Dave Wedge

David M. Wedge (born July 31, 1970 in Brockton, Massachusetts), is an author, journalist, communications strategist and award-winning former reporter for the Boston Herald.

Career

Literature

As a Journalist

Wedge joined the Boston Herald in 1999 and covered such national news stories as the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, 1999 Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire, 2000 Wakefield massacre, the September 11 attacks , and The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island in 2003 . He also covered many local, state and national political stories, including the 2004 and 2008 presidential races.

In March 2016, it was announced that Wedge and Sherman would team up again to tell the life story of Peter Frates, a Boston College baseball player with ALS who was the inspiration for the Ice Bucket Challenge social media phenomenon.

He also writes for Esquire,^[1] DigBoston^[2] and Newsweek^[3] and has written for Boston^[4] and Revolver,^[5] among other publications and websites.

Wedge is a frequent TV and radio commentator who has appeared on CNN,^[6] Fox News , CBS Early Show , ABC's Good Morning America,^[7] WEEI Sports Radio in Boston and several other local and national stations. He hosted a weekly radio show on WRKO,^[8] was a regular contributor on The Emily Rooney Show on WGBH-FM in Boston ^[9] and hosted a show on DigRadio.

In 2005, Wedge and the Herald lost a jury verdict in a libel case filed by Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Ernest B. Murphy. The verdict was appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court but the SJC upheld the verdict in a ruling on May 7, 2007. The Herald and Wedge maintained the stories were accurate and that the court rulings were flawed.

As a Music Journalist

Dave has also covered music for a variety of outlets, writing features and profiles on a wide array of heavy metal, rap, dance and rock artists. He’s interviewed some of the music world’s biggest stars, including Gene Simmons, Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister, Marilyn Manson, Notorious B.I.G., Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Everlast of House of Pain, Blink 182’s Tom DeLonge, Geoff Tate of Queensryche, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Tiesto, Moby, Rob Zombie, Johnny Rotten, Daryl Hall, and Glenn Danzig.

In addition to the Boston Herald, Dave is a regular contributor to Esquire, Newsweek, DigBoston and Lambgoat. He’s also written for Revolver magazine, Big Shot, BullettMedia, Boston magazine, and the now-defunct music site, LimeWire.

In 2013, Dave had an exclusive interview with rap pioneers The Geto Boys about their reunion that was the cover story for DigBoston. The piece featured a rare interview with eccentric dwarf rapper Bushwick Bill, in which he revealed that he was “drugged up” and incoherent when he was photographed being wheeled on a hospital gurney by his bandmates Scarface (rapper) and Willie D immediately after he was infamously shot in the eye by his girlfriend during a domestic dispute.

“My eye was really sitting on my cheek. Now that I look back at it, every time I look at that album cover, it reminds me what not to do. Not to take matters into my own hands and leave it to God.” - Bushwick Bill to DigBoston, June 19, 2013

In April 2014, Dave was co-host of “Hardcore News” on DigRadio, a Boston streaming radio station, and did one of the final interviews with GWAR frontman Oderus Urungus (aka Dave Brockie) just days before Brockie died of a heroin overdose.

As an Author

Wedge's first book, titled Boston Strong: A City's Triumph Over Tragedy and co-written with author Casey Sherman, was released in February 2015 by University Press of New England. Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh wrote the forward for the book, which is a non-fiction drama about the 2013 Boston Marathon terror attacks. The book is being used as a basis for the film Patriots Day (film) starring Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman and J.K. Simmons and directed by Peter Berg.

The book was also part of a display on the Boston Marathon attacks at the National Crime Museum in Washington, D.C.

In March 2016, it was announced that Wedge and Sherman would team up again to tell the life story of Pete Frates, a Boston College baseball player with ALS who was the inspiration for the Ice Bucket Challenge social media phenomenon.

Dave is also working on a book on the life story of 2012 Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison.

Broadcasting

Wedge is a frequent TV and radio commentator who has appeared on CNN , Fox News , CBS' The Early Show , ABC's Good Morning America, WEEI Sports Radio in Boston , and several other local and national stations. He hosted a weekly radio show called “Terror on Trial" on WRKO during the 2015 trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was a regular contributor on The Emily Rooney Show on WGBH-FM in Boston and hosted a news/music and pop culture show on the now-defunct DigRadio, a Boston online radio station .

In 2013, Wedge was featured in “#TwitterRevolution,” a two-hour CNBC documentary that explored the impact of Twitter on the media and American culture.

In Film

‘Boston Strong’ was acquired by 20th Century Fox in 2014 and was in development as a feature film at Fox before it merged with another project based on the 2013 Boston Marathon terror attacks. The two projects merged into Patriots Day a feature film starring Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Michelle Monaghan and J.K. Simmons and directed by Peter Berg. The film began shooting in Boston in February 2016 and is slated for a December 2016 release.

In 2008, Wedge appeared in “THS Investigates: Cults, Religion and Mind Control,” a two-hour documentary about the devastating impact of religious cults. Wedge spoke about his extensive work for the Herald investigating a cult in Attleboro, Mass. that starved a baby to death in 1999 to fulfill a bizarre religious prophecy.

In 2013, Wedge had a small role in the independent film, “Angels Around Me,” playing a bar patron.

Communications Strategy

In 2014, Dave joined Boston communications firm Northwind Strategies, where he works as a media consultant and adviser to a wide variety of corporate, political and non-profit clients. He was part of the Northwind team that worked on the Boston 2024 effort to bring the Olympics to Boston and also worked on the 2014 gubernatorial campaign of former Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.

Personal life

Born in Brockton, July 31, 1970, Wedge is a 1988 graduate of Brockton High School and a 1993 graduate of Boston College. He is married to Boston Herald columnist Jessica Heslam and has two children. They live in Milton, Massachusetts.

Awards and recognitions

Dave has won several journalism awards throughout his career, including a 2001 award for breaking news while he was at the Sun Chronicle. In 2003, he and Herald reporter Tom Farmer won a New England Press Association award for religious reporting for their coverage of an Attleboro cult. In 2008, Wedge was part of a team of reporters who won a New England Press Association award in the "Right to Know" category for a series on public officials' salaries. The same series was also awarded first place in the "Right to Know" category by the New England Associated Press News Executive Association in September 2008. In 2009, Dave won an investigative reporting award from the New England Associated Press News Executives Association for a report on criminals working in the taxpayer-subsidized film industry in Massachusetts.

In April 2014, the staff of the Boston Herald, including Wedge, was honored with the Sigma Delta Chi award by the Society of Professional Journalists for the paper's coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. In 2015, Wedge was honored in his hometown with a commendation from the Brockton City Council .

Murphy v. Boston Herald, Inc., et al.

The libel case brought by Judge Murphy, against the Boston Herald and Wedge centers on a series of articles about Judge Murphy that were published by the Herald.

Also named in the suit were Herald reporters and columnists Jules Crittenden, Margery Eagan and David Weber. According to official court documents, “at the close of the evidence, the trial judge entered judgment in favor of Eagan and Weber pursuant to Mass. R. Civ. P. 50 (a), 365 Mass. 814 (1974). The jury returned their special verdict finding Crittenden not liable. None of the three is involved in this appeal.”^[10]

The Boston Herald published the first articles about Judge Murphy on February 13, 2002 in a front-page story that used the headline “Murphy’s Law; Lenient judge frees dangerous criminals.”^[11] The article, written by Wedge and Crittenden, depicted Judge Murphy as “callously indifferent to victims” and quoted unnamed courthouse sources that claimed Judge Murphy had said about a rape victim: “‘She’s 14. She got raped. Tell her to get over it.’”^[12]

Judge Murphy denied ever making the alleged rape comment but after the Herald published the stories he was "bombarded with hate mail, death threats and calls for his removal from the bench." Someone in a Boston Herald internet chatroom even said that Murphy's own daughters "should be raped."^[13]

In June 2002, Judge Murphy filed suit against Wedge and the Herald claiming that his reputation had been damaged and that he had been emotionally scarred.

On March 7, 2002, Wedge appeared on Fox News’s The O'Reilly Factor and said Judge Murphy coddled defendants and "caused headlines for making disparaging remarks to victims." Wedge's comments were cited as being "crucial" in Murphy's libel case against Wedge and the Herald.^[14]

Trial

In January 2005, the case of Murphy v. Boston Herald, Inc., et al. began.

Wedge testified under oath that two sources told him about Judge Murphy’s alleged comments regarding the 14-year-old rape victim. Wedge understood, according to his testimony, that these two sources were not present when the rape comment was allegedly made by Judge Murphy. According to Wedge, he then confirmed the quote with a third source who was present when Judge Murphy allegedly made the comment about the rape victim. He "refused to concede that his front-page story on Murphy was at all flawed." ^[15]

The court found Wedge’s testimony in the trial to be "thoroughly and convincingly impeached by his own deposition testimony," which he gave in July and August 2002. At the deposition, "Wedge contradicted his trial testimony in every material respect." ^[10]

During the trial, the jury also heard testimony from Wedge's three sources, Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh, Jr. and Assistant District Attorneys Gerald Fitzgerald and David Crowley. Fitzgerald testified that he told Wedge that Judge Murphy said "tell her to get over it." Crowley, the source who claimed to be present when Murphy made the alleged comment, testified that "the gist of the quotes in what was said appear to be accurate," but that he did not remember Judge Murphy using the words "tell her."^[16] Walsh said Crowley told him about Murphy's remarks in the lobby conference and acknowledged he did not know whether the judge said, "get over it," "she needs to get over it," or "tell her to get over it."^[17]

Murphy testified that the quotes attributed to him by defense witnesses were "absolutely preposterous."

In February 2005, the jury found that the Boston Herald and David Wedge had defamed Judge Murphy and published false information about him. The jury awarded Murphy $2.09 million in compensatory damages, an award later reduced to $2.01 million.

Shortly after the verdict, in an apparent attempt at "bullying" the Herald into a settlement, Judge Murphy wrote two letters on court letterhead to Herald publisher Patrick Purcell, demanding the publisher meet with him and deliver a $3.26 million check.^[18]

Appeal

The Herald appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, but on May 7, 2007 the court upheld the verdict.

In a unanimous decision "sharply critical of the newspaper and its reporter, David Wedge,"^[14] the Supreme Judicial Court said "there is an abundance of evidence that, taken cumulatively, provides clear and convincing proof that the defendants either knew that the published statements found by the jury to be libelous were untrue or that they published them in reckless disregard of the probable falsity."^[10]

The court found the evidence in the case supported the jury’s verdict of actual malice. The Supreme Judicial Court opinion, written by Justice John Greaney, said that "by the end of Wedge's testimony, his credibility on any material factual point at issue was in tatters."

Reaction and response

In the wake of the failed appeal, Boston Herald publisher Patrick Purcell released a statement saying "We are disappointed with the Supreme Judicial Court’s relentlessly one-sided view of Dave Wedge’s reporting on a public controversy within the judicial system, and are unwavering in our complete confidence in Wedge’s journalistic skills."^[19] Purcell referred to the letters he received from Judge Murphy saying, Murphy "correctly predicted the Herald had ‘zero chance’ that his colleagues on the bench would side with the Herald rather than one of their own" and that "no shred of evidence exists, as Justice Greaney alleged in his opinion, that Wedge altered the quotation provided by his trusted sources."

Wedge released his own public statement in which he "vehemently" disagreed with the SJC’s decision and continued to "firmly stand by" his reporting on the stories.

On May 21, 2007, the Herald filed a petition requesting the court reconsider its decision, alleging that the SJC judges made several errors in their ruling, including misquoting Crowley's testimony and erroneously suggesting that Crowley said he heard Murphy make a sympathetic-sounding comment.^[20] The SJC acknowledged the error, as well as others, and corrected the record but denied the Herald's motion to reconsider, ending the case in the state's courts. The Herald paid Judge Murphy $3.4 million on June 7 to cover the jury award plus interest.

On July 10, the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct charged Judge Murphy with ethical violations including "willful misconduct" for the controversial letters he sent to Purcell.^[21] The CJC held a public hearing on Murphy's letters on October 15.^[22]

Murphy claimed in August that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and asked Governor Deval Patrick to retire him early with a full pension, even though he hadn't earned retirement benefits. Patrick denied the request.^[23] The judge also filed a $6.8 million suit against the Herald's insurance company, claiming that the libel case should have been settled.^[24]

In November the CJC issued a 27-page report that found Murphy's letters to Purcell were "improper in tone and content" and recommended a public reprimand.^[25] The CJC recommended a 30-day suspension, a $25,000 fine and a public censure for Murphy for the letters. In August 2008, Judge Murphy and the CJC reached an agreement that he was "permanently disabled" and he stepped down from the bench.^[26]

In September 2012, the SJC ruled that Murphy was not entitled to a disability pension.

Post-trial

In 2008, Wedge was part of a team of reporters who won a New England Press Association award in the "Right to Know" category for a series on public officials' salaries. ^[27] The same series was also awarded first place in the "Right to Know" category by the New England Associated Press News Executive Association in September 2008.^[28]

In 2013, Wedge and Casey Sherman signed a deal to write a book about the April 15, 2013 Boston Marathon terror attacks for University Press of New England. In 2014, he joined Northwind Strategies, a Boston-based communications and political strategy firm, as a vice-president.

In April 2014, the staff of the Boston Herald, including Wedge, was honored with the Sigma Delta Chi award by the Society of Professional Journalists for the paper's coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.

Boston Strong: A City's Triumph Over Tragedy was released in February 2015. In June 2015, news broke that Wedge is writing the life story of 2012 Olympic gold medal judo champion Kayla Harrison.

References

10. Ernest B. Murphy vs. Boston Herald, Inc., & another. Archived July 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
11. Dave Wedge, "Murphy's Law; Lenient judge frees dangerous criminals," Boston Herald, February 13, 2002.
12. Adam Reilly, "Judge Dread: The SJC’s libel ruling won’t cripple the media — but it could seriously hurt the Herald," Boston Phoenix, May 9, 2007.
13. Ken Maguire, "Judge's Libel Suit Against Boston Herald Begins," Law.com, January 24, 2005.
14. Pam Belluck, "Judge's Libel Victory Against Paper Is Upheld," New York Times, May 8, 2007.
15. . Archived September 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
16. Greg Gatlin, "Herald source heard second-hand comment," Boston Herald, February 10, 2005.
17. Mark Jurkowitz, "Witness testifies about Herald quotes," Boston Globe, February 9, 2005.
18. Ralph Ranalli, "Herald fights $2m libel verdict; Says judge wrote 'bullying' letters," Boston Globe, December 21, 2005.
19. Jesse Noyes, "SJC upholds judge's libel case vs. Herald," Boston Herald, May 8, 2007.
20. "Boston Herald asks SJC to reconsider libel ruling," WHDH-TV, May 21, 2007.
21. Raja Mishra, "Judge who won libel lawsuit faces ethics charges; Commission says he tried to bully Herald," Boston Globe, July 11, 2007.
22. Jessica Van Sack and Joe Dwinell, "CJC public hearing set on Judge Murphy misconduct charges," Boston Herald, October 5, 2007.
23. Frank Phillips, "Judge in Herald case asks early retirement; Patrick rejects claims of stress," Boston Globe, August 2, 2007.
24. Shelley Murphy, "Judge seeks $6.8 million from Herald's insurer; Cites failure to settle defamation case," Boston Globe, August 18, 2007.
25. Andrew Ryan, "Report urges public reprimand for judge; Says two letters to newspaper were improper," Boston Globe, November 22, 2007.
26. Shelley Murphy, "Judge Murphy agrees to leave the bench," Boston Globe, August 20, 2008.
27. "Herald takes home seven NEPA awards," Boston Herald, February 12, 2008.
28. "Herald shares top honors for 'Right to Know' report," Boston Herald, September 21, 2008.