View source for Smear campaign

{{Short description|Effort to damage someone's reputation}}
{{for multi|the Napalm Death album|Smear Campaign (album)|the cover of "Elected" under the name "Mr Bean & Smear Campaign"|Elected (song)#Covers}}
{{Political campaigning}}

A '''smear campaign''', also referred to as a '''smear tactic''' or simply a '''smear''', is an effort to damage or call into question someone's [[reputation]], by propounding negative [[propaganda]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=SMEAR CAMPAIGN {{!}} definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/smear-campaign|access-date=2020-10-20|website=dictionary.cambridge.org|language=en-US}}</ref> It makes use of '''discrediting tactics'''. It can be applied to individuals or groups. Common targets are public officials, [[politicians]], [[head of state|heads of state]], [[political candidate]]s, [[Activism|activists]], celebrities (especially those who are involved in politics), and ex-spouses. The term also applies in other contexts, such as the workplace.<ref name=Thomas>Jay C. Thomas, Michel Hersen (2002) Handbook of Mental Health in the Workplace</ref> The term ''smear campaign'' became popular around the year 1936.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Smear+campaign&case_insensitive=on&year_start=1900&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t4;,Smear+campaign;,c0;,s0;;smear+campaign;,c0;;Smear+Campaign;,c0|title=Google Ngram Viewer|website=books.google.com}}</ref>

==Definition==
A smear campaign is an intentional, premeditated effort to undermine an individual's or group's reputation, credibility, and [[Character assassination|character]].<ref>Roddy, B. L. and G. M. Garramone . ( 1988 ). Appeals and strategies of negative political advertising, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 32, 415 – 427 .</ref> Like [[negative campaigning]], most often smear campaigns target government officials, politicians, political candidates, and other public figures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vaccari |first=Cristian |last2=Morini |first2=Marco |date=28 Feb 2018 |title=The Power of Smears in Two American Presidential Campaigns |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15377857.2014.866021 |journal=Journal of Political Marketing |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1-2 |pages=19–45 |doi=10.1080/15377857.2014.866021 |issn=1537-7857|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However,  public relations campaigns might also employ smear tactics in the course of managing an individual or institutional brand to target competitors and potential threats.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dezenhall |first=Eric |title=Nail 'em: confronting high-profile attacks on celebrities & businesses |date=2003 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1-59102-047-9 |location=Amherst, N.Y}}</ref> 

Smear campaigns can also be used as a [[political strategy|campaign tactic]] associated with [[tabloid journalism]], which is a type of journalism that presents little well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines, scandal-mongering and [[sensationalism]].  For example, during [[Gary Hart]]'s 1988 presidential campaign (see below), the ''New York Post'' reported on its front page big, black block letters: "GARY: I'M NO WOMANIZER."<ref name=SafireVamping>William Safire. (May 3, 1987). [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/03/magazine/on-language-vamping-till-ready.html "On Language; Vamping Till Ready"]. ''The New York Times''.</ref><ref name="Matt Bai 2014">Matt Bai. ''All The Truth Is Out: The Week That Politics Went Tabloid''. Knopf (September 30, 2014) {{ISBN|978-0307273383}}</ref>

Deflection has been described as a ''wrap-up smear'': "You make up something. Then you have the press write about it. And then you say, everybody is writing about this charge".<ref>{{cite AV media | people=Pelosi, Nancy | date=2017-03-05 | title=State of the Union | medium=Television production | publisher=CNN | url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1703/05/sotu.01.html}}</ref>

==Examples==
Smear tactics are commonly used to undermine effective arguments or critiques.

===John C. Frémont – 1856 US presidential election candidate===
{{Main article|John C. Frémont#Republican Party presidential candidate (1856)}}

[[File:1856-Republican-party-Fremont-isms-caricature.jpg|thumb|"The Great Republican Reform Party Calling on their Candidate", an 1856 political cartoon in which various "extremists", including a Catholic, press [[John C. Frémont]], the first Republican party candidate for president of the United States, for their respective causes. There was a political campaign smear rumor current in 1856 that Fremont was a Catholic.]]
During the 1856 presidential election, [[John C. Frémont]] was the target of a smear campaign alleging that he was a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], among other accusations.  The campaign was designed to undermine support for Fremont from those who were [[Anti-Catholicism in the United States|suspicious of Catholics]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Nevins |first=Allan |author-link=Allan Nevins |title=Dictionary of American Biography Frémont, John Charles |url=https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofamer07ilamer#page/19/mode/1up |editor=Allen Johnson |editor2=Dumas Malone |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York |volume=7 |page=22 |year=1931 }}</ref>

===General Motors against Ralph Nader===
[[Ralph Nader]] was the victim of a smear campaign during the 1960s, when he was campaigning for car safety. In order to smear Nader and deflect public attention from his campaign, [[General Motors Corporation|General Motors]] engaged private investigators to search for damaging or embarrassing incidents from his past. In early March 1966, several media outlets, including ''The New Republic'' and ''The New York Times'', reported that GM had tried to discredit Nader, hiring private detectives to [[telephone tapping|tap his phones]] and investigate his past and hiring prostitutes to trap him in compromising situations.<ref>{{cite news |last=Longhine |first=Laura |url=http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/November-December-2005/scene_longhine_novdec05.msp |title=Ralph Nader's museum of tort law will include relics from famous lawsuits—if it ever gets built |date = December 2005|work=Legal Affairs}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2005-05-07 |work=Federal Highway Administration |url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/safetyep.cfm |title=President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Federal Role in Highway Safety: Epilogue&nbsp;— The Changing Federal Role}}</ref> Nader sued the company for [[invasion of privacy]] and settled the case for $284,000. Nader's lawsuit against GM was ultimately decided by the [[New York Court of Appeals]], whose opinion in the case expanded [[tort law]] to cover "overzealous surveillance."<ref>''Nader v. General Motors Corp.'', 307 N.Y.S.2d 647 (N.Y. 1970)</ref> Nader used the proceeds from the lawsuit to start the pro-consumer Center for Study of Responsive Law.

===Gary Hart – 1988 US presidential candidate===
{{Main|Gary Hart#1988 presidential campaign}}

[[Gary Hart]] was the target of a smear campaign during the 1988 US presidential campaign. The ''New York Post'' once reported on its front page big, black block letters: "GARY: I'M NO WOMANIZER."<ref name=SafireVamping/><ref name="Matt Bai 2014"/>

===China against Apple Inc.===
In 2011, China launched a smear campaign against [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], including TV and radio advertisements and articles in state-run papers.  The campaign failed to turn the Chinese public against the company and its products.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2013/03/chinas-apple-propaganda/63582/|title=China's Apple Smear Campaign Has Totally Backfired|first=Rebecca|last=Greenfield|date=27 March 2013|website=theatlanticwire.com|access-date=8 October 2013|archive-date=9 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109031701/http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2013/03/chinas-apple-propaganda/63582/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Chris Bryant===
[[Chris Bryant]], a British parliamentarian, accused Russia in 2012 of orchestrating a smear campaign against him because of his criticism of [[Vladimir Putin]].<ref name="Bryant - Telegraph - 2012">{{cite news|title=I'm a victim of Russian smear campaign, says MP photographed in underwear|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9697949/Im-a-victim-of-Russian-smear-campaign-says-MP-photographed-in-underwear.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9697949/Im-a-victim-of-Russian-smear-campaign-says-MP-photographed-in-underwear.html |archive-date=2022-01-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=27 January 2017|work=Telegraph.co.uk|date=23 November 2012|language=en}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2017 he alleged that other British officials are vulnerable to Russian smear campaigns.<ref name="Express- 2017">{{cite news|last1=Knowles|first1=Michael|title=Russian spies turn attention to British politicians in 'project smear', warns Labour MP|url=http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/754556/russian-hacking-british-politicians-smear-campaign-labour-foreign-secretary|work=Express.co.uk|date=15 January 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Guardian  - 2017">{{cite news|last1=Townsend|first1=Mark|last2=Smith|first2=David|title=Senior British politicians 'targeted by Kremlin' for smear campaigns|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/14/russia-blackmail-chris-bryant-donald-trump-boris-johnson-liam-fox|access-date=27 January 2017|work=The Guardian|date=14 January 2017}}</ref>

===Blake Lively===
In 2024, ''The New York Times'' reported on an alleged smear campaign conducted against actress [[Blake Lively]] after she accused [[Justin Baldoni]] of misconduct.<ref>{{cite web | last=Twohey | first=Megan | last2=McIntire | first2=Mike | last3=Tate | first3=Julie | title=Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni and a Smear Campaign After ‘It Ends With Us’ | website=The New York Times | date=2024-12-21 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/business/media/blake-lively-justin-baldoni-it-ends-with-us.html | access-date=2025-03-09}}</ref> The alleged smear campaign allegedly pushed negative stories about Lively and used social media to boost those stories. In January 2025, Baldoni filed a suit in the federal District Court for the Southern District of New York against Blake, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and publicist, for $400 million in damages alleging civil extortion, defamation, and a slew of contract-related claims.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sarmiento |first=Isabella Gomez |date=2025-01-17 |title=Justin Baldoni has sued Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds for $400 million |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/01/17/nx-s1-5262565/blake-lively-justin-baldoni-ryan-reynolds-it-ends-with-us-lawsuit |access-date=2025-03-09 |work=NPR |language=en}}</ref>

===Overstock critics===
In January 2007, it was revealed that an anonymous website that attacked critics of [[Overstock.com]], including media figures and private citizens on message boards, was operated by an official of Overstock.com.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aLDKLcXDf9PU&refer=columnist_antilla|title=Overstock Blames With Creepy Strategy|author=Antilla, Susan |publisher= Bloomberg News Service |date=February 21, 2007}}</ref><ref>Mitchell, Dan (January 20, 2007). [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/20/business/20online.html?_r=0 "Flames Flare Over Naked Shorts,"] ''The New York Times''.</ref>

=== UAE smear campaigns ===
In 2023, ''The New Yorker'' reported that [[Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan|Mohamed bin Zayed]] was paying millions of euros to a Swiss firm, Alp Services for orchestrating a [[Abu Dhabi Secrets|smear campaign]] to defame the Emirati targets, including Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood. Under the ‘dark PR’, Alp posted false and defamatory Wikipedia entries against them. The Emirates also paid the Swiss firm to publish propaganda articles against the targets. Multiple meetings took place between the Alp Services head [[Mario Brero]] and an Emirati official, Matar Humaid al-Neyadi. However, Alp’s bills were sent directly to MbZ. The defamation campaign also targeted an American, Hazim Nada, and his firm, Lord Energy, because his father [[Youssef Nada]] had joined the Muslim Brotherhood as a teenager.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/04/03/the-dirty-secrets-of-a-smear-campaign|title=The Dirty Secrets of a Smear Campaign |access-date=27 March 2023|magazine=The New Yorker |first1=David D. |last1=Kirkpatrick |volume=99 |issue=7 |date=27 March 2023}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Attack ad]]
* [[Cancel culture]]
* [[Character assassination]]
* [[Disinformation]] and [[Misinformation]]
* [[Doxing]]
* [[Kompromat]]
* [[Mudslinging]]
* [[Noisy investigation]]
* [[Manipulation (psychology)]]
* [[Red herring]]
* [[Red-baiting]]
* [[Shame#Shame campaign|Shame campaign]]
* [[Social undermining]]
* [[Swift boating]]
* [[Tu quoque]]
* [[Whispering campaign]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Disinformation}}
{{Abuse}}
{{Bullying}}
{{Media manipulation}}
{{Manipulation (psychology)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smear Campaign}}
[[Category:Political campaign techniques]]
[[Category:Tactics]]
[[Category:Abuse]]
[[Category:Media bias]]
[[Category:Media manipulation]]
[[Category:Tabloid journalism]]
[[Category:Harassment and bullying]]
[[Category:Reputation management]]
[[Category:Deception]]