12 ms·
9-year-old reporter breaks crime news, posts videos, fires back at critics
- jsonne 11y agoThat's super neat! It's really unfortunate people are being so negative. Sometimes the anonymous aspect of the internet, while overall a good thing, can lead to people being critical of others for no reason at all.
- DanBC 11y agoThey were being mean on Facebook, which means they were being mean under their real names and photographs to a nine year old child.
- jsonne 11y agoInteresting. I saw her video and they didn't list any names so I assumed they were anonymous comments.
- ChristianBundy 11y agoI'm not sure which video you watched, but the first video on the page lists the names of each of the comment authors.
- DanBC 11y agoAh, the Facebook link is buried in the article. > But her reporting did not impress some of the good people of Selinsgrove, and they let Hilde have it on Facebook Saturday night. “I think this is appalling that u would do a story like this when all the facts are not in yet,” wrote one commenter. Her parents were attacked too: “does no one realize that this is a 9 year old reporting this type of graphic information!” wrote a Facebook poster. “I mean, what parents are encouraging this type of behavior!”
- DaniFong 11y agoI love this kid
- bobajeff 11y agoWhen a 9 year old consistently does your job better and more thoroughly than you do purely out of enjoyment maybe it's a sign that you should try harder.
- exolymph 11y agoGranted, she's subsidized by her parents. Real reporters have to serve a business, even if they're not directly involved in discussions of revenue and strategy. Often journalists aren't given the time or resources to dig up stories and vet them thoroughly.
- thaumasiotes 11y agoWhat is she getting from her parents that helps with digging up stories and vetting them? She's subsidized in the sense of receiving food, clothing, and shelter, but all businesses also provide those things to their employees. This: > Often journalists aren't given the time or resources to dig up stories and vet them thoroughly. (my emphasis) is not a response to the fact that she's publishing stories faster than they are.
- exolymph 11y agoBusinesses pay employees with the goal of ROI. Parents typically expect a 0x return on their money (at least in the near term, by which I mean decades). Therefore businesses' employees need to do work that contributes to revenue (listicles) whereas children can do whatever their parents allow them to (in this case, local news). You make a good point about the time competition, but I was responding re: "better" not "faster".
- click170 11y agoAnd they wonder where their subscribers are all going...
- alexmat 11y ago"She also publishes and distributes a print edition once a month, with paid mail subscriptions for $10 a year." Doesn't say how many subscriptions, but it wouldn't take too many for her to contribute to rent. Impressive for a 9 year old.
- ArnoldCarlyle 11y agoI'm not sure whether being 9 makes her more vulnerable to manipulation by figures who want to make themselves look good in the news, or less. It's certainly different, ie unlikely to have the same sorts of biases as other reporters, which can be quite valuable.
- cpeterso 11y agoThe article available without a paywall on this news site: http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2016/apr/05/9-year-old-reporter-breaks-crime-news-posts-videos/ http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2016/apr/05/9-year-old-repo...
- RudeLouis 11y ago"Her father is an author and former New York Daily News reporter who took Hilde to his newsroom and to stories he covered around New York and hooked her on the rush of chasing news." Welp.
- pyb 11y agoWell yes, talent doesn't come out of nowhere, but it's still an awesome story.
- tdoggette 11y agoWell, yeah, someone had to teach her that flawless inverted-pyramid writing style.
- dang 11y agoPlease don't post things like this here. On HN, comments should be civil and substantive, not snarkily dismissive. Fortunately, good examples are close at hand—you got two fine replies from fellow users. Be that way.
- davemel37 11y agoReminds me of the Wonder Showzen segments called "Beat Kids" https://youtu.be/IwvrGHsjD7g https://youtu.be/IwvrGHsjD7g
- ank_the_elder 11y agoWonder Showzen was so incredibly insulting to everything and everyone, I will forever be amazed that it aired at all.
- minikites 11y agoI like the creators' take on this: http://www.avclub.com/article/wonder-showzen-13983 http://www.avclub.com/article/wonder-showzen-13983 > Standards are such a weird thing at a network like MTV. What's your moral standard when you're celebrating 16-year-old kids spending $2 million on a party? That's always our argument—"You show this stuff that's actually offensive!" There's not even any satire to it, just people yelling at workers.
- sydneysider 11y agoCute
- sydneysider 11y agowhy the downvote? I actually meant it's cute, not the cynical 'cute'
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- mrspeaker 11y agoI didn't downvote you (else I wouldn't be able to post a reply!) but the downvote comes from not adding anything substantial to the conversation: it's the +1 of github issues - any "thanks for posting!" kind of comments tend to get killed (again, it would be better to post something more substantial, like why you liked it etc etc). Your reply to yourself got downvoted, 'cause "no complaining about being downvoted" https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- sydneysider 11y agoahh, wasn't aware of the guidelines!
- ars 11y ago> I didn't downvote you (else I wouldn't be able to post a reply!) Eh? Yes you can. Why do you think you can't? In fact if you downvote you are encouraged to post a reply to explain why. It's actually the opposite: You can't downvote people who reply to you.
- danso 11y agoHer name is Hilde? The same as the heroine Hilde Johnson in the greatest movie about journalism (yes, that includes All The President's Men IMHO), His Girl Friday? You couldn't ask for better journalism parents :). BTW His Girl Friday, directed by Howard Hawks, is not only one of the best movies of its era, it is one of the few great movies that are truly in the public domain. You can watch it on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/his_girl_friday https://archive.org/details/his_girl_friday
- jdnier 11y agoAlso a strong female figure from the seventh century: St Hilda of Whitby. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilda_of_Whitby https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilda_of_Whitby
- marcusgarvey 11y ago>Hilda is considered one of the patron saints of learning and culture, including poetry. Interesting detail. I always enjoy learning about who's the patron saint of this or that. Why did the tradition start, and how does each saint get assigned a domain? How offbeat it can get? And are "they" planning to update it occasionally to match how the world has changed?
- yolesaber 11y agoI went to Catholic school and yes they do in fact update saints. There's a patron Saint for the internet (Isidore of Seville), movies (Genesius), and astronauts (Joseph of Cupertino). I would say the tradition combines derives from Greco-Roman theosymbolism where divine beings represent specific domains of contemporary life. Note that Protestant and Baptist denominations do not generally recognize patron saints. You can see a list of all them here and the rationale for their patronage as well. Pretty interesting to see the swath of culture and technology they cover: http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/patrons.aspx http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/patrons.aspx
- ilostmykeys 11y agoway to go!
- matt_morgan 11y agoWell, MY 9-yo can tell you how to beat lots of Pokemon gym leaders and Elite fours.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- aaron695 11y agoThese articles are all so clichéd aimed straight at the masses. A child seems to be doing something only an adult could do and better even! Stupid adults, kids showed them. There exists an adult who's mean about it! OMG get out the pitchforks we get to be self righteous, the world is beating on a child. Why can't we take things as they are. It's very cool she's writing stories. It's an interesting slant for her readers that she's a child. Leave it at that.
- curiousgeorgio 11y agoThese comments are all so clichéd aimed straight at the HN audience. A reporter seems to be reporting about a child reporter who is doing something noteworthy. Sensationalist reporters, HN commenters showed them! There exists a reporter who wrote about it. OMG, get out the sarcasm we get to be condescending, the world is reporting a story about a child reporter. Why can't we take things as they are. It's very cool that Tom Jackman is writing stories. It's an interesting slant for his readers that he's writing about a child. Leave it at that. :)
- free2rhyme214 11y agoLOL
- f1hybrid 11y agoI bet even aaron is :)
- caffinatedmonk 11y ago[Here's a link to the original response video which the article failed to include.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ShfNQOUeAY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ShfNQOUeAY) Probably to reduce bounce rates or something.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- ps4fanboy 11y agoI am sure she has better content than Buzz Feed
- avivo 11y agoThis is not a sign that "news organizations should try harder" (quoting another comment). It's a sign that good local news is not profitable to produce — e.g. a failure of the free market to provide a critical public good. As a corollary, it's a sign that a prerequisite of functional democracy is failing. One potential solution is directly government funded news, but then the government can control the news, which is a potentially worse scenario! A more effective alternative might be a universal tax rebate of say $100, which can only be allocated to news organizations. (though of course there are lots fiddly details to make this actually work)
- frankydp 11y agoI would posit that all news companies (some legal definition) should be required to be non-profit entities. They could also operate with some portion of subsidization if necessary. The public allocation model would be interesting, if difficult to implement.
- cbd1984 11y agoIf they're subsidized, they know where that money is coming from, and they'll be less likely to report on the misdeeds of the government subsidizing them.
- JackFr 11y ago> I would posit that all news companies (some legal definition) should be required to be non-profit entities. That's not really compatible with a free press. In terms of regulating the broadcast spectrum you have more latitude because its a scare public good. But I think you'll have a hard time getting Pinch Sulzberger and Rupert Murdoch to stop publishing.
- dredmorbius 11y agoAnother view has it entirely consistent. Universal access to the press, not merely those who have sufficient financing, based on actual quality of product, not dopamine-inducing crap, could be an improvement.
- bootload 11y ago“Because she’s the only one doing community news, she’s developed sources who trust her to cover the news. One of her sources contacted her, and she was able to confirm it with law enforcement. She knocked on every door, like she’d seen me do with the Daily News. There were no other reporters there.” Old school journalism. Ask questions, check with sources, get independent confirmation, write it up. Woodward and Bernstein had to get confirmation for three different independent sources before the Washington Post would run their major story that took the President down.
- pknerd 11y agoAt one side I am happy to see this new kind of journalism where people would get news from genuine sources instead of some _madeup_ stories while on other hand I am sad for this kid who got into such things in the age where she should get involved in things that help her to enjoy life.
- zaphar 11y agoThat's an odd statement to make. The whole article is about how she is doing exactly the thing that helps her enjoy life.
- free2rhyme214 11y agoI remember hearing about a startup that tried to crowd fund the news. I don't think it worked but it's a cool idea.
- numinit 11y agoProbably better than the typical sensationalized crap, that's for sure.
- benclarke 11y agoWhat a promising young woman, I'm sure her parents are very proud! Sadly, it's not very hard to beat the local paper anymore. Now that we consume most of our news online for free, media companies rely entirely on ad revenue and simply can't afford to provide good local coverage. Ad-supported professional journalism just does not work for local stories that can't attract a huge audience. Some of you have suggested Government funded news - while I agree that quality local news is a critical public good, I believe that Government intervention in the industry is dangerous. I'm confident that the free market will eventually solve this problem with a creative new business model.
- erikb 11y agoLike: little girl already takes something that serious and works hard on it. Not like: Hard to believe that a 9 year old kid gets these ideas really by herself. I worry a little that her father is pushing her too much. Also investigating murders is maybe not something a child should do. Not understand: Why is it such a big deal that someone reported something first? Never really got behind why that's a deal. Maybe this way you can understand your "job" more as a "game"? I don't see people switching from newspaper/blog number one to newspaper/blog number two, because number two reported one story faster.
- djaychela 11y agoI'm not sure about her not getting ideas like that herself. I'm a step-parent to four kids, and one in particular has an imagination that most people would kill for. She takes it upon herself to get into all sorts of things, writes stories with real depth of imagination and concepts behind them, and has recently taught herself to do stop-motion animation to tell these stories. I'm sure if she'd taken to journalism it would have been a similar story, so here I see a kid who has real ability and has taken to the role model she has in her father. Maybe Dad is pushing her too much, but maybe she's really into it. Reporting first seems a big deal to me as everyone else could well be copying what's already been reported. I would think that the first person to report it accurately is serving the most purpose (subject to being correct, etc).
- doozler 11y agoSuch a shame about all of the online trolls targeting a 9 year old girl. I'm so glad she has not let it faze her and stood up to the bullies!
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]