Jaden Jefferson is 17 years old and a junior in high school in Toledo. He's also a seasoned reporter, who has interviewed big name politicians like Elizabeth Warren and Tim Walz. And he hosts a weekly podcast called "Behind the Byline" for the Toledo Free Press. Jefferson recently talked to Stateside about how he started his journey as a journalist at just 11 years old, and what he has learned as the youngest reporter in the room.
Jefferson began his reporting career in 2019. His desire to enter the field of journalism stemmed from the significant impact and involvement that local news has had on his life. He said the local news was always on at his house.
“I really just started by taking this camcorder that I had got and was just going around to different community events,” Jefferson said. “Interviewing folks at those events, talking with them and posting those clips to YouTube.”
As Jefferson began attending and documenting city events, he caught the attention of city staff. He started getting invited to press conferences held by the city.
He’d been covering mostly local events and city news. But then, Jefferson got a big break after his interview with Senator Elizabeth Warren went viral.
“Cable news was calling, local news was calling, that was kind of a big year where the rest of the country was kind of introduced to my work,” Jefferson said.
Jefferson leveraged his role as a student journalist to his advantage. He noted that many of the people he interviewed are caught off guard by the questions he poses—questions that would typically be asked by more experienced journalists. According to Jefferson, part of the reason for this is his familiarity with the interviewees, as he researches the topics and background of each interview thoroughly.
“I've been paying attention to what that interviewee has said in the past or what that story has been about,” Jefferson said. “So I'm already familiar with who I'm talking to and as well as the subjects that we're covering in that interview.”
One aspect that makes Jefferson’s work unique is his interviews with elected officials and the subjects he discusses with them. He has learned through his experience as a journalist that it is essential to focus on specific topics to obtain meaningful responses—and sometimes to repeat questions multiple times to get past the talking points.
“The biggest challenge has just become the fact that they are so used to these attack lines being so effective with the audience and with voters,” Jefferson said. “That when it comes to an actual interview, they're just regurgitating talking points.”
Through his determination, Jefferson has worked to uncover the real answers that people seek. According to Jefferson, it is his responsibility to challenge the people in power to provide the answers that people need.
“I just want to continue to go down that route of diving deeper into topics and just kind of helping us progress forward as a society,” Jefferson said. “Because the more we know, the better we can do, and so that's kind of my aim at the end of the day.”
Hear the full conversation with Jaden Jefferson on the Stateside podcast.
