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She will oversee The Xylom’s departure from X, develop strategies to reach new audiences, and report on the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine
I’ll get straight to the point: The Xylom will no longer post on the social media site X (formerly Twitter.)
We had taken a hiatus from Twitter in late 2022 to assess the digital landscape after the site’s sale to Elon Musk; we returned in Spring 2023 in response to Atlanta-area reader demand for environmental accountability journalism. Our award-winning “Cop City” reporting and ongoing MARTA coverage have filled important news gaps for concerned residents and decision-makers.
The increasing toxicity of X, particularly xenophobic harassment directed at our staff and the disturbing content being platformed, makes it no longer worth devoting resources. As our colleagues at The Guardian explain,
“X users will still be able to share our articles, and the nature of live news reporting means we will still occasionally embed content from X within our article pages. Our reporters will also be able to carry on using the site for news-gathering purposes, just as they use other social networks in which we do not officially engage.”
So what’s next for The Xylom, now that we are stepping away from one of the largest social media sites? Taking a page from our peers at ProPublica, we need someone who could “find and reach the people actually impacted by our reporting, get them to inform our work, and be a central player in the storytelling on all other platforms to maximize the impact of the project.”
This is why we’ve brought on Aorui Pi as our Engagement Editor and Public Health Writer: As a 2024 Elections audience engagement editor for Initium Media, with previous stops at the Peking Hotel podcast, Radii.co, and other Chinese American news outlets, Aorui brings years of bilingual journalism experience that allows her to break down complex issues and serve audiences neglected by legacy media coverage.
“The Xylom stands out for its commitment to amplifying voices from diverse backgrounds in science,” says Aorui. “I’m thrilled to join The Xylom, where I can bring nuanced storytelling to the forefront of science journalism for the AAPI community.”
Working under Managing Editor Rhysea Agrawal, Aorui will be involved from the very beginning of story conception to think about what communities and audiences we need to reach and how we make stories accessible to them, all the way through to story publication and beyond. This involves everything from researching audience habits to listening for signals from our communities and developing creative vertical video content that readers find informative. In return, this helps me build intentional relationships with reporting partners and core supporters.
This new frontier for The Xylom couldn't have come at a more critical time: preliminary results from the 2024 Election showed large dissatisfaction and swings among Gen-Z and Asian Americans. Disinformation echo chambers that popped up during the COVID-19 pandemic have persisted through the election. Moving on, The Xylom aims to build bridges and break barriers using Traditional Chinese Medicine coverage as a testing ground.
Acupuncture, kombucha, and even kudzu all have their origins in Traditional Chinese Medicine. However, their accessibility, safety, regulation, and unintended consequences are a black box. Further uncertainty is introduced by the incoming administration’s proposed policies impacting healthcare, global tariffs, and Asia-Pacific relations.
“Traditional Chinese medicine is rich with knowledge and history, yet it often goes misunderstood or overlooked. I’m excited to help bridge that gap and deepen our readers’ understanding of these traditions through a science-based perspective,” says Aorui. “I’m eager to spotlight issues affecting the Chinese community in public health, from cultural practices to healthcare access, and explore how these narratives contribute to a broader, inclusive understanding of wellness.”
Aorui started on November 1st and is based in Los Angeles. Entering a second Trump presidency, Aorui is developing strategies to maintain our newsroom’s trusted, friendly, nuanced presence in a post-truth, exhausting, uncertain digital landscape.
Thankfully, our newsroom does not depend on the whims of social media algorithms — we are a nonprofit news outlet funded by our readers. In fact, from now until the end of the year, our “I'd rather pay $8/month to nonprofit news than to a billionaire” sustainer tier will be matched 36 times via NewsMatch! Help support our engagement journalism that gets the story right and makes a difference.
