Smear Campaigns
This past week, I listened to another team's EOTO preseantation regarding Smear
Campaigns. A smear campaign is a machination to harm an individual's reputation by
perpetuating negative and false information. People in the public eye tend to be more
susceptible to being the victims of a smear campaign.
Although many people might not realize it, the media is notorious for publicizing smear
campaigns against certain individuals. Celebrities, politicians and journalists are often
targets of smear campaigns.
Considering how we rely on the media to formulate our perceptions of people in the public
eye, the media uses this to their advantage. Even if a statement about a particular person is
either exaggerated or flat out untrue, the media exploits the "illusory truth effect," in hopes
that the more they spread inaccurate information, the greater the prospect that the public will
believe it.
The media utilizes diverse strategies to create smear campaigns. Some of these strategies
are labelling, taking words or actions out of context, as well as presenting visuals depicting
people in a less favorable manner.
For example, if celebrities or politicians were to say or do something controversial, the
media will sometimes resort to attacking their characters by associating them with negative
labels. The purpose of this tactic is to distract viewers from the bigger issue and instead focus
on the individual's character. By calling someone's character into question, this aspect of the
smear campaign can alter other people's perceptions of the targeted individual and
consequently, turn them against him or her.
Another mechanism the media might use during a smear campaign is eliminating the
context of a person's words or actions. This is especially prevalent in the political
atmosphere because politicians are aware that anything they say during an interview or
debate may be taken out of context by the media.
Given how different media outlets in today's world tend to either lean liberal or
conservative, this tactic can be especially detrimental for politicians on opposing sides. If the
media is biased against a specific political candidate, they can take part of something he or
she might have said and exaggerate it or lie without providing the full context. The media
knows that constantly villifying certain individuals will cause them to lose support from the
public.
A third element used by the media in a smear campaign is using photographs of public
figures to portray them in a bad light. In an effort to damage their reputation, the media will
garner photos, videos or voice recordings that depict certain people as spiteful, preposterous,
vacuous, bigoted, or haughty and publicize them to the general public. This tactic correlates
with the second point because although some will attest that visuals do not lie, it is also
imperative to onsider the context and circumstances behind them.
As I listened to this EOTO presentation, I was flabbergasted to learn that the media would
go to such lengths to defame people. I do not think this is right because as journalists, our job
is to remain neutral and report facts.
While it is okay to have our own opinions on public figures, it is not acceptable or ethical to
incorporate those biases into our work as journalists, where we are expected to give a fair and
balanced story. Furthermore, I dread being the target of a smear campaign when I become a
public figure because I abhor people spreading lies about me.
Example: The video below is about Taylor Lorenz, a Washington Post journalist, who
suffered major repercussions from a smear campaign. It was disheartening to hear about how
people could be so cruel to threaten her and her family. What's worse is that she seemed to
have had minimal support when she tried to defend herself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTiSE8Myj50
On the other hand though, I know that this is inevitable, so I must have the resilience to deal
with it. If a smear campaign severly damages my reputation, then I will retaliate by either
exposing the perpetrator myself or filing a civil lawsuit against them. Otherwise, I do not
need to dignify every negative thing people say about me, as it is not worth my time or energy.
The reason this EOTO presentation especially resonated with me was because it reminded
me of narcissistic smear campaigns, which I have been studying since last summer. I started
researching this topic because I had reason to believe that I had recently been the target of a
narcissistic smear campaign.
Through my research, I learned that narcissists create smear campaigns against people who
challenge them, hold them accountable, see their true colors, etc. Narcissists perceive these
types of people as threats, as they fear they will expose them for who they truly are.
Narcissists therefore form smear campaigns where they spread vicious lies about the other
person in hopes to preserve their own false image. To this day, it still makes me furious
knowing that I went through this because it is hard to fathom how some people can be so evil,
immature and inhumane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M2d1MvOdKA
Initially, I was tempted to get revenge, until I read why it was best not to. Narcissistic people
will eventually reveal their true characters at the right time, and people who used to worship
them will turn on them.
Secondly, I had to take solace in knowing that I did not do the things I was falsely accused of.
The only reason I apologized to them at the time was because I was insecure, mentally
unstable and did not realize that they were gaslighting me to avoid accountability for what
they had done to me.
Photo courtesy of: clevelandwrightjr.com/https://clevelandwrightjr.com/analyzing-a-smear-campaign/
Another part of me still wanted things to work out between us, even if it meant I would
apologize when I had not done anything wrong. In hindsight, I regret that I allowed them to
manipulate me into apologizing for things I did not say or do; Especially when part of what I
said was taken out of context, and they would not even afford me the opportunity to clarify
what I actually meant.
But, at the end of the day, I know who I am, God knows who I am, and He knows my heart
better than they ever will; And as my mom told me, "No matter what we do or don't do, there
will always be some people who don't like us, and that's okay. As long as you like yourself,
and you are fine just the way you are, then that is all that matters."
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