Leo Tolstoy and the Literary Life in the Early 20th Century in the Mirror of the Press

The study analyzes the images of journalists in the works of Russian writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the realities of their professional life and the place they occupied in pre-revolutionary society also. Although members of the press most often act as secondary characters in the prose and drama of M. Gorky, A.I. Kuprin, E.N. Chirikov and other authors, their actions have a significant impact on the development of the plot and the fate of the central characters. The “power” of the press over public consciousness is often evaluated negatively, but the journalist’s figure can be described in tragic tones in terms of how it is perceived by these writers. The journalist is shown as a person who bears all the hardships of forced labor, depends on money and bears the cost of a bohemian lifestyle.