Lobbying firm pressed for details about payments to journalists for favourable stories

Screengrab from covert filming as part of the Guardian’s investigation. Photograph: The Guardian View image in fullscreen Screengrab from covert filming as part of the Guardian’s investigation. Photograph: The Guardian Lobbying firm pressed for details about payments to journalists for favourable stories MPs and others condemn behaviour of CT Group, which offered cash for positive coverage of clients A political lobbying firm secretly paying journalists for articles favourable to its clients is facing calls to reveal full details of the payments, after the practice was denounced as a dangerous “attack on democracy”. MPs, senior lobbyists and transparency campaigners all condemned the behaviour of CT Group, the firm co-founded by the campaign strategist Lynton Crosby , an election guru previously hired by both David Cameron and Boris Johnson. There were calls for an overhaul of lobbying rules and demands for CT Group to reveal the full extent of the practice, exposed after a four-month Guardian investigation. “Lobbyists paying journalists to produce apparently independent articles is an attack on the ethics of journalism, public relations and, indeed, on democracy,” said Alastair McCapra, the chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. CT Group is not a member of the body. “Anyone can practise public relations in this country without belonging to a professional body or answering to a code of conduct. The majority do that ethically but these reported practices undermine our profession and erode the credibility on which responsible lobbying and public relations depend.” Lobbyists for CT Group told an undercover reporter they had paid journalists to place apparently independent stories in newspapers. They also offered hundreds of pounds in cash incentives to do the same for a property industry client and said that in return for the payment, CT Group would have increased editorial control. Jemimah Steinfeld, the chief executive of Index on Censorship, said: “To spin what is lobbying as journalism is shortsighted and frankly dangerous.” She called on CT Group to launch an internal investigation. Steve Goodrich, the head of research and investigations at Transparency International UK, said: “When lobbyists secretly pay journalists to write favourable coverage for their clients, it undermines the integrity of the press. This investigation raises serious questions about the conduct of CT Group, and about how widespread these hidden arrangements are across the lobbying industry.” Luke Taylor, a Liberal Democrat member of parliament’s public administration and constitutional affairs committee, said there should now be “full transparency on when money has changed hands when it comes to reporting”. “Across the board we are seeing worrying signs of our democracy being in peril,” he said. “A truly free press is a fundamental pillar of a healthy democracy and so we must do everything in our power to maintain it.” Rupa Huq, a Labour member of