North Franklin 5-year-old’s newscast spreads positivity
Courtesy of Omar Brooks
Zaida Brooks, 5, and her little sister Waverly, pose with camera equipment after wrapping up a recording session of the kindergartener’s show, “Zaida’s Positive News.”
Courtesy of Omar Brooks
Zaida Brooks, 5, works behind the camera during production of her online newscast, “Zaida’s Positive News,” which features new episodes every Monday on her Facebook and Instagram accounts.
At 5 years old, Zaida Brooks, of North Franklin Township, has a very important job.
She’s the host of her own show, “Zaida’s Positive News,” which features new interviews every Monday on her Instagram TV account and on Facebook. During her inspirational newscast, Zaida asks the most important question in 2020: “Why is staying positive important?”
So far, she’s heard many different answers from the folks she’s interviewed on the show, including recently crowned Mrs. Pennsylvania Catherine Clemons Sloane, Boyz II Men singer Wayna Morris and Disney Channel stars Ramon Reed and McKale Jude Bingham.
“Well, there’s so much negativity going on in the world today that we need positivity,” Morris said in his interview, that he submitted for Zaida’s newscast.
That’s exactly why Zaida and her father, Omar Brooks, began the show – to spread positivity, especially during a year that’s seemingly filled with bad news.
“The entire vision was to try to be a five-minute distraction from politics and outside negative news,” said Brooks, who shoots and edits Zaida’s show. “We can’t cover all the positive news, but if we can just share one story each week to brighten someone’s day, then that’s what we want to do.”
Zaida and her father started shooting videos in June as a means for Zaida to connect with her grandmothers during the height of social distancing and the COVID-19 pandemic. He quickly learned his daughter had a knack for it.
“She likes the camera – we don’t force her to get in front of it,” Brooks said in a recent interview.
She watches YouTube stars and always likes to record her own videos, he said.
“These kids are locked on to YouTube, watching other kids do things, and I said, ‘Zaida, you could do this,'” Brooks said.
He reached out to celebrities on the app Cameo, and sent them a list of Zaida’s interview questions. The first interview returned to her for her news show was from Clemons Sloane, of Claysville. Zaida asked her about becoming Mrs. Pennsylvania, about her heroes and about staying positive.
Clemons Sloane, who’s platform has been opening communication and breaking stigma around mental illness, said staying positive is good for one’s health.
“Staying positive can really keep you on track to achieve your goals,” she said in the interview.
The show’s introduction features a newscast look, with the kindergarten student typing on an old typewriter. The interview starts when Zaida says, “Let’s get right to it, guys.”
Brooks edits together Zaida’s questions and the submitted responses from celebrities.
“I think it’s so cool,” Bingham, who starred in the Disney show “Bunk’d,” said in the interview she submitted. “I don’t know any other 5-year-old doing something so awesome and uplifting, and I can’t wait to see where this takes you as well as life.”
Brooks said Zaida’s viewers – which is a fast-growing audience – have also expressed that they’re impressed with her mission.
“The best thing I like about the video segments is the comments,” Brooks said. “People are saying it’s the best part of their Monday.”
Zaida’s Positive News episodes can be found on her Instagram, at www.instagram.com/zaida_positive_news or on her Twitter, at @ZaidaMarie5. Anyone interested in being on the show or in sending some positive news stories can contact Zaida and Brooks at zaidapositivenews@yahoo.com.