Nine year old reports news faster than competitors

Receives backlash on social media

Hilde Kate Lysiak isn’t your typical 9-year-old girl.
Actually, nothing about Lysiak is typical.
How many people do you know under the age of 12 that have nearly 600,000 hits on WordPress and almost 20,000 likes for a page on Facebook?
The number of likes of her newspaper’s Facebook page nearly quadruples the current population of Selinsgrove, Pa., where Lysiak resides. According to the latest census statistics, that number rests at 5,654.
Lysiak has taken the world of journalism by storm. Following in the footsteps of her father, former New York Daily News reporter Matthew Lysiak, Hilde is the editor-in-chief for the Orange Street News.
For only $14.99, she sends out 12 issues per year right to your doorstep. She also posts most of her stories online.
When she first started publishing in November 2014, she wanted to report issues such as vandalism and drug problems within the Selinsgrove community. However, that drastically changed when an alleged murder occurred on 9th Street in Selinsgrove.
Lysiak received a tip from her sources that Pennsylvania State Police, local Chief of Police, local District Attorney, and county Coroner were on the scene of a potential crime scene.
Although she could not get police to reveal particular details, she still crushed the other local news organizations by being the first to report the happenings.
However, in the coming days later, Lysiak received backlash from some of her followers. Some commented on the accuracy of her story, while others questioned the thought of a 9-year-old girl reporting a murder.
One person commented, “This article, paper, whatever the heck it is, is a complete joke! Horrible”.
Another wrote, “I am disgusted that this cute little girl things she is a real journalist. What happened to tea parties?”
It’s one thing to trash a horrible adult writer, but these folks find it necessary to attack a 9-year-old girl who does a pretty fine job.
And this is a girl who provides legitimate news, instead of whatever some of the other news outlets say they do.
This is exactly what is wrong with the world we live in. Here, we have a motivated 9 year old who found something she is good at, and some folks have the audacity to trash a young girl’s work. What a horrible display those backlashers have put on this young girl.
Luckily, Lysiak will not be going anywhere. She posted a response video responding to her critics.
“I know this makes some of you uncomfortable” Hilde says, “and I know some of you just want me to sit down and be quiet because I’m nine. But if you want me to stop covering news, then you get off of your computer and start doing something about the news.”
She finishes with “Is that cute enough for you?”
After it’s all said and done, I have one message for the up and coming reporter: You go, girl!