HATCHET JOB

{n. phr.}, {slang} 1. The act of saying or writing terrible things about someone or something, usually on behalf of one's boss or organization. * /When Phil makes speeches against the competition exaggerating their weaknesses, he is doing the hatchet job on behalf of our president./ 2. A ruthless, wholesale job of editing a script whereby entire paragraphs or pages are omitted. * /Don, my editor, did a hatchet job on my new novel./