LAST week we gave several examples of paid-for EPO coverage (paid for at the expense of EPO budget for the benefit of few top managers who milked it all for personal gain). So-called 'media partners' like this one (the Financial Times) became EPO mouthpieces, joining the likes of IAM and old media partners such as Les Echos. We needn't explain why this is morally wrong. This is symptomatic of today's EPO, where truth isn't being tolerated, waste and abuse are rife, and a President with a management degree believes he's a judge, a scientist, and maybe the next Nobel, as per his remarks at EIA2016 (God complex/megalomania).

"We needn't explain why this is morally wrong."Now, as expected, Handelsblatt delivers puff pieces, having become a mouthpiece of Battistelli. Yes, the EPO literally paid this publication (based on prior years) to become a "media partner" and produce puff pieces like this new one, which the EPO referenced earlier today (how convenient). We suppose there won't be many critical investigative articles about the EPO (like this one or that older one) any time soon, at least not from Handelsblatt. Handelsblatter? Well, it's often used as a source supportive of Battistelli's talking points. Expect more of that. Publishers and editors don't bite the hand that feeds them.

Other German media helped relay the puff pieces from EIA2016 [2, 2] and so did Austrian press (the EPO did its job promoting these puff pieces today), not to mention French media and Cambridge again.

Do not forgot the crucial facts about spending of several millions of Euros (by some estimates) buying media, having already spent outrageous amounts of money on PR agencies (more on that later this week). IPO is apparently "pleased" about a thug and a megalomaniac tyrant having another chance at interjecting himself into the media, even though all of his staff (managers included) hates him with a great passion.

"Do not forgot the crucial facts about spending of several millions of Euros (by some estimates) buying media, having already spent outrageous amounts of money on PR agencies (more on that later this week)."Earlier today there was a spontaneous protest at the EPO (only days after the protest that coincided with EIA2016) and MIP took note of it as follows: "More protests at the EPO in Munich today after disciplinary measures against 2 staff members were maintained by President Battistelli."

Meanwhile, in an effort to better control the message that the media gets, Team Battistelli offers surveillance (for self-censorship) contracts to BlueCoat providers and today's reports suggest that BlueCoat sells itself to Symantec, which is quite an evil company that would certainly benefit from another evil company. To put evil appliances (usually purchased by the world's most authoritarian regimes) inside the back rooms at The Hague is rather symbolic of what the EPO became under Battistelli's regime.

Will Battistelli bankrupt the EPO by buying the media (controlling the message) before he finally steps down or his term reaches its end? ⬆