In Berlin, journalists form closed groups called Hintergrundkreise, background circles. A circle invites a politician to talk, and the rule is confidentiality. In 2025 the Stuttgarter Zeitung described them as exclusive clubs that arrange meetings with politicians, which may be reported only in exceptional cases. One of its correspondents could join the circle called Gelbe Karte only after an examining interview with senior members of the profession. In the Kohl years, fifteen correspondents met every Monday for lunch in the rooms of a rowing club on the Rhine with Eduard Ackermann, one of Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s closest confidants. Membership in that circle came only by recommendation.