hit piece vs rumor

hit piece

noun
  • A published article or post aiming to sway public opinion by presenting false or biased information in a way that appears objective and truthful. 

rumor

noun
  • Information or misinformation of the kind contained in such claims. 

  • A statement or claim of questionable accuracy, from no known reliable source, usually spread by word of mouth. 

verb
  • To tell a rumor about; to gossip. 

How often have the words hit piece and rumor occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )