Neighbourhood rallies round nine-year-old reporter who beat adult competition to murder story
'She's nine for God’s sake. She isn't capable of sensationalism'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Neighbours have come to the defence of a nine-year-old old journalist who was told she should be "playing with dolls" instead of reporting the news.
Hilde Kate Lysiak scooped the competition to break the story of a murder in her hometown of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, for her newspaper Orange Street News.
However, she was criticised by some locals for reporting the incident as they believed crime reporting wasn’t a suitable activity for a nine-year-old girl.
Sean Christine, the former mayor of Selinsgrove, described Hilde's big scoop - "Exclusive: Murder on Ninth Street!" - as “sensationalist trash”, leading a litany of complaints online.
But while some Selinsgrove residents criticised Hilde’s work, others applauded it.
Gianluca Pezzuti, a resident who grew up close to the crime scene, told The Independent: “Her paper is better written than the Daily Item [Selinsgrove's established paper].
“She has more integrity in her little finger than most journalists and the critics that are calling her writing ‘sensationalist’ are insane.”
“She's nine for God’s sake. She isn't capable of sensationalism.”
Hilde, it turns out, was also fully capable of defending herself. In a video message to her critics, she said: “Yesterday, there was a murder in Selinsgrove. It happened just a few blocks from my house.
“I got the tip from a good source that I was able to confirm. Then I went straight to the scene and asked neighbours for more information.
“I worked very hard. Because of my work, I was able to inform the people that there was a terrible murder hours before my competition even got to the scene.
"In fact, some of these adult-read newspapers were reporting the wrong news, or even no news at all.
“All the while, the Orange Street News was out covering the murder.
“I know this makes some of you uncomfortable 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 offering news, then you get off your computer and go do something about the news.
“Is that cute enough for you?”
The Orange Street News has a popular social media following, and has nearly 10,000 Facebook 'likes'. In comparison, the population of Selinsgrove is around 5,500 people.
In addition to crime, other content on Orange Street News deals with social issues: ‘Homeless in Selinsgrove!’ (another exclusive); cyber-crime: ‘Porn Hacker on Loose on Grove!’; business: ‘Where Have Selinsgrove Stores Gone?’ and local government: ‘Grove Chooses New Cop’, ‘Borough Limits Public Comment’.
Hilde's sister, Isabel Rose, 12, also works on the Orange Street News on pictures and video.
And they also get some help from their father, Matthew Lysiak, a former reporter for the New York Daily News.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments