Using Students to Get the Story
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A WCVB (Boston) Reporter Mike Beaudet is also a Journalism teacher at Northeastern.
The Reporter/Teacher brought the two jobs together and some people are crying foul.
Beaudet did a sweeps piece on kids attending after-hours parties in Boston. Beaudet's investigation revealed that parties are sometimes held in warehouses and other unapproved venues, and alcohol and drugs are often present.
But, the part that has many upset, Beaudet used a handful of his journalism students at Northeastern to go into the underground affairs to get video of the late-night shenanigans, which was then used in the story.
The Boston Globe says that some viewers objected to Beaudet sending his students to these parties.
Beaudet been trolled on Twitter and Facebook since the story aired, declined to talk to the paper.
A local comedian Dicky J. Stock posted this message to social media and that got the "Beaudet drinking his own pee" ball rolling.
Just some of the comments posted to his facebook page:
But his boss at Northeastern, Jonathan Kaufman, director of the School of Journalism, doesn’t see a problem. “This was the story the class decided was worth pursuing. Mike talked to them about how to approach it, and they went out reported it, talking to organizers of these parties and city officials,” said Kaufman. “None of us in the media do a good enough job reporting on what life is like for young people in the city. The response shows what a legitimate story it is.”
Here's the video of the story:
