Last week the magazine published her internal comments on a unpunlished interview, using them — and bizarre references to Voldemort — to drum up a high-drama scandal about security concerns.
It's been six weeks since Berlin's election, and formal coalition talks between Die Linke, the Greens, and the SPD are finally set to begin today. It might take until Christmas to hash out what's in store for Berlin in the next five years, so everybody can strap in for debates on budget, public transport, and security spending — topics that, in the past few days, most of the media has ignored in favour of discussing a bizarre Der Spiegel story that took aim at Elif Eralp, who is set to become the next mayor.
"But this isn't the world of Harry Potter, this is the Federal Republic of Germany."
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.
