Kevin Hogan - alleged porn star teacher exposed by Fox in Boston
Posted on Friday, December 02, 2011 at 08:57 AM
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| Kevin Hogan |
The station ran a story about a well-regarded Irish American high school English teacher and crew coach called Kevin Hogan.
Hogan is head of the English department at Mystic Valley Regional Charter School in Malden, outside of Boston.
It turns out that before he stated teaching Hogan allegedly made some gay porn movies in his summer vacation as recently as last year.
There was no claim that he was still involved with the porn industry or that he had ever made a film on class time, Fox acknowledged.
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But we know what they probably expected: the same old dance of outrage and expulsion. Just assemble the pieces and watch the community erupt, right? They had exposed Hogan's dirty gay porn shame and they must have anticipated the consequences?
What Fox did not anticipate was that the majority Hogan's students (the very people who supposedly matter most in this equation) were appalled by Fox's sensational report and not the unexpected revelation. They value Hogan's skills as a teacher and crew coach and they shrugged off the five alarm news report.
That's something new in American culture. Usually you can expect a South Park style public pillorying. This time it didn't come though. It caught Fox completely off guard too, making them the news story, not Hogan.
In fact just yesterday Hogan's students started a Facebook page (the grassroots activism of choice for the under 30 set) and took to Twitter to express their distaste for the whole admittedly sensationalist expose.
Then a poll placed on Fox's own website showed that over 80% of the participants agreed with the students sentiments. They took it down after support for Hogan stayed that high.
No one is going to argue that what Hogan did is either wise or ideal, for goodness sake, but many people are arguing that he's entitled to a private life independent of his career.
Why? Because millions of Americans watch porn videos and many, many Americans are willing to star in them. Porn isn't illegal. These were films he'd made in his past. So should we to deny Hogan the opportunity to have more meaningful career now or ever because of his previous unwise decision?
Perhaps the man needs to be judged on his ability to teach and do his current job, not any previous one.
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IronMountainMovies | Dec 05, 2011, 03:39 PM EST
Which is worse? Starring in a film where you pretend to have sex, or running an outfit where you pretend to be a news organisation?
Answers please to Murdoch and Sons. Pillars of good Journalism practise as shown in the UK's Levenson Enquiry into hacking of the phone of a fourteen year old murder victim to sell a few newspapers.
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hollabackgurl | Dec 04, 2011, 09:25 AM EST
He went through a background check and came up clear. What he did though hardly ideal is not illegal. It's only relevant if we're now going to start investigating the personal lives and sexual history of everyone who teaches teens - and we're not, are we? Fox wanted an expose to boost numbers, but the teenagers involved want their teacher back. Reports say he's a very good department head and crew coach.
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hooligan6a | Dec 03, 2011, 09:53 AM EST
I love FOX News and the woman are HOT.
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seanomelbourne | Dec 02, 2011, 04:52 PM EST
Hey peterson! the students at the school hate fox not Mr Hogan in case you had'nt noticed.Fox news is part of the discredited Murdoch media empire.they could not ly straight in bed.
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GeorgeDillon | Dec 02, 2011, 03:05 PM EST
Hollabackgirl: I dated Barebackgirl when I was at Columbia. Is she kin to you?
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bostonblakie | Dec 02, 2011, 02:49 PM EST
Something like the current HBO TV series "Hung." Kind of a dark comedy.
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shayblack | Dec 02, 2011, 01:41 PM EST
Fox doesn't report news. They make up "news".
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Murph46 | Dec 02, 2011, 01:40 PM EST
hollanbackgurl-I ain't teaching kids -I know I have to put it in such terms for you do gooders to understand.
And the threesome wasn't bad either(weren't you there?)
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LindaMarie | Dec 02, 2011, 01:15 PM EST
Whether or not Mr. Hogan should be teaching is one issue. How Mike Beaudet treated him and this "story" is another. There are legitimate issues that come up when it is revealed that a teacher has a past in the porn industry. It happens often enough, and administrators have to grapple with the question of how the revelation (not the history itself) might effect a teacher's job performance. But Beaudet harassed a private citizen in the street and on television, treating him like a criminal even though the allegations were not criminal at all.
There is an incredibly homophobic angle to the story, explicitly and implicitly. First, Beaudet likened Hogan to Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, who has been charged with sexually abusing eight boys (there will be more to come). Last time I checked gay sex did not equal child rape. Second, if Hogan is gay then Beaudet not only outed the man, but he outed him ON TELEVISION. That is inexcusable.
The FOX team treated this story as an outrage, but belie their true motives at every turn. If they really wanted to protect Hogan's students from exposure to these films, would they have peppered the story with stills from the movies? Would they have given the titles and the stage name of the man who stars in those videos? The truth is that Beaudet did this not out of outrage, but to get ratings. You would think he would have learned by now that these stunts are getting old. Last year, he helped drive a man to suicide with this type of over the top harassment. Beaudet needs to go, and FOX better break out the checkbook.
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hollabackgurl | Dec 02, 2011, 01:06 PM EST
But Fox didn't report the news fairly, they produced a sensational salacious drive by hit job.
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peterson | Dec 02, 2011, 12:38 PM EST
Good for Fox News !! They report all the news fairly--not like the other TV media. The liberals hate Fox.
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jerryoneill | Dec 02, 2011, 12:08 PM EST
Have we learned nothing at all from the Catholic Church. JUST TRANSFER HIM TO ANOTHER SCHOOL. Just that easy. Next questinn.
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hollabackgurl | Dec 02, 2011, 11:53 AM EST
It's 'rather relevant information' if you don't mind supplying the details of that threesome you enjoyed in college, or whether you are faithful to your wife, or if you subscribe to Playboy channel or - well, you haven't thought this through have you Murph46? And PhlutiePhan I happen to know for a fact that aliens are 'subconsciously implanting suggestions' in your head.
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larslofan | Dec 02, 2011, 10:59 AM EST
I'd rather he teach my kid then anyone from Fox. They're a plight on the Nation...
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