Dave Wedge

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

Career

Literature

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 bombings.^[1] Material from the book was used for the movie Patriots Day (2016),^[2] 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.

Wedge and Sherman teamed 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.^[3] The book, titled Ice Bucket Challenge: Pete Frates and the Fight Against ALS features a foreword by Boston Bruins hall of famer Ray Bourque and will be released in October 2017 .

In February 2017, it was announced that Wedge and Sherman would be writing a book based on the saga of New England Patriots star Tom Brady and his improbable win in Super Bowl LI. The authors are working with screenwriters Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson, who wrote The Fighter, The Finest Hours and Patriots Day.

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,^[4] and The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island in 2003.^[5] He also covered many local, state and national political stories, including the 2004 and 2008 presidential races.

He also writes for VICE,^[6] Esquire,^[7] DigBoston^[8] and Newsweek^[9] and has written for Boston^[10] and Revolver,^[11] among other publications and websites.

Wedge is a frequent TV and radio commentator who has appeared on CNN,^[12] Fox News,^[13] CBS Early Show,^[14] ABC's Good Morning America,^[15] WEEI Sports Radio in Boston,^[16] and several other local and national stations. He hosted a weekly radio show on WRKO,^[17] was a regular contributor on The Emily Rooney Show on WGBH-FM in Boston^[18] 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 Queensrÿche, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Tiësto, Moby, Rob Zombie, Johnny Rotten, Daryl Hall, and Glenn Danzig.

In addition to the Boston Herald, Dave is a contributor to VICE,^[19] 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 October 2016, a lengthy investigative piece by Wedge on molestation allegations against hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa was published at VICE.com and in its October print edition.^[20]

In 2013, Wedge 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 with singer/artist Dave Tree, and did one of the final interviews with GWAR frontman Oderus Urungus (aka Dave Brockie) just days before Brockie died of a heroin overdose.

Broadcasting

Wedge is a frequent TV and radio commentator who has appeared on CNN,^[21] Fox News,^[22] CBS' The Early Show,^[23] ABC's Good Morning America, WEEI Sports Radio in Boston,^[24] and several other local and national stations. He hosted a weekly radio show called “Terror on Trial" on WRKO^[25] during the 2015 trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was a regular contributor on The Emily Rooney Show on WGBH in Boston^[26] and hosted a news/music and pop culture show on the now-defunct DigRadio, a Boston online radio station.^[27]

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.

In 2016, Wedge and Sherman, with film producer Ted Collins, announced the formation of Whydah Productions, a film/TV/streaming content production company based in Boston and Los Angeles. Whydah, named after a pirate shipwreck recovered off the coast of Cape Cod, is developing "Billion Dollar Sound," a TV series based on Lou Pearlman and the boy band explosion in the 1990s, among other projects.^[28]

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. In 2017, Wedge joined State6, a communications firm in Boston .

Personal life

Wedge was born on July 31, 1970 in Brockton, Massachusetts. He 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.

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.

In 2005, Wedge and the Herald were named in the Murphy v. Boston Herald, Inc., et al. libel case filed by Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Ernest B. Murphy.^[29] In February 2005, the jury found that the Boston Herald and David Wedge had libeled Judge Murphy. 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.^[30]

The verdict was appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.^[31] Though the SJC acknowledged errors in the trial, the verdict was upheld in a ruling on May 7, 2007. The Herald and Wedge maintained the stories were accurate and that the court rulings were flawed.

In response to Judge Murphy’s letters to the Herald, the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended a 30-day suspension, a $25,000 fine, and a public censure for Murphy.^[32] In August 2008, Judge Murphy and the CJC reached an agreement that he was "permanently disabled" and he stepped down from the bench. Murphy applied for an early disability pension, but was denied by the SJC.^[33]

References