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Jane Ripps
Managing Editor, ODYSSEY Media Group
social media
In Spring 2022 (my freshman year on staff), I was the Social Media Coordinator. Before I stepped into this position, I was terrified of interviewing and was unfamiliar with the fast-paced nature of the content our social media demands.
With over 4,000 followers across all platforms, being in charge of social media content production taught me about keeping our audience engaged and telling a story in short yet effective quote -- lessons I still carry with me today.
scenes
When the Future Farmer's of America celebrated their accomplishments, I had to work fast to get a SCENE up asap. I became really good at writing them in only a few minutes, and then texting editors for edits. This story only took a few hours for me to post and taught me how to work fast to get news up.
In April of 2022, a University of Georgia Journalism student came to talk to the ODYSSEY. I had to do an on the spot interview and find the "gold nugget" of the story. This short SCENE really helped me grow as an interviewer and get practice using followup
questions.
Similar to the FFA SCENE above, I had to work fast on this story after a few students were recognized in a state-wide Leadership and Skills competition. I wrote the caption and the sent over text to some editors for feedback. It went up later that day on Instagram and got almost 200 likes.
As the end of the 2021-22 school year approached, I interviewed a Senior on staff to commemorate their time in the program. This SCENE was more personal to me because I had to write it about someone I already knew really well, and so I tried my best to capture her journey in the caption.
When sports began in the Spring of 2022, I had to cover upcoming matches, meets and games. When the girls varsity tennis team made it to the state playoffs, I immediately set up an interview with a senior on the team to post on our Instagram. I got the information up fast for followers.
instagram stories
On-the-scene updates and coverage is vital on our social media, especially for big events. These are only two of the dozens of stories I posted on site at our 2022 Prom. I tried to add emojis and hashtags to interest high school students and make it fun. These got over 1,000 views each.
Every Tuesday I would post trivia segments for followers to participate in. Most of the time it is centered around educating participants in relevant topics. Trivia Tuesdays required me to be informed on current news and has taught me the versatility news outlets need to have to keep viewers engaged.
breaking news
Social Media is the first place we publish breaking news. During my time as SM Coordinator, this included a lot of sports and end-of-year announcements. Above, I have spotlighted a chain of Breaking News posts I created and published following the state track meet in 2022. I have to reach out to stakeholders as soon as I heard the news and get a quote from the source to share with readers.
In Jan. 2024, my school's principal was announced the Southern Interscholastic Press Association Administrator of the Year. I jumped on the press release, culminating in the creation of this Breaking News graphic for our social media. I designed it on Canva, using a variety of engaging photos and quotes to keep viewers engaged. Click the button below to read the full Breaking News on the website.
SM packages
During the month of March, which is Women's History Month, I spotlighted various women at my high school, asking them one common question: What do female educators bring to Clarke Central High School? The captions aren't full SCENES, but rather quotes answering the question displayed on the graphic. They diversified our content and took a relevant stance on a popular month. Click the button below to see my more content from the WHM package on SM!
website
Throughout my time on staff, producing content for our website has allowed me to explore multimedia and experience the rigorous nature of producing timely content.
I have learned a lot about making edits fast on timely pieces, as well as found ways to incorporate eye-catching slideshows and infographics to draw audiences in and keep them scrolling. Below, I have included stories with elements that keep readers engaged, as well as event coverages and timely pieces that required a quick turn around on my end in regards to making timely edits and revisions.
Q&As
homegrown olympian
Local Athenian Graham Blanks, who is a runner at Harvard University, competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Because he grew up running in my hometown, I took advantage of his return home to conduct a Q&A with him. We discussed his time running in Athens, his time at Harvard, his experiences at the Olympics, and what his plans are for the future. The story was extremely relevant and gained much attention on Social Media.
where it all began
Peter Dale is a restaurant owner in my city, and in April of 2023, he purchased one of the most popular dinner locations. When I learned this news, I immediately reached out to see if I could snag an interview with him. His career began at this said restaurant, and so we explored his career, what this purchase meant to him, and what his vision is for the future.
event coverage
When award-winning Poet Natasha Trethewey came to my high school, I volunteered to write an event coverage. This was the first event coverage I had ever written, and I had to write the story that day. This piece taught me a lot about being efficient and creating a quality story in not a lot of time.
In the Fall of 2021, when I was a Sports Staffer, I attended a lot of sporting events to cover them. A lot of my pieces didn't get published because I was very new to the section, but this was the first game coverage I wrote that went up. To say there was a lot of edits would be an understatement, but this story really set the groundwork for future coverages I ended up writing. Like my event coverage above, I stayed up really late that night so it could be published the next morning.
immersive multimedia
To celebrate Women's History Month in March, I created an interactive slideshow of five women I thought should be recognized. I did extensive research on each woman, and I used Canva to design an appealing multimedia element. By including these short blurbs, I made the graphic digestive for readers.
At the end of my freshman year, I wrote an editorial about the disparities between viewership of men and women sporting events. I had taken photos at a basketball game earlier that January, and I used Knight Lab to create a juxtaposition between the crowds as the girls varsity basketball game vs. the boys. This was my first juxtaposition I made, and by placing the images side by side the proof of the disparities is undeniable. Click the link to see it fully packaged on the website!
For our second issue of our magazine in the fall of my sophomore year I wrote an editorial about fashion at my high school. For multimedia, I compiled photos a photographer on staff helped me take and organized them into a slideshow. All of these photos show the diverse styles at my school, and how unique each student is. I chose each photo to showcase different elements of outfit and avoid repetition. Click the link to see it fully packaged on the website!
At my high school, we have a very unique Spanish teacher that all the students know. I was curious about her story, and so I wrote a 300-word stylized profile on her. She told me of her travels around the world, and how she grew up dreaming of this lifestyle. For my multimedia elements, I wanted to visually communicate to the reader of her travels, and so I created an interactive google map. Click the link to see if fully packaged on the website!
presenting
In Oct. 2024, the OMG EIC and I set out to create a presentation on convergence content and storytelling in different forms. As a convergence program, we have to think about the various ways a story needs to be told -- not just in the magazine. Throughout the slideshow, we compiled different ways a reader can "enter" a story. This includes layouts, social media promotion, photography, and immersive multimedia. We presented this the Georgia Scholastic Press Association Fall Conference and the National Scholastic Press Association conference in Nov. 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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