Journalist, 12, faces off with police officer who threatened to arrest her
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
Impressive for an independent journalist at any age. To pick a beat and stick with it takes guts and grit. And she's finding incredible stories, the kind of stories I'd be interested in reading about my own neighborhood.
Then I found this story:
Just to prove my point I am republishing the story I’ve been asked to take down that was originally Published January 4th. Thank you.
EXCLUSIVE MUST CREDIT THE ORANGE STREET NEWS
Twenty Four days after the Orange Street News turned revealed evidence that there was a drug dealing, prostituting accomplice to the November car theft the Selinsgrove Police Department has confirmed that they are investigating.
https://orangestreetnews.com/2019/01/22/note-to-dealers-osn-...
The video at the bottom of that story shows an interview exposing drug use at a local high school. A source says that drug sniffing dogs don't enter classrooms, and kids know that. Therefore, they're taking the drugs to class to avoid detection.
Every story I read seemed to be covered from a wide variety of angles with original interviews. It's just amazing.
Still, it's not hard to imagine that original reporting on drug cases, robberies, and the like will not sit well with those being exposed. This kind of stuff can get real dark really quickly.
One thing that is worth mentioning is that Hilde's dad is a journalist and presumably has helped her hone her skills. Which is not to take away anything from her own accomplishments, but merely to point out that she has access to advice and guidance that not every kid journalist is going to have, and so I think she probably knows better than most how to keep out of trouble.
But one thing that is important to note is that while the officer is absolutely incorrect about it being illegal to publish video of a police officer's face when it is recorded in public, he is correct that giving false information to an officer who asks you where you are going -- even if they don't have a good reason for asking and if it would be within your rights to refuse to answer -- can be a crime.
Granted, if you tell a police officer you're going to visit a friend, and then on your way there you notice something worth reporting about and never make it to your friend's house, you probably have a good defense. At the time you spoke to the officer, you had ever intention of going to your friend's house, and so you were speaking truthfully.
But having a good defense doesn't mean that you can't be charged with an offense. Particularly when it involves a small-town cop who seems to be power tripping.
Twice in the video, Lysiak appears to begin disputing the officer's claim that she told him she was going to a friend's house:
"No, I didn't say..."
"I wasn't going to my f..."
And twice he cuts her off.
But disputing an officer's allegation doesn't mean they can't cause trouble for you or charge you with a crime.
Obviously, she's 12, so he's unlikely to take it too far, but let's suppose he had taken her into custody.
Journalists working for mainstream media outlets often have the benefit of the paper's lawyers going to bat for them.
But when you're a lone reporter, 12 or not, the legal costs related to defending yourself against even a bogus charge can be considerable.
Well, yes. This is true not just for independent journalists but for all people.
Is the reporter required by law to comply with that order?
Your recourse is not to disobey the order. It's to file a grievance or a lawsuit afterward.
(Key here is "lawful order." If the officer is giving you an unlawful order, such as ordering you to commit a crime, that's another story. But "leave this area, for your safety" is, at least on its face, a lawful order.)
This is incorrect. Lysiak's hometown is Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. There is no Selinsgrove, Arizona. This incident with the officer took place in Patagonia, Arizona.
Kids should do whatever the hell interests them? Whether she is pushed by her parents to do this or it is her free will, is hard to judge just from that article. It is however not impossible.
I knew a guy who has an incredible passion for chess at a young age. So much so, his parents had to push him to do anything but it. He later studied electrical engineering and turned oit fine.
I knew a guy who was constantly pushed to be the best in his sports team by his father who happened to be the trainer. His son had incredible potential, but his father was terrible, yelling, just blaming everything on the kid. We lost a lot, because we were often one or two players short and he punched his son for that in front of us more than once. This son turned into an alcoholic, and then lived with his father who separated from the mother. He was 20 when he shot his father (who was also a hunter) with 12 bullets and then shot himself.
Don’t force your kids. Guide them. If they have genuine fun to do stuff that is to hard or too grown up for kids, show support, help them understand it. Dont push them to hard unless it is the little push they need because they are afraid. Don’t decide what is useful and what isn’t. They need to learn deciding that for themselves