Parliamentary press gallery journalist Alastair Thompson has resigned from his role at Scoop after it was revealed that he was working for Kim Dotcom's Internet Party.
Blogger Cameron Slater claimed on his website Whaleoil that Mr Thompson was the new party's secretary and had registered the party's domain name.
Scoop Media, an independent news service, confirmed this afternoon that Mr Thompson had stepped down as chief executive and editor.
It is against press gallery rules for a member to lobby for a political party. Mr Thompson is an associate member.
Scoop Media owner Selwyn Pellett said: "We had no idea of the extent of the involvement until Cameron Slater's blog today.
"We knew he was considering some involvement and the discussion was 'you can't do both jobs'. You can't be an editor and be actively involved in Dotcom's party."
He added: "It is disappointing. There is no ill-feeling with Alastair. This is his passion and it is what he believes in and wants to do."
Mr Pellett said Scoop would not be "rewriting history" by going back over Mr Thompson's articles to check for any favourable coverage of Dotcom or his party.
"I'm not aware of what he's written since he registered the domain name in December. But clearly he's no longer independent on that particular subject."
