COLUMBIA, S.C. — Rachel Ripp is News 19's weekend evening anchor and a multi-skilled journalist. She won South Carolina Reporter of the Year in August 2023.
Rachel, born and raised in the Midwest, specifically in Olathe, Kansas, joined the WLTX News19 team in November 2021.
Since working here in the Palmetto State, Rachel has covered a wide variety of stories, including all six weeks of the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial, updates to statehouse legislation, USC's journey to the NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four in Minneapolis in 2022 and the 2024 Republican and Democratic presidential primaries, of South Carolina being the first voting state. She works primarily as a part of the Street Squad team, producing hyper-local stories in Lexington County.
Originally from the suburbs outside of Kansas City, Rachel loves her fair share of KC BBQ, along with cheering on the Royals and Chiefs.
Prior to joining WLTX, she worked in Midland, Texas at our sister station Newswest 9. While in West Texas, Rachel worked as a dayside multi-skilled journalist, fill-in weekend anchor and fill-in associate producer, covering former president Donald Trump's visit, the Midland-Odessa mobile mass shooting anniversary, the February 2021 Texas winter storm, oil and gas industry advancements, elections and education stories.
She graduated from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism.
During her time in college, she completed six internships. This included working with the ABC affiliate KMBC in Kansas City, Missouri, the sports marketing agency, Wasserman in Los Angeles, California, ESPN 3 (Big West Productions) in Irvine, California, ESPN’s national show Around the Horn in both Denver, Colorado and Washington D.C., and the Colorado Springs Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In her free time, Rachel loves listening to best-selling thriller audiobooks, walking the Cayce Riverwalk, rooting for the Chicago Bears, volunteering with Ezekiel Ministries, working out at Basecamp Fitness and taking any chances she gets to visit South Carolina beaches.
Although the Midwest is home, Rachel loves and has fully immersed herself into Columbia’s community. She’s excited to continue sharing meaningful stories that inform people and make the Capital City a better place to live.
You can connect with her on Facebook, X, or Instagram. You can also email her at rripp@wltx.com.