The Nebraska governor, Jim Pillen, is under fire for his dismissal of an investigative article into his family business, saying he didn’t read the piece because the reporter was “from communist China”.
The reporter, 27-year-old Yanqi Xu, said that she was “shocked” by Pillen’s comments concerning her nationality, especially after Pillen’s office did not respond to several requests for comments for Xu’s piece.
“I was just shocked. I didn’t anticipate any comment about me personally,” said Xu. “All this time I really wanted to hear back from the governor, but not for him to make a comment about my background,” she said.
Xu, a reporter with Nebraska’s Flatwater Free Press, wrote an investigative article in September about nitrate levels on hog farms owned by Pillen. She found that water tested at 16 farms had nitrate levels “higher” than the amount “the federal government says is safe to drink”. Higher nitrate levels on the farm also posed a possible contamination risk to other freshwater sources, Xu reported.
Consuming increased levels of nitrate has been linked to several health conditions, including cancer and thyroid disease.
Pillen, a Republican who took office in 2023, was later asked about the article’s findings during a September interview with Nebraska radio station KFAB, the New York Times reported.
When asked to comment on the piece, Pillen responded: “Number one, I didn’t read it and I won’t … Number two, all you’ve got to do is look at the author. [The] author’s from Communist China. What more do you need to know?”
The Guardian reached out to Pillen’s office for comment, but did not hear back.
Xu originally spoke out against Pillen’s comments on social media and thanked other journalists for their support in light of the governor’s remarks.
“Being a reporter, I never wanted to make myself the story. But this time, I thought there’s more at stake than myself,” Xu said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I think about the community I represent and who might find the governor’s comment hurtful.”
Xu said in an interview with the Guardian that she had felt “overwhelmed” by the support and also “uncomfortable”.
“I think the spotlight on me personally can be pretty uncomfortable. As a journalist, I want to be known by other people for my story, and not because of this,” she said.
With the renewed attention on the governor’s remarks, Xu has faced some negative comments, but added that support outnumbers any negativity.
Matt Wynn, executive director of the Flatwater Free Press, condemned the governor’s comments in an article published by the Flatwater on Tuesday.
“Yanqi has been in the United States since 2017. She has lived in four states and Washington DC. This, she said, is the first time anyone has written her off based on her origin. And it was broadcast, over the air, by the governor of Nebraska,” Wynn wrote.
“As an employer, that infuriates me. As a believer in democracy and a free press, it saddens me. As a Nebraskan, it embarrasses me.”
Wynn added that the Flatwater newsroom reached out to Pillen several times for an apology, but the governor never responded.
Wynn also noted that Pillen declined to respond to Xu’s piece before it ran.
Journalists and press advocacy groups have also criticized Pillen’s comments as xenophobic.
The Asian American Journalists Association published a statement in support of Xu to X.
“Journalists play an indispensable role in holding power to account and informing the public,” read the statement.
“Having an independent and diverse press corps is essential to democracy, and Xu deserves to do her job without being judged because of her nationality or where she grew up.”
Xu, who has reported on nitrates in Nebraska since 2017, emphasized the difficulty of reporting on Pillen’s farms.
“It’s a very hard story to do. It’s nuanced. It’s not clearcut. It required a lot of source building and laying everything out,” Xu said.
But she added that such stories were important given Pillen’s ability to change policy as governor.
“The governor has the power to really change public policies that could help us move in the direction of better water quality,” she said.
“We thought it was important to ask those questions, ask the government how he plans to address it,” she said. “I’m proud of the work we did.”
