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Jane Ripps
Managing Editor, ODYSSEY Media Group
opinion
My journey with editorial writing began at the end of my freshman year when I decided to try writing a web-exclusive op-ed. It was unique from the news writing I had spent my first few months in the program perfectly, and I grew infatuated with the type of personalization and spin I could bring to my pieces.
As Viewpoints Editor my sophomore year (2022-2023), I leaned into this style and embraced my opinions. Although it took some time to find my voice, my columns have become an outlet to report on hard-hitting stories prevalent in my community. Now, as Managing Editor, I carry this same ideology I developed freshman year into my "Boiling Point" column I author every magazine.
columns
Given the fact that 2024 is a presidential election year, I knew immediately I wanted to write my first "Boiling Point" column for our magazine about the possibility of having a female president. Originally, my angle was extremely closed off and I struggled to articulate an argument that wasn't trite. After conferencing with the OMG EIC, though, and interviewing a New York Times political reporter, I gained greater context on Kamala Harris' campaign, and approached the angle in a fact-driven manner.
a new perspective
Following the mass shooting at Apalachee High School on Sept. 4, the OMG EIC and I designated our second magazine to be dedicated to gun control and the effects of school shootings. My sophomore year, I approached a similar topic from the angle of safety and how we could improve measures within our school, and so for this column I wanted to focus specifically on the evolution of the Second Amendment. I interviewed the University of Georgia Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science Alexa Bankert on the significance of the law in our nation today, and created a hard-hitting column packing with conviction and opinion.
Boiling Point
When protesters took to the streets in Atlanta, Georgia, fighting against the new "Cop City" complex, I knew immediately I wanted to write a column about the overfunding for police in our nation. For this story, I spent weeks doing extensive research on the amount of money spent on police departments in my community. This included studying public records as well as interviewing my county's Chief of Police Jerry Saulters.
stopping "cop city"
In Sept. 2023, I wrote my first ever column. This was the first time I ever used my voice in my writing to take a position on an issue, and immensely stuggled with my newsy writing habits. I frontloaded information rather than took a stance on it, and so after conferencing with the EIC, I revised and learned how to use diction and rhetorical questions to get the attention of readers and assert my claim.
Judge Janie
As Viewpoints Editor, I was always looking around for stories at school that I could develop an opinion on. As the end of the year approached, I decided to critique the school safety policies at my school, and examining how effective they really are against intruders. I not only did extensive research on intruders in high schools, but I also polled almost 300 people at my school for data to support my claim. I also paid extra attention to my lead and writing style to communicate the extremity of the situation.
revisiting school safety
online blogs and editorials
I wrote this opinion editorial my freshman year after attending a girls and boys varsity basketball game back-to-back at my high school. I've grown up knowing that fans tend to attend boys sporting events more than girls, but seeing it at my own school hit close to home. I couldn't sit by and accept it, and so I wrote. This was the first editorial I had ever written, and I learned how to use my voice as well as seamlessly tie in statistics to support my claim.
supporting female athletes
As Viewpoints Editor, my job was to gather the opinions of the student body. One day, I went around asking students about Georgia's upcoming gubernatorial election, and almost none of them knew what I was talking about. I wrote this blog/editorial piece about my experiences and what our school needed to do to educate the next generation. This piece pushed me out of my comfort zone because although it was blog format, I incorporated hints of editorial writing to assert my claim.
knowledge is power
When renouned Tennis Player Serena Williams retired, I knew I wanted to write a social commentary about her lasting impact on sports for women. This was the first social commentary I wrote, and it forced me to examine Serena's impact on our society and tie it back to my high school seamlessly through my metaphorical writing.
long live Serena
Following the results of the 2024 Presidential Election, I was overflowing with emotions I didn't know how to express. S0, I decided to write a blog. After having the piece reviewed by members of staff across all grades and backgrounds, I carried the story through various rounds of drafting to make sure I was appealing to all readers regardless of background and experience.
waiting on the world to change
reviews
I don't love writing reviews, but I have learned that the best way to approach them is to write down the ideas I want to highlight before even writing the piece. I wrote this piece about the Netflix series "Never Have I Ever," and I went into writing really focused on talking about its stereotypical plot which shaped my argument.
When Taylor Swift's newest album was released in Oct. 2022, I was really excited. After listening to it, though, I was disappointed at how bland it was. I originally struggled adding my brutually honest opinions, but after revising with my adviser I embraced my voice. I included a Spotify embed to make it more interactive and engaging.
After binging "The Summer I Turned Pretty" Season 2, I immediatley wanted to review it because of how popular the show is among our teenage audience. I struggled with balancing information from the season with my own opinion, because so much happened that I needed to summarize. I worked with our website editor and cut down the summarizing, and focused on critiquing the acting and the unrealistic, yet addicting, plot.
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