Children's news show marks 10 years with special

LOS ANGELES -- Linda Ellerbee worked nonstop for two days putting out a special report on the terrorist attacks, then went to work re-editing her 10th anniversary special.

The hourlong program, "Turning Ten: A Nick News Celebration," will now be bookended by stories on the Persian Gulf War and the events of Sept. 11.

"It's kind of like we've come full circle, a circle we never wanted to be in," she says, recalling how she began bringing news to children.

"It started with the Gulf War 10 years ago," the anchor of Nickelodeon cable network's long-running "Nick News With Linda Ellerbee" said by phone from New York.

"Geraldine Laybourne, who was running the network then, called us about three days into the Gulf War and she said, 'I'm terrified for American kids. No one is talking to them. ... I know your company and I know your reporting. Would you put together a special for kids?'

"I said, 'Geri, I don't know anything about producing children's shows,' and she said, 'We don't know anything about producing news; we'll work together."'

Ten years later, Ellerbee is still explaining the news each Sunday at 7:30 p.m to youngsters who tune into a network best known for its nighttime reruns of popular old TV shows and its lighthearted daytime children's programs, including "Rugrats" and "SpongeBob SquarePants."

A recipient of Emmy and Peabody awards for "Nick News," she had finished editing "Turning Ten: A Nick News Celebration" (which airs 7 p.m. Thursday) when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon occurred.

The veteran journalist and former NBC News anchorwoman said her emotions have fluctuated wildly in the tragedy's aftermath, from the adrenaline rush of covering the story to the heartbreaking reality that 11 members of a neighborhood fire station were killed.

Ellerbee, whose home and company, Lucky Duck Productions, are within walking distance of the trade center, chokes up often as she tries to talk about it. She broke down and cried for half an hour, she says, after stopping at the firehouse to pay her respects.