Dear Reader,

I’m excited to announce that The Xylom, in collaboration with Floodlight, Drilled, and Deceleration, has won a 2026 Online Journalism Award for Excellence in Science Reporting.

Four years ago, while riding on a small boat with fellow journalists on the #SEJ2022 Post-Conference Tour along the South Texas Coast, hosted by the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources, I never would have thought we would outcompete ProPublica and Scientific American for a global journalism prize.

And here we are.

This is what one of the judges, Andrei Savenkov, wrote about our series, ‘All Hell Breaks Loose’: How Big Oil Ruined a Small Texas Town,

Micronewsrooms keep my faith in the future of journalism despite the year of extreme hardships and job cuts in the industry. […]

A story that touched my heart the most is the investigation that young reporter Alex Ip launched as a student into the impact of booming U.S. crude oil exports on a small town in Texas and the lack of monitoring for toxic chemical risks.

He applied his empathy and environmental engineering degree to the story that ultimately outshined even some of the most decorated and biggest newsrooms in the U.S.

The Xylom is an independent, non-profit, worker-run news outlet with no corporate backers, two full-time staff, and a microscopic budget of $165,450. We still took on Koch Industries, two of Canada’s largest oil and gas companies, and Texas's regulatory agency. We know we can make an even bigger difference if we have a steady source of revenue to budget for more long-term investigative projects like this one, and we need your help.

Our 2026-27 fiscal year begins on October 1st; despite political and financial headwinds, we aim to raise 60-70% of our revenue (or roughly $100,000) from readers like you. If you value the impact of our public service journalism, will you please make a tax-deductible gift to keep us going?

Thank you for believing in what we can do — together. Every dollar counts!

Best regards,
Alex Ip
Publisher and Editor

^{P.S. Share your support by forwarding this email and telling your friends and family to support The Xylom!}