Mei and Ren turn around in their office chairs to smile at the camera.
(L–R) Ren and Mei run Kid News with only a little bit of help from their mother, who fostered their entrepreneurial spirit and puts proceeds from newspaper sales into their college funds. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros.
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Kid News: DIY Festival Kid Row

By
July 31, 2024

Art

The 16th Annual Craft Lake City DIY Festival Presented By Harmons will feature over 500 local creatives this year, from artisans, vintage vendors and craft foodies to youth entrepreneurs, STEM exhibitors and performers. Get a taste of what’s coming to the Utah State Fairpark this August in the following pages and get tickets to experience it yourself at craftlakecity.com. With a dog park, VIP lounge, a national headlining musician and brand-new DIY Fest After Dark programming, this year’s festival is not to be missed!

Mei and Ren stand in front of a wall covered in the front pages of Kid News.
Mei and Ren’s newspaper includes fun themes, puzzles and unique interviews. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros.

Forget lemonade stands and mowing lawns. Local reporters Mei, age 9, and Ren, age 6, are running a business to amplify the voices of kids like them. As founder and editor-in-chief of Kid News, Mei came up with the newspaper’s motto: “When you’ve got something to say, you’ve got to say it for the world!”

It all started with an old copying machine and a mom who encouraged their entrepreneurial spirit. They create artwork, write jokes, interview people in their community and solicit contributions from other kids. “My funnest [drawing] was probably my Godzilla. He was smashing down cars,” Ren says. There’s always an interactive element, too—quizzes, puzzles, tutorials and surveys.

New editions come out a few times a year, with past themes ranging from travel to Harry Potter to Earth Day. “I did a cars edition one time,” Mei says. “I interviewed some people, and I actually got to go inside a Maserati muscle car. The day after that, I was like, ‘Hey Mom, I’m gonna interview somebody about boats so I can go on a boat.’”

At the DIY Festival, Mei and Ren will be selling packs of old issues and handmade paper cranes. The newest edition will be a fashion newspaper, which includes tutorials on bleaching, cutting and sewing clothes as well as an interview with a seamstress.

Pick up a copy on Saturday, August 10 from 12:00–4:00 p.m. at the festival’s Kid Row or order a digital version at kidnewspaper.org. All of the money from sales is deposited into the kid reporters’ college funds.

Read about more youth entrepreneurs:
Max Crafts: Craft Lake City Kid Row Artisans
Seaside Creations by Sydney: Craft Lake City Kid Row Artisans