A 12-year-old reporter who runs a newspaper in Pennsylvania has delivered the commencement address at West Virginia University's Reed College of Media.

Hilde Kate Lysiak has run the Orange Street News in since 2014 in Selinsgrove, 150 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

She first drew national attention in 2016 when she wrote about a suspected murder in Selinsgrove and ended up having to defend herself after some locals lashed out about a young girl covering violent crimes.

She had a confrontation in February with an Arizona marshal who threatened to arrest her for filming him on duty.

On Friday, Hilde joked that she's sure some in the crowd in Morgantown were wondering why the university couldn't "afford a full grown human" to give the speech.

She went on to share the lessons she's learned in the field and tells graduates to "stay laser focused on the truth."