9-year-old reporter defends covering murder scene after public outcry

Critics of a 9-year-old girl who covered an allegedmurder in her small Pennsylvania town got quite the counter-attack when the child posted a video on YouTube Tuesday defending her passion.

Over the weekend,Hilde Kate Lysiakgot a tip to her news website, the OrangeStreetNews.com, based out of Selinsgrove, about 150 miles northwest of Philadelphia. It indicated a potential murder scene, where she went with her parents later that day.

Lysiak posted the results of her investigation on her website, on her Facebook page and on her YouTube channel, and the hits started piling up.

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Commentatorscalled it a “joke,” “horrible,” “sensationalist trash,” and that “9-year old girls should be playing with dolls, not trying to be reporters.”

In response, Hilde put a video up Tuesday saying the following:

“Because of my work, I was able to inform people 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 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, but if you want me to stop covering news, then you get off your computer and you do something about it. There, is that cute enough for you?”