There was an active process of peasantry stratification in the Soviet society in 1920s. Press places emphasis on such population categories as kulaks, substantial, medium and poor peasants. The journalists discredited the substantial peasantry on the pages of newspapers: they formed a negative image of a kulak and presented him as a public enemy. The image of a poor peasant and a medium one were a support for the Soviet power. Consequently an ambivalent understanding was formed among readers: an integrative social group of peasantry was split into "ins" and "outs".

Key words: newspapers periodicals, image, social stratification, "kulak", Siberian peasantry.