Children's Express
Encyclopedia
Children’s Express was a news agency reported and edited by children and teenagers between the ages of 8 and 18.
by Wall Street
attorney Robert Clampitt. Intitally, CE published light and fluffy stories in its own magazine. However, in 1976 at the Democratic National Convention
, the focus of the organization changed forever when a 13 year old CE reporter scooped the news that Walter Mondale
would be Jimmy Carter
's running mate. From then on, CE reporters would almost exclusively concentrate on hard-hitting political and social topics.
Over the next two decades, Children's Express expanded from New York to establish bureaus in Salem, MA, Washington, DC, Oakland, California
, Newark, NJ, Harlem, NY, Marquette, Michigan
, Springfield, Ohio
and Indianapolis, Indiana
. In 1994 CE-UK
was established; a Tokyo
bureau was also founded in the late 1990s.
CE articles appeared both in local markets and in national publications that subscribed to the CP Newswire, including the New York Amsterdam News, Bermuda Royal Gazette, Indianapolis Star, The Mining Journal
, New York Times, New York Daily News
, The Plain Dealer, Family Life
, Houston Chronicle
, El Diario/La Prensa, Seattle Times, Maryland Sentinel and many others.
From 1988 to 1989, the CE News Magazine television series was broadcast on PBS during prime time. CE won a Peabody Award
and an Emmy Award
for their coverage of the 1988 presidential campaign. This episode included one of CE's most famous interviews, in which a 12-year-old reporter asked vice-presidential candidate Dan Quayle
if she should be forced to carry a baby to term if she was raped by her father. Quayle's answer: yes.
Children's Express articles were created through an oral journalism process: interviews and commentary by 8-13 year old reporters were transcribed and edited by teen and adult editors. CE articles were always presented from a youth viewpoint, and featured frank, uncensored commentary. Subjects covered ran the gamut from teen drug abuse to abortion, youth-oriented legislation, school violence and interracial dating. Reporters and editors from CE's Washington DC bureau were admitted to White House
press briefings. CE also covered every presidential election and Democratic/Republican National Convention
from 1976-2000. In 1996, three CE-NY staffers toured war-torn Bosnia
, sending back reports that were published nationally.
When founder Robert Clampitt died suddenly in 1996, CE was already teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. In fact, the board of directors had scheduled a meeting to decide how to close the organization when new management secured a multi-million dollar foundation grant to develop the organization and to undertake a major diversity research project. But with a flawed business model and increasing pressures on foundations and other funders brought about by 9/11, further funding proved impossible to obtain. By the year 2001, after a desperate struggle and with a bitterly divided board, the organization ceased operations.
The UK Children's Express, which was run and funded separately, continued on under the CE name. On January 30, 2007, the organization changed its name to Headliners
.
History
CE was founded in 1975 in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
by Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
attorney Robert Clampitt. Intitally, CE published light and fluffy stories in its own magazine. However, in 1976 at the Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
, the focus of the organization changed forever when a 13 year old CE reporter scooped the news that Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
would be Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
's running mate. From then on, CE reporters would almost exclusively concentrate on hard-hitting political and social topics.
Over the next two decades, Children's Express expanded from New York to establish bureaus in Salem, MA, Washington, DC, Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, Newark, NJ, Harlem, NY, Marquette, Michigan
Marquette, Michigan
Marquette is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Marquette County. The population was 21,355 at the 2010 census, making it the most populated city of the Upper Peninsula. Marquette is a major port on Lake Superior, primarily for shipping iron ore and is the home of Northern...
, Springfield, Ohio
Springfield, Ohio
Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek and Beaver Creek, approximately west of Columbus and northeast of Dayton. Springfield is home to Wittenberg...
and Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
. In 1994 CE-UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
was established; a Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
bureau was also founded in the late 1990s.
CE articles appeared both in local markets and in national publications that subscribed to the CP Newswire, including the New York Amsterdam News, Bermuda Royal Gazette, Indianapolis Star, The Mining Journal
The Mining Journal
The Mining Journal is the predominant daily newspaper of Marquette, Michigan and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.Like most market-dominant daily papers, the MJ is a seven-day morning paper. The Mining Journal is distributed over a wide area, in part because Marquette is the largest city for a...
, New York Times, New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, The Plain Dealer, Family Life
Family Life
Family Life is a magazine published by, and primarily for, the Old Order Amish. The publisher is Pathway Publishers of Aylmer, Ontario, Canada. Unlike some Amish publications, Family Life is printed entirely in English rather than Pennsylvania Dutch or German.The magazine was founded in 1968 and is...
, Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
, El Diario/La Prensa, Seattle Times, Maryland Sentinel and many others.
From 1988 to 1989, the CE News Magazine television series was broadcast on PBS during prime time. CE won a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
and an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for their coverage of the 1988 presidential campaign. This episode included one of CE's most famous interviews, in which a 12-year-old reporter asked vice-presidential candidate Dan Quayle
Dan Quayle
James Danforth "Dan" Quayle served as the 44th Vice President of the United States, serving with President George H. W. Bush . He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Indiana....
if she should be forced to carry a baby to term if she was raped by her father. Quayle's answer: yes.
Children's Express articles were created through an oral journalism process: interviews and commentary by 8-13 year old reporters were transcribed and edited by teen and adult editors. CE articles were always presented from a youth viewpoint, and featured frank, uncensored commentary. Subjects covered ran the gamut from teen drug abuse to abortion, youth-oriented legislation, school violence and interracial dating. Reporters and editors from CE's Washington DC bureau were admitted to White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
press briefings. CE also covered every presidential election and Democratic/Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
from 1976-2000. In 1996, three CE-NY staffers toured war-torn Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, sending back reports that were published nationally.
When founder Robert Clampitt died suddenly in 1996, CE was already teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. In fact, the board of directors had scheduled a meeting to decide how to close the organization when new management secured a multi-million dollar foundation grant to develop the organization and to undertake a major diversity research project. But with a flawed business model and increasing pressures on foundations and other funders brought about by 9/11, further funding proved impossible to obtain. By the year 2001, after a desperate struggle and with a bitterly divided board, the organization ceased operations.
Aftermath
The Indianapolis bureau split from Children's Express in 1999 and began operating as Y-Press. After Children's Express folded, two of the other bureaus also evolved into independent youth news organizations. The New York bureau became known as Children's Pressline, while the Marquette group continued on as 8-18 Media.The UK Children's Express, which was run and funded separately, continued on under the CE name. On January 30, 2007, the organization changed its name to Headliners
Headlinersuk
Headliners is a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland charity that provides a programme of learning through journalism for young people aged 8–19.Children's Express was relaunched as Headliners...
.
Awards and honors
- Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
(nomination), 1982 - George Foster Peabody Award, 1988
- Emmy AwardEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
, 1988 - Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism, 1994
Books
- Listen to Us! (1979) A collection of roundtable interviews with children on topics ranging from school to sexual abuse.
- When I was Young I Loved School: Dropping Out and Hanging In (1989) Children's Express' exploration of school apathy and dropouts in America.
- Voices from the Future (1993) Voices of kids from across America, talking about violence and its impact on their lives.
- Kids Voices Count (1994) Monologues of at-risk youth from across America talking about their live experiences dealing with violence, school, sexuality and homelessness.
- I, Too Am American (1995--unpublished) Discussions with American youth on diversity, prejudice, religion and race.
Miscellaneous Facts
- Children's Express reporters were easily recognizable by the bright yellow T-shirts they wore on the job. CE editors also wore a "uniform"--red polo-style shirts with the Children's Express logo in one corner.
- Amy CarterAmy CarterAmy Lynn Carter is the fourth child and only daughter of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter. She entered the limelight as she lived as a child in the White House during the Carter presidency.-Early life:...
, daughter of President Jimmy CarterJimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, was a Children's Express reporter in the 70's.
External links
- Headliners, the separately run UK Children's Express, which is still going but changed its name in January 2007.
- Children's Pressline is the successor to CE's New York Bureau.
- Y-Press, started life as CE's Indianapolis Bureau. It is still affiliated with the Indianapolis Star.
- 8-18 Media is the current incarnation of the old CE Marquette Bureau.
- Children's Express is founded in Japan.