The smear campaigns carried out by, among others, the tabloid Obor Rakyat (People’s Torch), continue to erode the electability of Joko Widodo. This yellow journalism is being distributed in Islamic boarding schools around Java, targeting Jokowi’s political stronghold. Yet, its production is not cheap, running into hundreds of millions of rupiah for each edition. A presidential staff assistant has admitted responsibility for its production, but who is really behind this smear campaign?

Keywords :
the tabloid Obor Rakyat , Joko Widodo , The smear campaigns , Gun Gun Heriyanto , Darmawan Sepriyossa , Muchlis Hasyim , Setiyardi Budiono ,