The Berlin state election is about 2.5 months out, and the race is extremely tight: according to polling by rbb, the four largest parties are within two percentage points of each other, and the current ruling coalition would fail to form a majority. And while it looks right now as though any coalition would need to be formed of three parties working together, it is Die Linke, the Left party, who have their noses in front.
If the election were held today, Die Linke would sit first with 20%, followed by the Greens at 19% and the AfD at 18%, while the CDU (the largest party in the last election) would fall to fourth place. The SPD are trailing back in a distant fifth, while the FDP and BSW are currently failing to clear the 3% threshold in Berlin.
The party apparently watched the election of Zohran Mamdani in New York with keen interest, but signs of its growing strength preceded his election.
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.
