AsAmNews, a digital news platform founded by veteran journalist Randall Yip in 2012, proudly announces its partnership with the URL Media Network, reinforcing its commitment to providing fair and accurate coverage of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities in the United States.

“We are excited to join forces with such an esteemed group of news organizations,” says founder and editor Yip. “The possibilities are endless as we work to join forces across cultures and identities.” 

AsAmNews began as an all-volunteer organization nearly a decade ago and has evolved into a vital news source for one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the U.S. In May 2022, during a surge in anti-Asian hate, AsAmNews secured a grant from California and the California Library Commission under the anti-Asian hate initiative, marking a pivotal moment in its evolution.

Joining the URL Media Network, AsAmNews aligns with like-minded organizations dedicated to producing impactful journalism across diverse communities. 

“We are thrilled to welcome AsAm News as the 27th media organization to join the URL Media Network,” says Lomax. “Their comprehensive coverage of the Asian American experience provides culturally relevant news, information and insights that show the diversity and dynamism within these communities.”

As of March 2022, the news site boasts over seven million page views and six million unique users, with a strong readership in key states, such as California, New York, Texas, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Washington, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Coming into 2023, AsAmNews projected a 155% growth rate in page views from the past five years. AsAmNews readers’ are also diverse in age with nearly half between the ages of 18 to 44.

Its accolades include recognition as one of the top 10 news sources for Asian Americans by Cision in 2021, and in May 2022 AsAmNews received the Torch Award from the National Association of Asian Pacifics in Politics and Public Affairs.

AsAmNews join URL Media partners Luz Media, Trenton Journal, Black Voice News, Documented, Epicenter-NYC, Native News Online, Prism, Our Body Politic, Outlier Media, palabra., Immigrantly, The Oklahoma Eagle, Sahan Journal, PushBlack, Pulso, Scalawag, ScrollStack, TBN24, La Noticia, The Haitian Times, Watch The Yard, Latina to Latina, How to Talk to [High Achievers] about Anything, and How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything, Black Girl Times and WURD Radio.

Ariam Alula (how to say it) is URL Media’s first audience manager. She works closely with URL Media’s Editorial Director and leads the network’s social and newsletter content while further developing and executing the brand’s strategic audience goals. Alula who was born and raised in The Bronx had this to say about her work upon joining the network in the fall of 2022.

“I'm committed to helping our audience understand how issues in their own backyard impact other BIPOC communities. Also, I believe that our network's content amplification and original reporting should fully reflect and affirm the customs and cultural norms of our multicultural, multidisciplinary, and geographically diverse audiences. As BIPOC communities have and continue to be grossly misrepresented by the mainstream media, this part of the work can’t be overstated. Also growing up as a child of immigrants, community is an integral part of my identity, and it's something I bring to URL Media every day.”

Before joining the network, Alula sharpened her range of skills and interests in newsletter curation and editing, audience strategy and research, and measuring and tracking impact. In recent years Alula has worked for many organizations in the journalism support space, such as Coda Story while based in the Republic of Georgia and U.S.-based organizations like the Institute for Nonprofit News, the Public Square Team at Democracy Fund, Online News Association and Women Do News. She has also written for the American Press Institute’s Need to Know newsletter.

Alula is also a proud graduate of the engagement journalism program at the Craig Newmark Journalism School at the City University of New York, where she spent 16 long, insightful and experimental months working with family caregivers of people with autism in New York City.