Laasya Shekhar Named The Xylom’s Next Managing Editor
We're launching a fundraiser to help hire her full-time.
Dear Reader,
I have some important news to share: Rhysea Agrawal will be departing our newsroom to return to academia at the end of the month.
Rhysea started as a part-time Newsroom Fellow in September 2023 and was promoted to part-time Managing Editor in 2024. In just under two years, our readership has quadrupled, our team expanded to four people, and we snagged our first major journalism awards and press coverage.
It’s never easy being Employee #1, but Rhysea has gone above and beyond to set the culture of our newsroom; she is firm yet nimble, creative while caring towards our staff and contributors. However, this is much less a “goodbye” than a “see you around”: Rhysea will be joining our Advisory Board after transitioning out of the newsroom.
One of our contributors is ready to step into the role of Managing Editor: Laasya Shekhar is a familiar face to those who have followed our accountability and solutions coverage in Southern India; behind-the-scenes, she has also been a freelance editor and fact-checker for us.
Based in Chennai, India, Laasya is a veteran of two venerable local independent news outlets, Citizen Matters and Newslaundry. As a freelancer, she also has bylines with a who’s who of international publications such as the BBC, Thomson Reuters, Nature, Dialogue Earth, and Mongabay India.
Laasya joins The Xylom at a time when the U.S. and India are both seeing assaults on democracy, environmental health, and press freedom. To meet the moment, we are launching a fundraiser with a goal of $25,200 by September 8th to fully fund her position.
As the full-time Managing Editor, Laasya will be managing day-to-day editorial matters, including our entire roster of freelancers. She has set a lofty goal of publishing 12 stories a month — tripling our production at the start of the year.
“The Xylom saw potential in stories that no one else did,” Laasya said. “In my new role, I aspire to focus on cross-border, investigative, environmental reportage, streamline publishing and draw content strategy”.
Laasya will start work on September 2, after Labor Day; however, she will be joining us for a virtual meet-and-greet with readers on August 27th 11am ET to fully articulate her vision for The Xylom. She will also use this time to take questions, tips, and suggestions from you as well.
All proceeds of this Pay-What-You-Wish, ticketed event go towards our fundraiser.
Please join me in thanking Rhysea for her service and welcoming Laasya to the newsroom!
With gratitude,
Alex Ip
Publisher and Editor,
The Xylom
P.S. Please forward this email or share your support. Every dollar counts!