The first Issue of Orbital this university year is out! In a Uni update in September I announced that I was appointed Head Opinion Editor for RHUL’s largest student publication, The Orbital. It has been great working with all the lovely people there and getting a great group of contributors and writers together for the section.
What is The Orbital Magazine?
Orbital is the largest student publication at Royal Holloway University of London, and the official magazine of the students union. It’s targeted at students but is available to the wider community as well. Issues are printed bimonthly with online articles published in-between. We have sections that cover creative writing, sport, lifestyle, books, news… a wide range of topics to suit the varied mainly student readership.
What does an Opinion Editor do?
My role as the Head Opinion editor is to write articles, come up with ideas for our contributors, recruit and manage writers and edit and select articles for publication. The Opinion (or sometimes referred to as Comment) section covers a broad range of subjects usually focusing on what is current at the time. The articles in this section are afforded much more of a deep dive into its subject matter than some of the other sections can. My aim in this role is to try and limit the sensationalism and provide journalism that considers as many sides of the argument as possible so that readers can make up their own minds about a subject. Of course opinions are required to fit the guidelines of the heading in an Opinion section but the writing can be well researched and have a nuance and a consideration to it.
Writing about the Success’s of Extinction Rebellion and the Reclaim Party…
For our autumn release I wrote about How successful Extinction Rebellion has been at creating long lasting change in terms of public policy on climate change and wider public engagement, alongside an interview with an XR protestor to see his ‘inside’ views against my ‘external’ ones. I also wrote about Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party and what the developments of new political parties like this mean for the future of politics.
In December’s Issue…
The Next issue will be out across campus and online in early December. In this issue I write about How an investment Gap Is perpetuating Gender Inequality, the Commercialisation of Religion alongside our contributor Ruhke and deputy Madelaine, with other incredible articles about Diana and her portrayal in popular culture (Madelaine) and Fat-phobia around Christmas in the Opinion section.
You can read my articles and check out the magazine here – https://theorbital.co.uk/author/accalia-smith/
Blog Updates…
When the COVID pandemic hit back in March last year and with us all stuck inside, I used the extra time to redesign this space and begin posting articles a bit more regularly than before as well as deciding to put my poetry out into the world weekly with #poetrysundays. I’ve loved writing more on this platform and hearing your responses to some of the articles but as its quite a broad and eclectic mix, what kind of articles are you most enjoying and what would you most like to see from my blog in the future?
Accalia smith 