Hilde Kate Lysiak is an American journalist who publishes the Orange Street News, a local newspaper in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania from 2014 to 2019 and in Patagonia, Arizona since 2019. She is the youngest member of the Society of Professional Journalists. She has a book series with Scholastic and a TV mystery series inspired by her life, titled Home Before Dark, premiered on Apple TV+ in April 2020, with Brooklynn Prince playing Lysiak. On May 10, 2019, Lysiak became possibly the youngest person in U.S. history to deliver a college commencement speech when she addressed the graduating class at West Virginia University's Reed College of Media. Lysiak was awarded a Junior Zenger Award for Press Freedom in 2019, given to a journalist who fights for freedom of the press and the people’s right to know.
Early life
Lysiak was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Matthew and Bridget Lysiak. She has three sisters. Her father worked as a journalist for the New York Daily News until moving back to his hometown of Selinsgrove; he used to take Hilde to the newsroom while researching stories, and in his words "hooked her on the rush of chasing news". Her father told Today Show host Sheinelle Jones "he loves it ... I don't really want to get in the way of her passion." In an interview for Brit+Co, Lysiak stated that her "favorite beat is crime. My second favorite beat is crime. And my third favorite beat is crime! Covering crime is like solving a giant moving puzzle. The job of a crime reporter might be the best job in the world." She told the Columbia Journalism Review in 2015 that rather than working for a newspaper, she ultimately wants to own her own. Lysiak strongly defends the right for children to have a voice, saying, "Kids should know that if they work hard, they can do amazing things." In 2019, Lysiak and her family moved cross-country from Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania to Patagonia, Arizona.
''Orange Street News''
Lysiak founded the Orange Street News in 2014 with her father's assistance. The paper's tagline was The ONLY Newspaper Devoted to Selinsgrove. Its first news item was an exclusive story announcing the birth of Lysiak's baby sister, Juliet. Initially a family newspaper written in crayon, it grew to include a Facebook page, a website, a YouTube channel, and print subscriptions with postal delivery. Lysiak is assisted by her older sister Izzy, who edits articles, posts videos and wrote a kids' column for a local newspaper, The Daily Item. Her father talks with Lysiak about her stories and occasionally helps tighten up a lede, but mostly leaves her in command so that it remains "a kid's paper". On April 2, 2016, Lysiak was at the police station asking the police about the conclusion of a vandalism case she was following, when she overheard the police chief state that he had to leave because something important was happening. Lysiak quickly discovered that the call was for a murder only a few blocks away from her home: a woman had died violently and the police suspected her husband of having murdered her with a hammer. Lysiak went to the crime scene and then hurried home to give her father a report, which he edited and posted on the website with the headline, "EXCLUSIVE: MURDER ON NINTH STREET". She then returned to the murder scene and shot a short video. Her story included quotes from neighbors and police. She scooped her competitors by several hours. Lysiak was mentioned in the January 2017 issue of National Geographic with an article titled "I Am Nine Years Old". In his book LikeWar, Peter Singer uses Lysiak as one of two examples to illustrate the "shift" in journalism "eliminating gatekeepers" in favor of everyone telling their story.
Defense of crime reporting
Immediately after Lysiak reported on the local murder, her newspaper's Facebook page received negative comments about a 9-year-old covering such a scene. Commenters challenged her parents' choices to allow a child to "pretend to be a reporter"; some wrote that she should be playing with a tea set or with dolls. Lysiak responded that she normally does not read the comments, but felt that she should respond to the negativity from her readers. She read out several of the comments on video to her sister, and then they posted the video on their website and on YouTube.
Threatened with arrest
In February 2019, Lysiak was in Patagonia, Arizona, researching stories including residents' opinions on the Border Patrol and the proposed Border Wall, when she was stopped by the town marshal, Joseph A. Patterson, who asked "You taping me?" and then falsely claimed "if you put my face on the Internet, it's against the law in Arizona." She posted video on YouTube and on her newspaper's website, noting that this is permitted under the First Amendment, and the town reportedly disciplined the marshal.
Awards and honors
In 2016 Lysiak and her sister Izzy received a Tribeca Disruptive Innovations Award. Lysiak also had the honor of interviewing Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai, during a visit to Providence, Rhode Island, and donated all the advertising revenue from the Orange Street News for a month to the Malala Fund promoting female education. On September 20, 2019, Lysiak was awarded a Junior Zenger Award for Press Freedom. In her acceptance speech, Lysiak spoke about the need for reporters to stay focused on the truth.
Commencement speech
On May 10, 2019 Lysiak became possibly the youngest person in U.S. history to deliver a college commencement speech when she outlined her vision for the future of journalism for the graduating class at West Virginia University's Reed College of Media. The speech was called "one of the year's most inspirational commencement speeches." In the 13-minute speech, which was covered nationally, Lysiak confronted the current generation of journalists.
Books
In June 2016, Lysiak signed a deal with Scholastic to co-write a series of four books with her father under the title Hilde Cracks the Case. The main characters are based on Lysiak and her sister and photographer, Izzy, with fictionalized versions of real stories that Lysiak has written. A series of six books was published between 2017 and 2019.
Television series
and Anonymous Content also developed a television show based on the books and optioned Lysiak's life story. Apple announced in 2018 that they would be producing the series titled Home Before Dark, with Brooklynn Prince in the lead role of Lysiak. Home Before Dark premiered on Apple TV+ on April 3, 2020.
Fundraising
In March 2016, Lysiak began a GoFundMe site to raise $40,000 for her borough in Selinsgrove to hire an additional police officer in response to increasing vandalism. She attended the borough council meeting and addressed the council members. On April 5, 2016, the Orange Street News reported that a new police officer had been hired for the borough.
