West Side Tori's

West Side Tori's is a newspaper by and for young Westsiders. The project was developed in collaboration with Jaleesa Clows, cultural entrepreneur and Nieuw-Westsider. Together, they are creating a programme in which children from Amsterdam Nieuw-West can share their own stories, interests and perspectives with the city.

From interviews and fashion reports to recipes, sports stories, puzzles and art routes through the neighbourhood: the content is based on what the pupils themselves find important. They work on their own newspaper at school for several weeks. They learn how to interview, photograph, write and edit, and investigate what is newsworthy, who they want to talk to and how they can convey their story clearly.

Since the first edition in 2022, created with the Huiberschool, West Side Tori's has grown into a recurring project in Nieuw-West. The second edition (2024) was realised with OBS De Toekomst. In 2025, Year 8 of the Burgemeester de Vlugtschool worked on the third edition for seven weeks. With a total circulation of 5,749 copies, distributed through schools, OBA locations and the Westerpost, the newspaper reached a wide audience in the neighbourhood.

With West Side Tori's, children are given the space to make editorial choices and work from their own perspective. They determine the topics, choose their angle and formulate their questions, guided by creators and professionals in the city. As one pupil put it at the launch: it felt special ‘to bring something positive into the world’.

With each edition, the network of schools, creators and cultural partners in Nieuw-West grows. West Side Tori's shows how journalism, art and education can come together in a publication that is rooted in the neighbourhood and supported by the children themselves.

This project is made possible by Cultuurfonds Noord-Holland.