Kids all over Arizona write for Bear Essential News, and you can, too! 

The Young Reporters Program is FREE and teaches you the basics of journalism, sharpens your writing and gives you real-world experience.

From classmates to Presidents, our Young Reporters have gotten some remarkable interviews. So if you’d like to meet some new, inspiring people, or if you feel you have something to say, now’s the perfect time to be a Young Reporter!

Your stories will appear in Bear Essential News, Arizona’s leading newspaper for young people and families.

Young Reporter Facts

• • Kids started reporting for Bear Essential in 1980.
• • Any kid in grades 3 thru 8 can be a Young Reporter.
• • YR’s have nabbed several amazing interviews.

The program is for kids in grades 3 thru 8. Young Reporters have gotten the scoop from Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George Bush, and First Ladies Michelle Obama and Laura Bush. They’ve also gotten EXCLUSIVE interviews with chimpanzee expertJane Goodall, authors like Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid series) and Shannon Hale (Real Friends books), film celebrities like Steven Spielberg, Bridgit Mendler and Antonio Banderas, singing sensations like Justin Timberlake and Arizona’s own Crystal Stark (American Idol), and several college and pro athletes and coaches.

You don’t need to be a super writer to write for us—all stories are brought up to the same quality before being published, and the program helps you develop into a strong writer! (Our best writers usually have been Young Reporters for at least a couple years.)

Joining is easy, and Young Reporters can also attend monthly Young Reporter Zoom Nights, which include a guest speaker for them to interview.

Print out the YR sign-up form at BearEssentialNews.com (under the Young Reporters tab). Fill it out, have a parent sign the bottom, and mail it in. Bear will send you a Young Reporters Kit—a reporter notepad, Bear Stylebook and official press pass. We would like YR’s to send one story every month or at least every other month. Check out the main feature on pages 14 & 15—it’s all about reporting!