hatchet job

English

hatchet job (plural hatchet jobs)

(idiomatic) A journalistic or other treatment which portrays its subject in a very unfavorable manner; a work of criticism which aims to destroy a reputation.
Synonyms: slam piece, hit piece, traducement, calumny, calumniation, obloquy, defamation
Antonym: puff piece
That article about the mayor is nothing more than a hatchet job.
- 2023 January 27, Philip Oltermann, “German critics pan Oscar-nominated All Quiet On the Western Front”, in The Guardian‎, ISSN 0261-3077:
  Even the tabloid Bild, hardly known as a haven of art-house snobbery, published a hatchet job. “There are good literary adaptations and there are bad ones, and then there is All Quiet on the Western Front by director Edward Berger,” Bild’s critic wrote.
(idiomatic) An action or a program which imposes deep reductions in expenditure.
This so-called reform of our wage agreement was really just one big hatchet job!