The Scholastic News Kids Press Corps is a U.S. news organization for kids. The organization is made up of more than 30 kid reporters from around the world who report on breaking news and current events. The program was founded during the 2000 presidential campaign by Suzanne Freeman. Kid reporters across the U.S. interviewed presidential candidates and covered the election up until the inauguration, bringing news of the campaign trail to readers of Scholastic classroom magazines. Since then, Scholastic News Kid Reporters have interviewed

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

, former Presidents

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Joe Biden, Interior Secretary

Sally Jewell Sarah Margaret "Sally" Roffey Jewell (born February 21, 1956) is a British-American businessperson who served as the 51st United States secretary of the interior in the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017. Jewell was born in London and moved ...

, choreographer Jacques d'Amboise, entertainer Nick Cannon, director Ava DuVernay, presidential hopefuls Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina, authors Walter Isaacson, Robert Beatty, and Sonia Manzano, and physicists Brian Greene and Kip Thorne, among other notable people.

Kid Reporters

The Kids Press Corps consists of more than 30 kid reporters covering events in the U.S. and around the world. Every October, the organization accepts new applicants as kid reporters. During the year, the reporters cover local and national events. Their articles are published on Scholastic News Online and in Scholastic classroom magazines.

Election Coverage

Scholastic News Kid Reporters have covered four

United States presidential election The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not dire ...

s, in 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012. They are now reporting on the 2016 presidential campaign. Each election year, kid reporters have interviewed presidential candidates and reported on primaries and caucuses, Democratic and Republican National Conventions,

Election Day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ar ...

, and the

Inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...

. Apart from presidential elections, kid reporters have also done extensive coverage of

Midterm Elections Apart from general elections and by-elections, midterm election refers to a type of election where the people can elect their representatives and other subnational officeholders (e.g. governor, members of local council) in the middle of the term ...

and interviewed dozens of

U.S. Senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

U.S. Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, and

Governors A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

. In 2013, Scholastic reporters interviewed Catholic

Bishops A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

s about the

papal conclave A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop of Rome, also known as the pope. Catholics consider the pope to be the Apostolic succession, apostolic successor of Saint ...

that elected

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

Scholastic Student Vote

Each election year since 1940, Scholastic has administered the Scholastic Student Vote, a national mock presidential election. The results of the Student Vote have been correct in all but three elections, 1948 (Truman vs. Dewey), 1960 (Kennedy vs. Nixon) and 2016 (Clinton vs. Trump). At the end of the Student Vote, kid reporters have announced the results to the nation on the

NBC Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. During the 2012 election, nearly a quarter of a million students participated, the majority voting for Barack Obama.

Tips from the Pros

Kid reporters have also interviewed many other journalists. Professional reporters and anchors who have been interviewed include

Matt Lauer Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is an American former television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...

Lester Holt Lester Don Holt Jr. (born March 8, 1959) is an American journalist and news anchor for the weekday edition of ''NBC Nightly News'' and ''Dateline NBC''. On June 18, 2015, Holt was made the permanent anchor of ''NBC Nightly News'' following the ...

Robin Roberts (newscaster) Robin Roberts (born November 23, 1960) is an American television broadcaster. Roberts is the anchor of ABC's ''Good Morning America''. Roberts was the first woman of color and first openly LGBT woman to host the American TV game show ''Jeopard ...

Andrea Mitchell Andrea Mitchell (born October 30, 1946) is an American television journalist, anchor and commentator for NBC News, based in Washington, D.C. She is NBC News' chief foreign affairs & chief Washington correspondent, reporting on the 2008 presid ...

Chuck Todd Charles David Todd (born April 8, 1972) is an American television journalist who is the 12th and current moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. He also hosts ''Meet the Press Now'', its daily edition on NBC News Now and is the Political Directo ...

Mike Lupica Michael Lupica (; born May 11, 1952) is an author and former American newspaper columnist, best known for his provocative commentary on sports in the ''New York Daily News'' and his appearances on ESPN. Biography Lupica was born in Oneida, ...

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 19 ...

, and

Jose Diaz-Balart Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean ...

Editors

Suzanne Freeman stayed as Editor for the Kids Press Corps until 2010. From 2010 until 2013, Dante Ciampaglia served as Editor. Since 2014, Suzanne McCabe has served as Editor. The Scholastic News Kids Press Corps is based in the headquarters of the

Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

in New York City.

Awards and recognition

In 2012, the Kids Press Corps won a New Media Award as the "Best in Industry" in the category of ''News for Kids''. Kid reporters have been recognized locally and nationally in newspapers and magazines and on television and radio. Kid reporters from Scholastic have appeared on the

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

, and local television stations around the nation.

References

{{reflist *''Extra! Extra! Scholastic Kids Press Corps Welcomes 16 New Kid Reporters''. PR Newswire, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2013. *
2012 New Media Awards / Web Awards/ Winners
'. New Media Awards, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2013. *Demary, Tradina. ''See how student reporters contribute to 2012 Presidential Election coverage''. Examiner.com, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2013. Scholastic Corporation