EDITING
EDITING
Natalie Ripps
Champion Journalist Portfolio
OPINION
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Home of the hip-hop
Athens is commonly known for its flourishing music scene of alternative and rock bands. However, with the exclusion of other genres such as hip hop and rap, this scene fails to truly represent and embrace the unique culture and background of all Athens residents. In this piece, I was able to interview hip hop artists and advocates within the community in order to bring attention to the previous negligence of this genre in Athens, as well as its history and cultural significance. This is one of my favorite stories that I have ever written, because I was able to speak to such passionate people and compose to amplify their voice.
Calling out cancel culture
With the share of a post, tweet or hashtag, an entire career, friendship or reputation could be ruined. However, this isn’t the best way for the public to address celebrities’ mistakes. In this article, I delved into the in's and out's of "cancel culture" through researching various celebrity's past mistakes and searched for a suitable solution when addressing these mistakes: proper acknowledgement, communication and depending on the scenario, consequences.
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The caffeine craze
“The caffeine craze” was the first column I wrote as Variety Editor with the OMG. The story was about the negative effects of large amounts of caffeine and why students should not rely on it for function. I had little experience writing editorial-styled pieces and was not comfortable with it at all. I struggled with what to write about, how to write it and how to properly execute my opinion. However, as I began outlining, it came somewhat naturally. I learned the basic formatting to the style, including introductions, anecdotes, viable statistics and even including an interview. Upon completion, I felt like I had a voice and newfound confidence with column writing.
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Recognizing religion
“Recognizing religion” was the second column I wrote as Variety Editor with the OMG. Because the magazine was created and released around the holiday season, I decided to write about an issue that was important to me, which I had experienced for years first-hand as a Jewish student. With so much attention set on Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter, students who celebrate other holidays are almost always overlooked. This was my favorite story to write. I was given the opportunity to bring attention to a real issue in the school and write with passion. I learned to use ethos, or my credibility as a student who has experienced it, to validate my point and make it more of a blog-styled column. Upon the publishing of this piece, multiple people in the community reached out to me with positive feedback. It made me feel glad that I was informing the community.
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“To all the boys” review
Reviews have not always been my strongest style of writing, so when I seized the opportunity to improve on my skills through a review of Netflix's original movie "To All the Boys I've Loved Before", I developed a stronger understanding of review writing. This ended up going in the magazine’s cultural buzz and inspired me to continue doing reviews on music, food and other pop culture things.