Ammon 10-year-old lands job as kid reporter for national news outlet

AMMON – For as long as Minji Kim can remember, she’s loved watching the news, telling stories and giving speeches. Now, she has the chance to do all of that as a kid reporter.

The 10-year-old girl from Ammon is the newest reporter for Scholastic Kids Press, a national news outlet covering “news for kids, by kids.” Minji is one of 29 reporters for the news publication and the only one from Idaho.

In an email correspondence with EastIdahoNews.com, Minji said she’s grateful for the opportunity to do this at such a young age.

“I’m very grateful for all my family and teachers who helped me to realize the art of writing news. If it wasn’t for them, I would still think that being a reporter at such a young age was impossible,” Minji says.

Minji moved to eastern Idaho seven months ago and is originally from South Korea, where she worked as a reporter for a kid’s magazine. She heard about Scholastic Kids Press from her teacher in Ammon, who encouraged her to apply.

A story she wrote about the COVID-19 pandemic during the application process and how it impacted her community led to her getting the job.

“I had the chance to interview valuable members of the Idaho community, including a doctor,” Minji says.

Suzanne McCabe is the editor of Scholastic Kids Press. She says Minji’s application was “outstanding” and there was one thing in particular that impressed her.

“She had a few great story ideas. One of them concerned the formula shortage. She saw people in her community suffering because of this and wanted to talk with them and see what solutions were being developed,” McCabe explains. “That seems very precocious for a 10-year-old, and it definitely captured our interest that she wanted to find out something that really mattered where she lives.”

Scholastic Kids Press covers a variety of topics, ranging from politics, entertainment, the environment, sports and other issues.

McCabe says each reporter typically works for the publication for the length of a school year. It is an unpaid position but provides invaluable work experience. While the skill level of each child varies at the onset, McCabe says their writing is “pretty clean” when they’re done.

“It’s a learning process. They start with crafting interview requests, keeping them brief and to the point. They pitch stories. Then they work on the who, what, when, where — the basics of journalism,” says McCabe.

While each child has the chance to pitch and write stories they are passionate about in their community, McCabe will also assign them stories of national interest.

Minji says she is interested in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and would like to cover it at some point. She’s also hoping to interview some of her favorite celebrities.

“Since I was young, I have loved the Harry Potter series and am a major fan of the books. I would love to interview the actors from the movies, such as Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger,” Minji writes.

McCabe says three of her former reporters, now grown adults, are currently working in the industry. Two of them are working for NBC News and ABC News, respectively, and the other is a reporter for Politico.

Regardless of whether Minji goes on to work as a professional journalist, McCabe is happy to have her on board and is excited to work with her.

“She submitted a superb application with ideas that are wise beyond her years,” says McCabe.