Amanda is a 10-time award-winning journalist who has been in the field for more than a decade. A graduate of Valdosta State University, where she was a features editor for the campus newspaper, Amanda has since moved on to embark on a career that has led her to winning top state awards through the Georgia Press Association.
She has been a lifestyles editor for The Valdosta Daily Times and a magazine editor for The Daily Times' monthly publication, Valdosta Scene, overseeing a small staff and being third-in-command in the newsroom. While at the Daily Times, she revamped the company's magazine, acted as a link between the community and readers and took on hard-hitting assignments that garnered her multiple accolades while remaining committed to community journalism.
Her leadership then took her to The Griffin Daily News, where she was a managing editor and department head who worked closely with the publisher and marketing manager. While there, she brought new light to the newspaper and its bimonthly magazine, Southern Crescent Living. She established new weekly departments for the newspaper while correlating opportunities for advertising and editorial to come together and share space on the pages.
Her awards include: two for Investigating Reporting (first and third place), Feature Photo (second place), three for Lifestyle Coverage (first and second places), Best Magazine Overall Design (first place), Magazine Cover Design (third place), Magazine Product (second place) and Religion Writing (third place).
The Associated Press has run 13 of her stories through its weekend wire, and she has had multiple stories to circulate both nationally and internationally in several print and digital publications. National Public Radio Atlanta (WABE) has interviewed Amanda about her work.
She has interviewed Adrian Peterson, Gov. Brian Kemp, Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp, Super Bowl Champ Malcolm Mitchell, Elizabeth Smart, two Harlem Globetrotters, Pam Tebow, Misty Copeland and the late Burt Reynolds. She has also photographed Shaquille O'Neal, Flo Rida and other public figures.
Amanda has a passion for storytelling and enjoys being a voice for the local community. While her work ranges from crime to business to education news, her heart lies in features journalism as it offers the chance to meet diverse people and share their stories in a way that matters. The readers and those she interviews will always come first for Amanda.
Patch spoke with Christian Dougan, whose wife and four children were killed in a fiery car crash along I-95 in GA as they were headed to FL.
Marietta Police have identified the six men who are facing aggravated assault with intent to murder charges in an apartment shooting.
"Why on God's green earth do you think it’s okay to be dressed in all black, running around with guns," Paulding authorities asked Wed.
Seven FL men and a NJ man are being accused in a social media child porn probe that links to a ring leader in Turkey.
The YSL rapper was freed from the Fulton County Jail 4 months after a jury acquitted him of murder charges, a report says.
So far this year, Georgia has battled 21 tornadoes, according to a weather analysis released Wednesday. More storms are in the forecast.
Some Florida leaders support President Donald Trump in his latest measure, pausing tariffs for 90 days.
Some Georgia leaders support President Donald Trump in his latest measure, pausing tariffs for 90 days.
A University of Florida student was being held in Miami after choosing to self-deport following a traffic stop; critic calls it kidnapping.
A 26-year-old man died in a Buckhead crash that stemmed from a fast-food robbery in DeKalb County, reports say.
Improperly stored hazardous chemicals led to a blaze and a GA manufacturer being cited at least $60,000 for six violations, the feds say.
Rapper Lil' Boosie was involved in a pileup near the South Fulton Parkway intersection in Atlanta, according to media reports.
GoFundMe organizers say a father and son were able to share a final moment together before a tree fell on their golf cart, killing them.
Cold air will plunge temperatures days after Georgia had high temperatures in the 80s, the latest weather forecast says.
A man linked to two other deaths was convicted of kidnapping, raping and fatally strangling a Miami Herald staff member, reports say.
A Jeep that rear-ended a car caught fire, killing a family of five along Georgia's Interstate 95, state authorities say.
The risk of contracting a potentially life-threatening invasive group A strep infection has increased. Here is what you should know.
The transgender student's arrest could be a first in the U.S. since the passing of state restroom usage laws.
Social media video appeared to show the horse lying on the ground with its eyes open in Atlanta.
The transgender student's arrest could be a first in the U.S. since the passing of state restroom usage laws, including in Florida.
