A political lobbying firm founded by the former electoral strategist for David Cameron and Boris Johnson secretly pays journalists to write pieces for British newspapers that are favourable to its clients, a Guardian investigation can reveal.
In a practice that appears to create a backdoor for private companies to influence public opinion, lobbyists for CT Group – co-founded by the campaign strategist Lynton Crosby – told an undercover reporter they had paid journalists to place apparently independent stories in newspapers.
