Soft Power [and telling stories]

This Feature Article made the cover of the BMJ:

One of the contributors described an approach to influencing healthcare policy as follows:

Telling stories is a well established approach taken by the commercial sector.

[These are the publicly available declarations of interest for this contributor:]

It seems that I am not alone in feeling most uncomfortable that another aspect of “soft power” is that it happens “behind closed doors”, as recognised in the article:

This single reference used in the article expands further on the approach of “soft power”:

“Soft power” is still power. Telling stories is not always the same as telling the truth. The shaping of policy “behind closed doors” excludes wider scrutiny. The power stays with the “narrative controllers”.