Meet Local YouTuber Cooper Ray: A Dapper 7-Year-Old Delivering News You Can Use

By Kami-Leigh Agard

Move over Rosanna Scotto! At just seven years old, Cooper Ray Campanella, suited up to the nines in his Nike Air Jordans, is already a budding news reporter, well-tuned into the trending stories not just his peers, but all ages can use. Launched on YouTube just three months ago, The Cooper Ray Show reports on movies, traveling, sports, food, weather—you name it. And what’s even more special—it’s a family affair as his three-year-old sister, Mya, a.k.a. “Tiny Toes,” is the weather girl; mommy, Jessica, the video editor; and dad, Julian, the social media guru.

If you’re not impressed yet, digest that the seven-year-old is already determined to drive his “likes” and subscribers to compete with twenty-seven-year-old YouTube king, MrBeast, who with 395 million followers, has the highest number of subscribers on YouTube. That said, watching each of The Cooper Ray Show YouTube news episodes, you’ll see that this is a young lad, who’s not just aspiring to garner “likes,” and be an influencer, but sincerely aspires to share positive and engaging news—that as pioneering broadcast journalist, Edward R. Murrow, said, “To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful.” And Campanella’s YouTube and Instagram posts emote just that.

Campanella resides in Belle Harbor and attends P.S. 114. Sorry, Mets fans—the second grader is a die-hard NY Yankees fan. When asked who his favorite superheroes in the DC/Marvel universe are, he said, “I usually watch more DC than Marvel because of Batman, but I do love Marvel because I like Spider Man and Green Goblin; also, Wolverine and Deadpool are my favorites,” he said.

Besides being a budding broadcast journalist, Campanella is an aspiring book author, who writes his own stories. “I love math, but reading and writing help me with writing my stories,” he shared.

The Cooper Ray Show debuted on YouTube February 23, spotlighting rapper, Kendrick Lamar’s performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Campanella raved, “I love Kendrick Lamar, and his performance at the Super Bowl was awesome.” He also, gave a thorough breakdown of the new Pokémon trainer box, his trip to Washington D.C., the latest “Dog Man” book, and movie, “Captain America: Brave New World.” And after the episode, like a shrewd marketer, he encouraged viewers to like and subscribe.

Campanella not only reports from his anchor desk, but also hits the streets. In his latest broadcast, Episode 8, he rolled through the streets of downtown Manhattan, visiting his uncle, Tio Ronny, at Village Square Pizza located on Christopher Street. Campanella got his hands doughed up, learning how to make a New York-style pizza. Plus, in the six-minute episode, he reviewed rides at Coney Island’s Luna Park, a movie review of “Lilo and Stitch,” and predicted that in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals face-off: the Indiana Pacers were going to trump the New York Knicks. Then, Mya, a.k.a. “Tiny Toes,” gave the weather report.

For mom, Jessica Campanella, gifting Cooper Ray his very own YouTube Channel has been a gift that keeps on giving.

She shared, “I went to school for journalism. He never knew that, and amazingly, he just naturally picked it up. So, the deal was for Christmas, he would get his own YouTube Channel, but the agreement was that he had to create content that was not garbage.

“We want him to talk about things that other kids could connect about. Each week, we discuss the topics, and amazingly, he does everything unscripted in one take. Cooper Ray just shares his experiences. We do the broadcast every two weeks. So, his experiences, feelings, thoughts—whatever comes to mind—is in each episode. We don’t want to limit him,” Jessica Campanella said. She emphasized, “We want our children to be safe, while having fun.”

When asked why he wanted his own YouTube Channel, Cooper Ray said, “I wanted to do something that’s never been done.

“I see many other YouTube channels with funny and silly videos with unboxing toys or playing games. So, I thought, ‘Why don’t I do a news report that no one’s ever seen. Something new. So, with The Cooper Ray Show, I figured that I would get a lot of likes and subscribers. Plus, I want to inspire kids my age.”

Cooper Ray loves his family. For Mother’s Day, he posted a bloopers video on Instagram. The seven-year-old’s adorable expressions are priceless. Here’s what he posted: “Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms and to the #1 sponsor of The Cooper Ray Show, my mom. She sits through all the good times and the bad, and this blooper reel is proof.”

Cooper Ray looks up to content creator, 27-year-old Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast. Donaldson is one of the most viral and successful YouTubers. How did the twenty-something become the most-followed YouTuber in the world?

In a 2024 interview show, “Diary of a CEO,” Donaldson describes himself as obsessive. He stated that in 2006, at just eight years old, he uploaded his first YouTube video about cheat codes in the video game, “Battle Pirates,” which received 20,000 views.

However, not all kids are just wasting their time on social media. Many are creating engaging content and using different platforms to express themselves. From unboxing videos to family vlogs, Cooper Ray is an influencer and budding journalist, building not just a following, but a positive and creative vibe with his peers.

When asked how he handles peers who may be a bit envious about his show and following, Campanella said, “I have some friends at school that might think that my channel’s fake, and then when they finally see it, they’re jealous. But I’m happy because my family is behind me, and I love what I do. Like preparing for the interview with The Rockaway Times, my mom helped me. I’m confident.”

Mom added, “We clearly speak a lot of confidence into his daily affirmations. We remind him that he’s unique, special and not everyone is going to like you, and that’s okay. You just have to be proud of who you are, be confident in yourself, and be happy. He knows that Mya, daddy and I always support and love him, no matter what.”

Watch The Cooper Ray Show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CooperRayShow or follow: cooperrayshow on Instagram.