MOSCOW -- The ball was in the back of the net, and the television commentator was shouting excitedly about how Russia -- the host! -- had scored the first goal of the Confederations Cup. With the score, the Russians took the lead on New Zealand, kicking off their turn on football's global stage in splendid fashion.
In the stadium's stands, the Russian fans roared. On the field, the managers looked ecstatic, and the players exultant. But here, in the newsroom of Sport Express, one of Russia's most popular sports newspapers, the loudest sound came from a small desk fan whirring white noise in the corner.
There was no whooping or hollering -- only typing -- and no boastful headlines popping up on the paper's website or app. The general reaction might best be described as indifference as Russia went on to defeat New Zealand 2-0 in the tournament's opening match, a dress rehearsal for next year's World Cup. How would the Russian media treat the home team? How does the sports press operate in a country defined in so many ways by its president, Vladimir Putin, and the lack of a truly free press? The Confederations Cup will provide more than its fair share of clues.
"Was it one of our guys?" Alex, a producer for Express' website asked off-handedly, since a free-for-all in front of the net had led to the goal. His colleagues watched the replay. "Maybe," Yulia replied, before noting that it was officially ruled an own-goal by New Zealand. They all turned back to their computer screens, updating the live blog for the game with a tepid Russia-takes-the-lead headline while simultaneously juggling a plethora of Slack-like chat applications.
To many outsiders, this lack of obvious homerism might seem strange; after all, the perception is often that much of the Russian media exists at the epicenter of all that is wrong with journalism. State-issued storylines. Fear-mongering articles and headlines. Unverified conspiracy theories. A perpetual stifling of opposing parties or viewpoints through intimidation and violence.
And a lot of those perceptions are based on truth. Though a lively and influential group of independent outlets still provide critical news coverage in Russia, their staffers are under continual pressure, and are menaced regularly with legal and financial threats (and on occasion even physical harm) over unfavorable stories, which often obligates them to commit self-censorship. According to the watchdog group Freedom House, Russia's news press is classified as "not free," television often "functions as a propaganda tool for the government" and the media is "also expected to conform to official narratives."
Yet much of the sports media here seems to exist on a different plane. State-run television outlets in particular are as slanted as ever, but while some might imagine a situation similar to North Korea's -- where sports news famously included reports on leader Kim Jong-Il's fantastic golf round in which he (allegedly) shot 38-under par for 18 holes and recorded five holes-in-one -- the reality is that many of the sports outlets in Russia are critical, if outright acerbic, in their coverage.
The Russian national team -- which went on to lose 1-0 to Portugal in their second match of the Confederations Cup -- has supplied plenty of material for denigration, too. President Vladimir Putin has made no secret of how important he believes it is for Russia to put on a good show as hosts of next summer's World Cup, but the Russian team is currently slogging through one of its worst periods. Ranked 63rd in the latest FIFA world rankings, Russia -- sandwiched between Uzbekistan and Haiti -- has never been rated lower.
"The sports journalists are different than those working in politics," Dmitry Simonov, the deputy editor of Sports Express, said in an interview. "We are not yellow press. We have big teeth, I would say."
While that might be a slight overstatement -- some outlets are outwardly sympathetic to Russia in all subjects, including sports -- it is not as far off as one might imagine. Just consider some of the headlines from Russia's horrendous showing at the 2016 European Championship in France, which were reminiscent of a New York tabloid.
"TOU-LOSERS!" Sports Express shouted after Russia was eliminated before the knockout rounds (the final game was played in Toulouse). In the sub-headline and story copy, there were references to the "shame" Russia had suffered as it was "destroyed by Wales." The team "showed no will," it said, and "is not ready for big games."
Even after the match against England at the Euro, when Russia pulled off a surprising 1-1 tie in Marseille but saw the result marred by violent fights between Russian and English fans in the stands, Sports Express didn't gloss over the ugliness.
"TWO FACES OF MARSEILLE," the headline read, before referencing "pride for team, shame for fans."
"I used to work for a political outlet," said Nikolai Yaramenko, the editor of another paper, Sovietsky Sport. "And in Russia, it's hard to work at a political outlet. You get calls from above, there is pressure, there is self-censorship. Sports is different. The space in which we can operate is much wider."
That hasn't always been the case. In the Soviet era, even sports journalism was seen as an important component of nationalistic propaganda. Coverage, particularly of the national teams, was embraced by readers because it offered "a real patriotic perspective," said Cynthia Hooper, a Russian historian and professor at Holy Cross.
Hooper noted how the Soviet press covered the United States's surprising victory over the vaunted Soviet hockey team at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid. While American press reveled in the "Miracle on Ice," the Soviet reporters focused on how Herb Brooks, the American coach, had once mentioned that he learned quite a bit about hockey from watching Soviets play. One article in Pravda allowed that the defeat had occurred, but stressed the worst part was that "our team's disappointing 'stumble' occurred in a match with an opponent whose skill is clearly not the equal of ours."
Those times have largely changed, Hooper explained, but when it comes to events like the World Cup -- or the 2014 Sochi Olympics -- there is still the expectation that off-the-field coverage at least portrays Russia as good hosts during these global events.
"I think it's clearly very different now," Hooper said. "I think there is quite a lot of free room. But let's be honest: there is explicit censorship on certain important stories that link the government to sports. That censorship is more deft than it was in Soviet times, but it definitely exists."
To be sure, this is not a fully free press even in the sports world, and the conflicts can be seen on several levels. State-controlled media outlets like Russia Today clearly have a pro-Russian agenda throughout, but the tentacles of the government within private business can lead to the coverage of club teams -- like Zenit St. Petersburg, which is owned by Gazprom, the Russian oil company -- being less aggressive, even from more independent outlets.
Then there are the more sensitive issues, like widespread doping among Russian athletes, alleged human-rights violations at new stadium construction sites or racism exhibited by Russian soccer fans. While it is rare for an outlet to outright ignore these kinds of stories as might have been done in the past, it is not unusual to see the media embrace a particular viewpoint espoused by executives and stick to it.
For example, Simonov of Sport Express said his paper recently featured an interview with Dick Pound, a former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency. "We had him and we had Vitaly Mutko," Simonov said, referring to Russia's deputy premier and former sports minister. "We give voices to everyone."
Still, many in Russia are hesitant to acknowledge that much of the doping among Russian athletes was state-sponsored -- a claim made by whistleblowers and borne out in subsequent reporting that has nonetheless been denied by Russian officials. Similarly, while Simonov said that he believes that athletes who dope should be punished, he also stressed that doping occurs all over the world -- not just in Russia -- which is often a defensive trope Russian officials adopt when allegations against them are made.
"I think that often when there's a national narrative on something, you see that sports journalists stick to it," Hooper said. "And much of that is likely because they want to continue to have access to the important people in the sports world."
There are other smaller examples of a patriotic slant among the Russian sports media -- many outlets refer to national teams as "we" or "our" -- though this calculated pronoun use is hardly unusual in Europe, or even among some broadcasters in the United States. What matters, Yaramenko said, is that when it comes to what happens on the field, sports journalists can be forthright about what they have seen.
Yaramenko knows that wasn't always the case, and appreciates that sports journalism in Russia has evolved -- albeit gradually. Particularly with the World Cup approaching (and Russia's team struggling), it may be difficult to be anything but brutally honest.
"When the team plays disgustingly, we say it played desperately," Yaramenko said. "And when they play well, we say they played well ... even if it is actually to our surprise."