The Perils of Irresponsible Reporting on Russia’s War

Clickbait coverage is the Kremlin’s friend. Just ask the Estonians.

Two people are seen out of focus in the foreground looking toward a stone fortress with a flag atop it. September 11, 2025, 4:53 AM Comment icon View Comments ( )

Discussions of irresponsible media coverage often lead to the fictional character of Wenlock Jakes. Supposedly the “highest paid journalist of the United States,” this infamous figure features in Evelyn Waugh’s 1938 novel, Scoop , the classic satire of editorial egos and reportorial incompetence. Jakes is hugely influential, despite—or because of—his loose grasp of facts.

Jakes’s misreporting changes the course of history. Having overslept on a train in the Balkans, he gets out in the wrong cou

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