Berlin is four days out from its state election, and it's still a battle with no clear winner: the latest poll has the CDU and Die Linke in a dead tie at 20%, with the AfD and the Greens trailing just behind. On Wednesday night, the the leading candidates from the CDU, SPD, Greens, Left Party, AfD, and the BSW took the battle in-person for a debate held by rbb, arguing live for almost two hours about housing, high rents, public transportation, antisemitism, and who most closely resembles ever-unpopular Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"I believe you that you personally don't hold antisemitic views."
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.
