The problem with mildly dishonest young reporters is that commonplaces of speech about American history -- praising Grant as remarkable because he Beat The Great Robert E. Lee -- too easily seem like nonsense to their ears or can be made that way in their hands.
This is quite literally how American history was taught for decades -- that noble, dashing, brilliant Lee was worn down and ultimately beaten by dogged, determined, and remarkably canny Grant.
To take an idea from @SethAMandel and push it to the limit, I'd wipe out every British and German tourist at a Greek seaside resort for a historically literate press corps.
