No copy proofing is done anymore, except with spellcheck, leading to frequent misuse of words. 'Reek' is a properly spelled word, just the wrong one. A human proofreader would have caught it and replaced it with 'wreak'; spellcheck doesn't catch such things.

I wouldn't blame poor spelling on the modern education system, though: my dad went to school in the thirties and couldn't spell to save his life. I could spell correctly very early, semmed natural and easy, but my brother struggled to remember word spellings.