Amanda is an overly-enthusiastic and highly-driven high school student who has a tendency to be overbearing and annoying. As copy editor, she checks the spelling, punctuation and style of all the written content before the paper goes to the printer.
Amanda is one of the student journalists in the MTV reality show
The Paper . It features the daily grind involved in producing The Circuit, the multi-awarded newspaper of Cypress Bay High School in Weston, Florida. The show opens with her declaring, “Journalists are the most important people in the world.” Her passion for journalism is unquestionable. Her work is similarly flawless. Right after finishing her application essay for the editor-in-chief position way before the deadline, she says, “Procrastination is a foe I have not met yet.”
On The Paper, Amanda can very well be the central character, as she has received the most exposure so far. She is portrayed as potentially arrogant and not a lot of the other staff members like her. In fact, they get together just to bash Amanda behind her back. She appears to be the only one happy with the decision when she was picked to be editor-in-chief. According to the other staff members, she may have the necessary skill for the job, but she does not have the people and leadership skills to handle the paper, as she is often seen as arrogant person who takes too many power trips and who thinks too highly of herself. And she is often left out. When the other staff are partying or hanging out, she is home and alone. Entertainment editor and Amanda's best friend,
Cassia , defends her and says she is just misunderstood.
As a born journalist, Amanda has strong views about the apathy of today's generation. She says that while there is a renewed interest in politics due to the seeming novelty of the 2008 presidential elections, she predicts that teens will drop their “trendy activism” and instead go for other less important things, such as gadgets, alcohol, and television.
(Photo courtesy of MTV)