Meet the 9-Year-Old Intrepid Crime Reporter Who Broke Alleged Murder Story
— -- One intrepid young reporter is getting a lot of attention for her coverage of an alleged murder -- because she’s only 9 years old.
Hilde Kate Lysiak of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, writes and publishes a monthly paper in her hometown. She got a tip last weekend about a possible murder just blocks from her house, so she went with her father to the scene to report on it, successfully beating the competition.
“I just really like solving puzzles,” Hilde said on “Good Morning America” today of her passion for journalism.
When asked whether she was scared to visit a potential crime scene, her response was simple. “No, not at all,” the cub reporter confidently replied.
As soon as she got to the scene, Hilde began recording a video to capture the latest details.
“Hilde Kate Lysiak here, reporting from the Orange Street News on the 600 block where a man suspectedly murdered his wife with a hammer. I'm working hard on this ongoing investigation,” she says in the video, which has now gone viral.
After she posted her story, however, Hilde got a lot of negative comments with some suggesting that she should be playing with dolls rather than trying to be a reporter. That certainly didn’t suit the mini-hard-hitting journalist, so she decided to respond to her critics with a new video.
“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 covering news, then you get off your computer and do something about the news. There, is that cute enough for you?” she asked her critics.
Hilde elaborated even further today on “GMA.”
“It annoyed me,” she said. “Just because I’m a girl and just because I’m nine doesn’t mean I can’t be a reporter.”
Hilde’s mother, Bridget Lysiak, says she and her husband, a former New York Daily News reporter, have no trepidation or concern about letting their daughter venture out to cover suspected crime scenes.
“I really don’t,” Lysiak said. “I think we talk so much about the glory days of the ‘70s and the’ 80s when kids were roaming free. But really, statistically, kids are safer now than they were then. The police are at the crime scene. I’m really not too worried. It’s not like she was inside the house.”
Hilde has strong feelings about those who believe a 9-year-old covering graphic content isn’t appropriate.
“If you don’t like my papers, nobody’s forcing you to read it,” she said.
The budding journalist has her eyes set on even bigger goals in the future.
“I want to keep doing my paper. I’m going to keep doing it and I hope it gets bigger,” she said. “And I’m also working on writing a book with my mom.”
