Picture via YouTube

 

Hilde Lysiak runs her own newspaper, has written her own series of books, and was interviewed on The Today Show. And guess what? She’s only 10 years old!

 

The young journalist began her own paper in 2014 when she was seven and, in her words, 'a little bit shy'.

 

In a recent interview with the Society of Professional Journalists, of which she is the youngest member, Hilde said that she named the Orange Street News after her own street. She started out reporting on stories that happened right on her block.  

 

Her first front page story was about the birth of her little sister, and later she began reporting on happenings all over her hometown of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.

 

When one of her neighbours was killed in a violent homicide, Hilde followed up on a tip and got the scoop before her competitors. She was nine at the time, and her coverage of the story garnered her international media attention.

 

 

People thought it was inappropriate for the young journalist to report on such a story because of her age.

 

She wrote a piece for the Guardian at the time, explaining, “I never began my newspaper so that people would think I was cute. I started the Orange Street News to give people the information they need to know. I want to be taken seriously.”

 

However, when asked what her favourite story was to cover, surprisingly Hilde didn’t say the homicide.

 

“Truthfully, that was a pretty easy story to cover,” she remarked to the Society of Professional Journalists.

 

Her favourite story to report on was her investigation into the local fire station.

 

“After that story ran, officials sent me messages threatening to have my paper taken away if I kept writing about it,” Hilde said, “But I didn’t let them scare me. Eventually, the truth about the corruption at the fire station came out.”

 

 

She also noted that the story was particularly difficult to report on since the firefighters met in a bar, and her age prohibited her from entering.

 

Crime stories are some of HIlde's favourite to cover, but she still needs permission from her parents, one of whom is journalist and author Matthew Lysiak, when going into such situations. Sometimes they don’t let her.

 

Her age also proves to be a challenge when the magistrate occasionally refuses to give her criminal complaints because of how young she is.

 

In general, though, Hilde doesn’t let the barriers she faces because of her youth get her down.

 

“People often talk down to me, or underestimate me,” she said in the interview, “I say, let them. It gives me an advantage.”

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