A shield connected on one end without a bypass cap is called an "antenna."
It's very commonly used in interconnect cables. In fact, with my active crossover and servo woofers, such cables are the only way I can avoid hum. And yes, the direction very much matters. You are simply wrong.
Many single ended cables are in fact, snake oil.
That's a tired refrain. But here's the good news for you: Stephen Tuttle created a template that you can use to expose this fraud. As I'm sure you know, audio cables is a sizeable industry, so you can get rich and serve your fellow audiophile, too. Here are some details to get you started: