By Siya Gauri Singh
In an era overflowing with adult opinions, algorithms, and headlines, there’s something radical about hearing from young writers.
Those between twelve and twenty-five sit at a fascinating intersection — young enough to see the world with curiosity and urgency, yet aware enough to question the systems that shape it. When given a platform, their words don’t just add to the noise; they challenge it. With honesty, insight and perspective.
Modern media has long struggled with one thing: representation that truly reflects the diversity of lived experience. Youth voices are often tokenised or confined to the margins — reduced to ‘the future’ rather than recognised as active participants in the present. But young people are not waiting to inherit the world; they are already shaping it. From student journalists uncovering social inequities to teen columnists questioning political complacency, youth writers are reconfiguring what storytelling can be: sharper, braver, and more connected to the real pace of change.
Encouraging young writers in mainstream journalism isn’t just an act of inclusion — it’s a necessity for relevance. The issues that dominate today’s headlines — climate change, gender equality, housing, identity — are lived realities for young people, not distant policy debates. They bring an honesty and immediacy that can’t be replicated by second-hand observation. In a newsroom, their perspective becomes the pulse check that ensures journalism remains not just informed, but human.
The argument that young writers lack experience misses the point. They bring a different kind of expertise: an unfiltered awareness of what it means to grow up in an age of uncertainty, rapid change, and digital saturation. They understand how online narratives shape offline realities, how representation affects mental health, and how language itself evolves across generations.
When mainstream publications open their doors to youth writers, they’re not just diversifying their contributor list or doing ‘charity’— they’re preserving their own future. Encouraging young voices doesn’t dilute journalistic integrity; it revitalises it. It ensures that news remains anchored in empathy, innovation, and authenticity — values often lost in the rush for clicks.
So, here’s the challenge for media institutions: stop speaking about young people and start speaking with them. Publish their essays, fund their internships, trust their ideas. Because the next generation of journalists isn’t waiting to be discovered — they’re already writing, questioning, and reshaping the world, one story at a time.
If you are aged between 12 and 25 years of age and have a story to tell, reach out to our editors to have your work published in The Westsider:
Ksenia Kurenysheva kseniakurenysheva@gmail.com
Siya Gauri Singh siya.gauri.singh@gmail.com
