Editor-in-Chief Alex Ip will return as Publisher and Editor in October following a sabbatical
I’ve got big news to share: Rhysea Agrawal will be returning to The Xylom as our new Managing Editor. She will lead the newsroom as I take a sabbatical from August 28th until October 7th.
Born in India, Rhysea graduated from the University of Southern California with three degrees, blending mastery of geological science knowledge with impeccable use of language and journalistic rigor. Combined with her experience in student newsroom leadership as Founding Editor of USC Annenberg Media’s Earth Desk, she was our perfect Employee #1 as The Xylom’s inaugural Newsroom Fellow. In just four months, she already shared a Silver Prize for News & Journalism, Sustainability, Environment, & Climate at The 3rd Annual Anthem Awards.
One year later, she is more than prepared for a bigger role.
“As Managing Editor, I plan to help The Xylom grow bigger and expand our mission through more stories focused on communities of color around the world,” Rhysea says. “My main priority will always be to support our writers so they can continue to do important work, especially at a time when democracy and journalism are in peril.”
Meanwhile, I will take time off from The Xylom for the first time since our founding in 2018 as a small student science blog. Now the only Asian American science newsroom in the United States, we’ve grown an award-winning, diverse, and international roster of contributors; published in multiple languages; have been read by hundreds of thousands around the world; and was named a newsroom to watch in Nieman Lab’s Predictions for Journalism. I even won an Atlanta Press Club Rising Star Award.
However, as anyone who has been part of a student newspaper can tell you, being an international STEM student while moonlighting as a volunteer editor for six years is challenging. As I wrap up my time at the MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing and wait for my work permit, this is a good time to rest, distill, and reset. I am moving back to Atlanta at the end of August to be closer to the people, places, and issues I deeply care about. I also hope to see my friends and family in Asia during my sabbatical.
But don’t fret: thanks to new funding from the Google News Initiative, I am returning as The Xylom’s Publisher and Editor in early October. My new position delineates a shift into a paid organizational leadership role, being more responsible for engaging major donors, building out our newsroom (you will hear from us soon!), and strategic planning. All of this would not have been possible without the support and mentorship from the Institute for Nonprofit News Emerging Leaders Council, Amy Kovac-Ashley, and Jen Fenwick.
As you all know, this is a pivotal time for journalism: fewer than 100 days before the November elections! To succeed, we must continue to improve the reach of our journalism so that we grow science with words. Our work must be in-depth, accurate, and nuanced. We must be relentlessly focused on being relevant to the lives of Asian Americans and other marginalized groups in science, health, environment, and climate. And we must stay ahead of the increased adoption of AI in journalism. I’m looking forward to working with Rhysea, along with our Advisory Board and our Fiscal Sponsor Alternative Newsweekly Foundation, on this and other important work.
Rhysea starts this week, representing The Xylom at the 2024 AAJA Convention and Nonprofit Leaders Summit in Austin, Texas. Please join me in welcoming her to her new role!
Awesome Alex, rooting for you!