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Is German politics a puppet theatre? Cicero looks into " the republic’s most secret sector" – the world of spindoctors, or communication advisors. The magazine details how those it dubs “the puppet-masters of Berlin" work for politicians and companies looking for a "good image". The energy giant Eon, for example, has hired the PRGS agency to lay the groundwork to have the life span of German nuclear power plants extended, emphasising that "nuclear and renewable energies are bound together" to "meet the emotional needs of the population."
The sector attracts many political veterans,” explains Cicero, such as a Green MP hired by the nuclear lobby and a former Minister of Health advocating the cause of big pharma. And the press? "Toothless, tamed," confirms a spindoctor. Newspapers need so many ready-made stories that agencies are struggling to meet the demand. “Given that a newspaper’s budget is little more than what I spend on an evening out with clients in a fancy bar, I’m not surprised to see them resort to recycling my colleagues' PR scribblings," he confirms.
A conversation with investigative reporters Stefano Valentino and Giorgio Michalopoulos, who have dissected the dark underbelly of green finance for Voxeurop and won several awards for their work.
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