Going undercover, ending up on CBC, and everything in between

The day I ordered those spy glasses online I thought I knew what I was getting myself into. I was 17 and wanted to produce an investigative documentary before graduating from high school. Little did I know the project would stick around for the next two years and result in my first byline at CBC.

In my senior year of high school, I noticed a strange trend. A lot of students who felt like their marks weren’t good enough would complete their credits in privately-owned high schools. According to some students I knew, it wasn’t the quality of education that magically turned their 60 into a 90, but an easier curriculum and a lax regard for ministry of education requirements.  

At the time, I was looking to make my first investigative journalism piece. These grade-inflating private schools, also known as credit mills, seemed like a place to start.  

One day, a student told me that a private school promised her in a phone call that if she signed up, she would achieve a minimum grade. That’s when I realized how I could report this as a story. I went online and found glasses that had a camera installed in them. Then, I scheduled ‘consultations’ with three different private schools in the GTA. I told them I was a student who wanted to sign up to increase my grades. Most people who knew about my plan were a little worried for me and also slightly creeped out. It didn’t shake me, though.  

Next thing I know, I’m on my way to my consultations wearing my spy glasses. I even brought my dad along to make my visit look like a visit by a potential student. I purposely went halfway through the semester to see if the schools would still enroll me - something I had heard could happen. As we parked the car and the private school’s sign flashed across my eyes, I realized there was no turning back. I put on my spy glasses, took a deep breath, and walked inside, undercover.  

All three consultations ended up giving me evidence  which I captured on my spy camera. One school official said they would update my grades before even taking the class, another tried to hide my late enrollment from a ministry inspection, and another said I could join the class without completing all of the assignments I had missed.

I then spent the next few months putting all the footage together, all before starting first year at the School of Journalism. But, as a documentary, it sucked; it only took me two weeks at RSJ to realize it should never see the light of day.  

But I still wanted to tell this story. I went to see Robert Cribb, an investigative reporter at the Toronto Star who teaches investigative reporting at the RSJ. Back in 2011, the Star published (external link)  a big investigation into credit mills, a project that began with the investigative journalism students. He gave me advice about how to take the project forward, and the summer before my second year, I decided to remake it.  

Making a (not horrible) investigative documentary while pursuing other projects and working full-time was tough, to say the least. I started my second year at RSJ burnt out and nowhere near done. By the time November rolled around, I started questioning the project and the time I put into it. It felt like I placed all of my eggs in a basket made of thin glass.
Then I went to a Hot Docs Podcast Festival afterparty and met Kate Evans, a podcast producer at CBC. She invited me for a tour of the CBC the following week. While touring the building, I told Kate about my documentary. She asked if I had heard of their podcast, The Doc Project.  

When I pitched the documentary, I expected a hard “no”. But, coincidentally, their producer, Julia Pagel, was also working on a story about credit mills and I had the footage she needed to wrap up the project. From there, I was put on the story as a contributing reporter.  

Seeing how industry professionals would approach the same story I once did on my own was the best journalism crash course I could have asked for. It gave me first-hand insight into what “industry-standard” really means outside of a lecture hall. The story was published (external link)  a few months later and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Getting to collaborate with CBC on this project gave it the platform and audience reach I always hoped for.  

In the podcast, I briefly talked about going undercover. After CBC published the audio documentary, I decided to post that footage (external link)  myself. I knew it could be a risky move and this is where RSJ played a big role. Thanks to instructors Gavin Adamson, Ivor Shapiro, Gary Gould, and Janice Neil, I felt confident enough to post what I had without facing a lawsuit at the age of 19.  

Looking back at this crazy journey, my biggest takeaway is that great things take time. When I first started this project, I fell prey to the notion of instant gratification - that instant actions will yield instant results. I now know that life rarely works out that way. Looking back, I can label a lot of the work I put into this project as a waste of my time, but none of it was. It was all a part of a massive learning experience that gifted me with patience, dedication, and persistence. Now, I absolutely can’t wait to embark on my next adventure.

Naama Weingarten is a second year Bachelor of Journalism student at the RSJ.