hit piece

plural hit pieces · alternative hit-piece

1. journalismA published article or post aiming to sway public opinion, especially by presenting false or biased information in a way that appears objective and truthful.

   And respectable media institutions do have their standards, but there is something insidious—and very human—at work in the preparation of a hit piece: the media's desire to believe in the evil of their targets.

   2013, Eric Dezenhall, John Weber, Damage Control […] , Easton Studio Press, →ISBN, page 126

   2 more examples

   “This isn't a profile, my dear sister-in-law, it's a hit piece.” “A hit piece?” Buck unfolded his copy of the Spectator and began looking for Anne's byline. “It's on page three,” Pearce told him helpfully.

   2014, Karen Young, Belle Pointe, Harlequin, →ISBN

   She seemed so exacting and the magazine itself so impossibly glamorous to my college-kid sensibility, and did I really want to do a hit piece on an actor? […] And so the plan was set in motion: I would meet the actor Judd Nelson, find him appalling, and write about how awful hanging out with him had been.

   2019, Bret Easton Ellis, White, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN

   Synonyms: slam piece, hatchet job, hit job