New publication promises faster reporting by eliminating facts altogether
MANDEVILLE — Local residents welcomed the launch of The Mandevillain Thursday, saying they were excited to finally have a newspaper willing to publish stories without the unnecessary delays associated with confirming whether any of them actually happened.
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Reid Wakaushun said the publication was created after years of watching journalists waste valuable time checking facts, interviewing witnesses, reviewing public records, and confirming quotes before publishing.
“We asked ourselves a simple question,” Wakaushun said. “What if we just… didn’t?”
According to the newspaper’s mission statement, The Mandevillain is committed to delivering breaking news “well before reality has had an opportunity to catch up.”
Among the publication’s editorial standards:
- Anonymous sources are preferred because they do not exist.
- Quotes may be fabricated if they are funnier than the real ones.
- Every story will contain at least one sentence that makes readers stop and ask, “Wait… could that actually happen here?”
- Corrections will be issued only if the original story accidentally turns out to be true.
The launch has already drawn criticism from several residents, many of whom complained about stories they had not yet read.
“I haven’t looked at the website,” said one Mandeville resident. “But I’m already offended, and I wanted to get ahead of everyone else.”
The newspaper says it plans to cover local government, neighborhood drama, Causeway traffic, utility bills, bicycle controversies, Facebook arguments, and other subjects that “already seem fictional most days.”
At press time, The Mandevillain had announced its first editorial policy:
If you’re asking whether a story is true, you’ve completely missed the point.
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THE MANDEVILLAIN IS A WORK OF SATIRE
All stories are fictional unless otherwise stated. Names, quotes, events, and sources are invented for comedic effect except for references to public officials, public bodies, and publicly identifiable places. Any resemblance to actual private persons or events is purely coincidental — and probably hilarious. © 2026 The Mandevillain – Reporting What Definitely Didn’t Happen in Mandeville, Louisiana, all rights reserved.
