The press arrived in Sochi this week for the Winter Olympics, and it did not go well.
Tweets, photos and full-on articles told the world of shoddy, unfinished accommodations that gave Vladimir Putin's Olympic Games a black eye before they'd even started. Russian officials remained largely mum as Sochi's unfinished construction — rooms without doorhandles, toilets that can't flush paper — became the story of the week that ends Friday with the Olympics' opening ceremony.
Then, on Thursday, a Russian official finally addressed reporters, ostensibly to set the media straight and correct the false narrative that gained so much momentum.
His response, according to The Wall Street Journal, boiled down to this: Some reporters are sabotaging Sochi's Olympics accommodations for splashy headlines. Russian officials know this because they have surveillance cameras in hotel rooms. And at least some of those surveillance cameras are focused on hotel showers.
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"We have surveillance video from the hotels that shows people turn on the shower, direct the nozzle at the wall and then leave the room for the whole day," Dmitry Kozak, the deputy prime minister who oversaw Russia's Olympic prep, told the Journal.
A spokesperson for Kozak later denied that hotel rooms or bathrooms in Sochi have surveillance cameras, according to the Journal. The spokesperson said Kozak was likely referring to surveillance done at hotel sites during construction.
Cameras or no cameras, Kozak's response does not come from the Public Relations Hall of Fame and it appears to have horrified Kozak's handlers. The Journal reports that an aide immediately "pulled a reporter away before Mr. Kozak could be questioned further on surveillance in hotel rooms. 'We're doing a tour of the media center,' the aide said."
Indeed, Sochi's readiness for the games — or lack thereof — has become the dominant Olympics story this week. A Twitter account called @SochiProblems, which aggregates unflattering tweets and photos from people in the host city, has gained more than 82,000 followers since posting its first tweet on Feb. 4. The hashtag #SochiProblems has been mentioned more than "Team USA," "Putin" and "opening ceremony," on Twitter according to the social media marketing company Digimind.
We'll see if the actual sporting action that began Thursday morning can overshadow Sochi's issues outside the lines. But, for now at least, it sounds like journalists there might want to think about donning swimsuits before hopping in the shower.