A student flashes a "victory" sign before taking the national college entrance exam in Runan county, Henan province, June 7, 2015.[Photo/IC]

But it's not a good timing to release a story about cheating on the first day of the two-to three-day national exam. The attention from the education authorities and society may make some students nervous, he said.

Though he supported the publication of a report on the sensitive topic of ghostwriters in the national exam, Wang Tianding, a professor in the journalism and communications school at Xi'an International Studies College, said the covert journalist's eye-catching story might not be appropriate because sitting in as a replacement for others in the national exam is illegal.

At least one lawyer thought otherwise: "Though there are discussions on whether the reporter's behavior is appropriate or not, it's not illegal under the law," said Yi Shenghua, a Beijing-based criminal lawyer.

He said the reporter did not make money by replacing another for the exam. He was only digging up facts and collecting proof about ghostwriters and had no intent to commit a crime.