Only a week ago 11-year-old multimedia journalist Jaden Jefferson, the Maumee Valley Country Day sixth grader with big media aspirations, was in Los Angeles as a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The show paid for Jaden and his father, mother, brother, and grandmother to fly to Los Angeles, put them up in a hotel for three days, and scheduled his appearance on the same taping as Brad Pitt and Naomi Osaka, a top-ranked tennis player.
As if meeting the popular talk show host, A-list Hollywood celebrity, and sports star wasn't enough, Jaden also received this big surprise gift: $10,000 worth of film equipment, courtesy of Ms. DeGeneres and Shutterfly.
"I got you something because our friends at Shutterfly love what you're doing," Ms. DeGeneres told Jaden before the big reveal, "and they want to make sure that your grandma [Gloria Allen, who drives him to his news assignments] and you continue your work as a journalist."
The South Toledoan was flabbergasted and nearly in tears as the equipment was wheeled onstage.
"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Jaden said. "This is unexpected."
It was a moving moment that had some in the audience in tears. And even after the episode aired locally on Friday afternoon on WTVG-TV, Channel 13, Jaden, fresh from a visit to that station, was still processing the whirlwind trip and everything that came with it.
But for those things that haven't arrived just yet -- the video equipment -- he has exact plans: A big improvement to his reporting of area news, entertainment, and sports on his YouTube channel, Jaden Reports NOW.
"Before I didn't really have the equipment to do everything" he said, "but now I can do everything and I will do everything, like covering the debate in western Ohio."
No, Jaden is not a typical 11 year old. And that's what makes him special, said his mom, Lynnell Jefferson.
"People are amazed at him," she said, including his preternatural drive and industry awareness that, for example, got him one-on-one access to Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren earlier this summer when she was stumping in Toledo. "But we've been saying and seeing the same things since he could talk."
It has been an amazing few months for Jaden, beginning with a run of local coverage, including The Blade, that has since exploded as his feel-good story was picked up and covered by CNN, CBS News, the Washington Post, and MSNBC, and spurred increasing social media interest. Jaden's interview with Ms. Warren on YouTube has 16,000 views, and he has nearly 22,000 followers on Twitter, including Reese Witherspoon, whom he and his family met backstage during The Ellen DeGeneres Show taping.
"She was like your nice neighbor next door," Jaden said. "She was a nice person to talk to."
Mr. Pitt and Ms. Osaka were nice as well. He interviewed both backstage, with the help of the show's producers, crew, and equipment, and said he hopes to have the videos posted soon.
"Brad gave pretty good answers," Jaden said, "and Osaka was not as long-winded as Brad" with her replies.
It was meeting Ms. DeGeneres, though, that got him "starstruck."
"Seeing someone I've been watching a lot of my life, to meet someone so funny and talented ... I was in total shock when I walked out onstage."
Jaden also was a little verklempt -- to the point that Ms. DeGeneres jokingly reminded him, "You're a reporter. You have to keep it together."
But those tears were real, said his father, James Jefferson, and also contagious.
"As soon as he started crying, I started crying, his mom started crying, everybody in the audience started crying," he said. "It just shows everybody that he really is 11."
To be on the show, Jaden had to miss two days of school. He said he was OK with that. As for what his friends think of him as a reporter-turned celebrity, Jaden said they were curious about what Ms. DeGeneres was like (she was exceptionally nice) and whether she gave him a "million-dollar check?”
She didn't. But showing that he already appreciates the value of a strong quote to end a news story, Jaden enthusiastically added: "But she did give me $10,000 worth of new equipment."
First Published September 13, 2019, 5:59 p.m.
