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High school student handles "Hollywood"

December 15, 2010|By Karl Man | KWCH 12 Eyewitness News

(BELOIT,Kan.) — He has hundreds of “Twitter” followers and has interviewed numerous celebrities. The catch; he's not a Hollywood journalist -- rather a student at Beloit High School.

It all starts during Mrs. Dean’s fourth period journalism class. During that time students are assigned to assemble the “Trojan Times”, the student newspaper. Heading the feature section is junior Eric Pahls.

"I’ve learned to ask follow up questions and that’s a big thing for me instead of just going down the list and asking the next question," says Pahls.  

The follow up question for Eric, what makes his column in the school paper so special?

"I interviewed Larry King and the month after that Gene Simmons," Pahls answered.

From icons of rock and roll, to the media giants, Eric Pahls somehow finds a way to get their interviews into the “Trojan Times”.

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"I think that is what helps me get the interviews is that it’s just a high school paper in the middle of Kansas in the middle of nowhere," says Pahls.

This “prodigy” of print knew he did not have the credentials to get to the celebrities.

"I cannot go through their public relations people because they may play along with it while you are on the phone...but after that...that’s it."

 So he used the power of “Twitter” to land the big names.

"They are all just so different, Larry King was more “matter of fact”, and Gene Simmons was more informative," added Pahls.  

Pahls says he’s eyeing Sarah Palin or John McCain for his next big interview. other interviews that Pahls has landed include Joe Perry of the rock band “Aerosmith”, and Leah Remini of the CBS show "The Talk”.                                                    

Pahls says he plans on attending college and would like to enter the world of broadcast journalism.

Follow Eric on Twitter: ericpahls

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