lobby system

   The name given to 200 or so specially selected correspondents of the main newspapers, television and radio stations who are given confidential information by the Government on a non-attributable basis. The system has been widely criticised for allowing ministers too much influence over reporting of the news.

   Those who belong to the Parliamentary Lobby can roam the corridors of Westminster and enter restricted areas to which normally only elected members have access. They can attend the daily briefings of the Downing Street Press Office and the special ones given by the Press Secretary. As conversations are off the record, the journalists involved resort to such phrases as ‘the Prime Minister is understood to be intending . . .’. Opinions vary about the system. Many seasoned journalists are happy to acquiesce in it as a means of extracting useful information, the basis for a good story. Others see it as too cosy and criticise the way in which selective and sometimes incomplete information is made available. They feel they are being manipulated by the Government, via the Press Secretary.