The Truth Behind "The Snub"

I'm Kid News Reporter Sydney Rieckhoff.  On January 31, I reported on the campaign trail from Vinton, Iowa.

It was a cold, foggy Iowa day. I was on my way to report about Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign visit to Vinton, Iowa. When we got to the Clinton campaign event, a high school band was playing. I signed in at the press table and sat down right next to the cupcakes set out for the press. You could tell when Hillary Clinton came out because everyone cheered and held up "Hillary for President" signs. What I didn't know was that I was about to meet Chelsea Clinton, Hillary and Bill Clinton's only daughter.

Senator Clinton spoke for about an hour, and when she finished everyone pushed up front to meet her. Then, Chelsea Clinton walked past me and I asked her a question that I had prepared in advance.

"How do you think your father would be as First Man?" I asked as part of an assignment by Scholastic to write stories about the candidates' kids. "I'm sorry," Chelsea said, "but I can't talk to press, and unfortunately that means you, even though I think you're cute."

An reporter from the AP (Associated Press) overheard our conversation and wrote a story headlined "Chelsea Clinton Snubs 9-year-old Reporter." When I got home that night, the Fox News Channel called. They asked me if I would come and be on their show American Morning. 

The next morning, on the way to the interview, my Aunt Chris called us on the cell phone. "Do you know what they are saying about Sydney and Chelsea?" she asked. "They are running previews on Fox News saying that fourth-grade kid reporter Sydney Rieckhoff gets snubbed by Chelsea Clinton."

My mom told me what was happening and asked me to tell the truth because Chelsea was actually very nice to me. I did not feel snubbed. Even though I am only 9 years old, I am a journalist and that's how she treated me.

"No, she was very nice and she took her picture with me," I told them.

On my way home from Des Moines, the phone began to ring with calls from broadcast, cable news, and radio news shows. The story about me and Chelsea was featured in more than 50 newspapers because it was put on the wire service by the AP and sent around the country. I was also on radio stations. WGN in Chicago named me their "Kid of the Week." Some people thought that by getting "snubbed" I wouldn't want to be a reporter anymore, but it just made me want to be one more. Chelsea Clinton treated me like any other journalist. I felt honored to be included with the mainstream press! And now I know that whether you are the reporter or someone who gets interviewed, you have to be ready for anything. I learned a lot from this experience.

Photo: Robyn Rieckhoff