results obtained complement the system of scientific knowledge on the problems of conceptualization and transformation of the concept, and can also be used in teaching. The results of the study showed that each text with the help of certain expressions creates a special lexical and conceptual core, which includes, among others, the words and expressions "clean", "crime", "damage", "loss of trust" and others. This core depends on the subject of the discussion.