Three years ago, a Sycamore teen was accepted into a national journalism program for children ages 10 to 14. This is Evy Bingle’s last year as a scholastic kid reporter. WNIJ’s Yvonne Boose follows up with teenager as she begins her final year in this volunteer position.
Yvonne Boose
What have you learned about yourself during this process?
Evy Bingle
I've always been that kind of kid that just loves to read, loves to write, and being involved in this program has really just allowed me to explore that side of myself a little more, and nourish it, and just continue to do the things that that I love. I've had so many amazing experiences, and I've learned how to talk to so many different types of people and just write stories and have fun while doing it.
Yvonne Boose
Now, when you talk about the different types of people. What was the most exciting story that you've done in your time doing this?
Evy Bingle
My favorite story that I've probably done was covering the Big Ten national championship. That was really cool because I got to see how real reporters, like, work in the real world. We were up in the press box, and we had full press access. That was super awesome, super exciting. We talked to amazing representatives from a bunch of different news outlets, news stations, stuff like that, and I just got to see kind of their process. I got to learn from it. I talked to a few people that really like made me think about the job and how to just get better at it.
Yvonne Boose
Your goal wasn't to be a reporter after college. Can you tell me about that, and then tell me what your thoughts are now?
Evy Bingle
So, my opinions still kind of stand. I love English and lit[erature], but I want to do something more in the math and science kind of realm, like medical school, but I think I'm always gonna love reading and writing, and I hope that throughout my life I can keep doing opportunities like this.
Yvonne Boose
What has been the most challenging moment for you as a child reporter?
Evy Bingle
Oh, that's a good question. It's definitely dealing with that, like on the go, like interviewing people, and sometimes like not knowing what they're going to say, and then having to respond really quickly, kind of switching tracks a little bit. That definitely took a while to learn and navigate because you have your list of questions, but sometimes that's just not how the conversation flows naturally.
Yvonne Boose
I can attest to that. I remember when I first started, I would just be so caught up on my questions, I would not hear certain things that they would and then it's redundant. I'm asking a question they all already answered. So, how have you been able to maneuver that process and get away from your list of questions?
Evy Bingle
I think it's, it's really important to make a, like, make a connection with the person that you're interviewing, which helps because you already kind of have a little bit of background knowledge about them, I also think that just experience. I definitely even just within my first couple interviews, like, I was so nervous my first one, and then by like my third or fourth, I was way more, more comfortable.
Yvonne Boose
What is your process? For preparing for your interviews.
Evy Bingle
I pitch my story to my editor, or my editor gives me a story that they want me to cover, and then, like, we're just talking about, I write my list of questions along with some background information to keep in mind while we're doing the actual conversation and interview process, and then we meet either on Zoom, in person, or some kind of like press outlet. And then I interview them and ask them all that I can. Get to know them. Get to know their story. All they've accomplished, and then I pull my quotes, and then I write my story.
Yvonne Boose
And then, what's the editing process for you? I know each editor is different, so can you talk about that and talk about the different editors you've had to work with?
Evy Bingle
It's hard because I'm not an, an editor myself, so it's very interesting to see how, like, what other people think of, of your writing, and I think that that helps you as, as a writer to get other people's feedback, even like on the same article, like having multiple people read it and go through it and, and analyze it and see this makes sense, this doesn't make sense, because in your mind sometimes like you wrote it, so you just think that it does make sense, and I've had three editors. And all of them have been helpful in so many unique ways, and they all have just contributed to part of this process and making this happen for me.
Yvonne Boose
Now, as a reporter, we make mistakes. Can you tell me about a time that you made a mistake, even if it was something your editor caught, that you made a mistake in the story, and how did you rebound from that personally? Because I know myself, I kind of beat myself up when I miss something.
Evy Bingle
I think that the main thing to think about is that just because you're a Scholastic Kids Press reporter doesn't mean that you're this sort of like invincible person. You still make mistakes. You're still human. I remember I was interviewing Tom Hiddleston, and he. And he asked me to watch the entire, like, promo video that he gave me, and I said something that made it sound like I didn't watch it, even though I did, and that was very stressful. But I just corrected myself and moved on, and it was all okay.
Yvonne Boose
And give me more context for people who don't know who that is.
Evy Bingle
Tom Hiddleston is the actor that plays Loki, and he also has a new — yeah, of the Marvel movies — and he also released a documentary series, which is what I was interviewing him about, about Pompeii, and it follows three different characters from that time period, and just kind of their experience, and kind of how their stories interact with each other, while also kind of solving the mysteries and uncovering things that maybe not a lot of people know about Pompeii.
Yvonne Boose
You're in eighth grade, right?
Evy Bingle
Yes, ma'am.
Yvonne Boose
Okay. So, when you go to high school, what are your plans when it comes to journalism? I know some high schools have the journalism club and different things like that. Do you plan on being a part of things like that?
Evy Bingle
Um, I don't really know yet. I'm hoping to take a lot of literature classes, probably some extra ones, as many as I can, honestly. And I'm also just a busy person. I play sports. I do instruments. But if I have time, I would love to do something — an extracurricular like that.
Yvonne Boose
What would you tell young kids out there who have a dream to be a journalist about this program?
Evy Bingle
This program has genuinely had an insane impact on my life and on all the lives of the of the kid reporters that have gone through this program. I think that the main thing to remember and think about is you have to immerse yourself in the culture. So that means reading as much as much as you can, watching shows that were based off of books, reading certain news articles that that interest you, just getting that literacy skill higher and just learn to love it because it is it's so helpful in life and it's so helpful in school. It's just it's all around us.
Yvonne Boose
Now, is there anything else you would like to share with me today?
Evy Bingle
I would just like to like thank you for, um, interviewing me and letting me do this. This is awesome, and also, just a big thank you to Scholastic. They have really given me so many amazing opportunities. In fact, just the just the other day, they sent me an advanced copy of a book. It's called “Licorice,” and it's about this cat, and it's kind of spooky. It fits into the Halloween season and that's just like one of the super amazing things that that we get to do. We get to be involved with the program not just the actual writing aspect, and I just encourage everyone to just keep reading.
Yvonne Boose
Well, thank you for your time today, and best wishes with everything you do.
Evy Bingle
Okay, thank you so much again. Have a great day.
Learn more about the Scholastic Kid Press reporter program here.
