Image creation is a conscious and strategic approach to shaping the public's perception of an individual, organization, brand or product. The goal is to achieve a specific impression or image in the perception of the target audience through careful management of communication, behavior, appearance and media presentation. This process includes the selection of key messages, symbols, visual identity and other elements that all together contribute to building a recognizable and consistent image that reflects the desired values and goals. Primarily, the paper presents the settings of political communication, online journalism and the influence of the media, as well as the strategy of political communication. In this context, based on the analysis of articles from Croatian portals from March 15, 2024, the image of Zoran Milanović during his candidacy for the parliamentary elections in 2024 is analyzed. The paper offers an overview of Zoran Milanović's biography, highlighting the key moments of his political career. The chapter dedicated to his candidacy examines the political context and the reasons that prompted him to decide to run for the parliamentary elections. The paper also analyzes how his candidacy was covered by different media, applying theories such as agenda-setting, priming, and framing. Finally, an analysis of the content of articles published on various portals is carried out, which provides insight into the thematic patterns, narratives and strategies that were used to shape Milanović's image. The paper concludes by summarizing the key findings and their implications for understanding the media portrayal of politicians during the election campaign.