They say one of the biggest causes for people to start taking drugs is peer pressure – and there certainly seems to be something like that going on among Berlin's political parties. Each of the groups vying for office ahead of the September 20 election have published their election manifestos and, according to a data analysis run by the Tagesspiegel, the Greens and the FDP are in very close agreement. So much so, in fact, that it starts to look suspicious.
Who was copying who, and was it laziness or lobbying?
HEIST is a worker-owned online magazine, founded by writers and editors who after years working across Berlin's media landscape believed something essential was missing.
Anyone living here has felt a growing gap between the city as it actually is and the version being served up by mainstream outlets. We experienced that disconnect firsthand. We saw political censorship shape coverage decisions and felt the weight of billionaire ownership land directly on our work. It reached a point where we could either keep going along with it, or try to build something better.
That's why we created HEIST.
And look at you: scrolling, clicking, squinting at blurred text just to get a little further. If you'll go to that much effort to read HEIST, you can surely give us one email. That's the whole price, and the rest of the story is right behind it.
Real journalism costs money. We commission the hard-hitting, well-reported, long-form work everyone wants to read but nobody seems to publish anymore.
The future of this city is still in the balance. We intend to be part of that struggle. We hope that you'll join us.
