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Swiftboating is a term used to describe vicious smear campaigns, often marked by ad hominem attacks and unethical tactics. It originated in 2004 when an organization accused John Kerry of lying about his military service. The internet has made swiftboating easier, and anyone in the news can be targeted.
Swiftboating is a slang term commonly used to refer to a particularly vicious and public smear campaign against someone. The term has its roots in 2004, when an organization called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth accused presidential candidate John Kerry of lying about his military service in Vietnam. In 2005, newspaper columnists used “swiftboating” to describe major smear campaigns. This slang term has sparked some controversy, with a number of people, including John Kerry, pointing out that they were disappointed to see the famed fast ships of the Vietnam War linked to smear campaigns.
This term is often used to describe campaigns marked by ad hominem attacks and other tactics that some people think are below the belt. Such tactics rarely demonstrate the utility of the organization running the negative campaign, but can sometimes be very effective, as they appeal to basic beliefs and values. Many fast surfing campaigns are also marked by underhanded reporting and information gathering techniques that are not entirely ethical.
Some people use the term specifically in the context of military service, reflecting the original organized fast sailing campaign against John Kerry. Others use it more generally, with an emphasis on negative PR campaigns that are very public and sometimes very bad. Such campaigns can be run by any number of people, from private groups attempting to smear public figures they dislike to politicians, who often use aggressive tactics to bring down opponents.
Swiftboating has been made much easier with the medium of the internet, which allows for the rapid distribution of information to people in a wide variety of places. Activists often take advantage of the fact that people often accept material posted on the Internet as fact to spread lies and disinformation, and many are well aware that well-crafted lies can take months or years to unravel.
Swiftboating is not limited to the socially prominent. Almost anyone in the news can be targeted, even if they appear only briefly. For example, in 2007, a boy named Graeme Frost made a well-publicized appeal to then US President George Bush, asking him not to veto a bill to expand health coverage to children, using his own story as an illustration of why the bill mattered. Within hours, investigators had gathered information about Frost and his family, publicizing information about the cost of their home and whether the children attended private schools. As a result of this quick campaign designed to undermine Frost’s credibility, the family was inundated with emails and phone calls. As the family was totally unprepared for the onslaught, lacking powerful PR teams of politicians and people accustomed to such campaigns, the situation quickly became extremely stressful and unpleasant.
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