Amanda Coyne: ‘Reporter Gone Wild?”

Conspiracy writer and self-proclaimed Sarah Palin-hater Amanda Coyne recently cried foul after being banned by Team Sarah only to be unbanned by Team Sarah. This on top of the heals of a far-reaching article written by her on March 13, about a story which unfairly linked Sarah Palin to a crazed person who was supposedly inspired by something Sarah Palin said at the Republican convention. Miss Coyne, to no ones surprise, also has a website dedicated to making smears daily toward Governor Palin, for profit!

Coyne holds both a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Masters of Fine Arts in ‘creative writing’ from the University of Iowa, her home state. Amanda Coyne is married to Tony Hopfinger and editor at the Anchorage Daily News and is a friend of Andrew Halcro. Halcro ran against Sarah Palin for governor, and lost, and seems to have an axe to grind against Governor Palin as well. Tony Hopfinger is her husband; co-conspirator and editor at Anchorage Daily News who is also out to get Palin.

To start, Coyne is no reporter. Nor is she a journalist. She is a politically-biased freelance writer who teaches writing at Alaska Pacific University and is a contributing blogger at Huffington Post. Just go to the Alaska Dispatch and you will witness Coyne’s writings and opinions at work. With a “Palin Watch” tab which conveniently transfers the website into a personal political platform, the website promotes Coyne and her husband’s political agenda and revels in its liberal bias with endless attempts in smearing Gov. Palin.

If you follow her writings, it does not take long to observe that Amanda Coyne’s is out to destroy Sarah Palin at every chance. Anything anti-Palin is fair game. She describes her writing as ‘alternative journalism’ and her willingness to serve as Alaska’s number one pathetic hack never stretches the imagination as she recruits college interns to help her make money smearing Governor Palin.

Coyne was the first biographer hired for a Palin biography project. Whether she was ‘fired’ or walked away is a little murky but she claims that Palin was “not as substantial as I thought” stating “I simply can't have my name on what, so far, is turning out to be a puff piece without substance."

Funny. Coyne would never pass the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics Exam. Nor could she fulfill the duty of a real journalist whose means is to seek the truth and provide fair and comprehensive accounts of events and issues. But that doesn’t seem to matter to Miss Coyne.

In a March 13 Dispatch article, Coyne went so far as to attempt to link a deranged nut case who threatened to kill the Governor of New York David Patterson to Palin's convention speech. The story essentially was based on nothing more than grandeur illusions. And so, it was of no surprise then that the author, Amanda Coyne, was too cowardly to put the byline on the story, until of course, another blog called her out.

During the election campaign, Coyne, attempted to smear Palin’s Christian beliefs too by attempting to attach her to a theologically radical congregation, religious extremists sermons and even witches. She also made no attempt to hide her true feelings by calling her fellow Alaskans ‘hillbillies’; and on any given day, seeks to damage Palin’s reputation at every turn by writing esoteric essays of her supposed incompetence. She even tries, by both inference and innuendo, if not blatantly, to suggest that Governor Palin and her supporters are racists.

Moreover, her husband, Tony Hopfinger, one of her other left-leaning culprits over at the Anchorage Daily News, is also leading the smears against Governor Palin. Hopfinger is co-editor of the Alaska Dispatch; editor of Anchorage Daily News; and good chums with Andrew Halcro. Halcro has an axe to grind with Palin and is responsible for the reporting of Trooper-gate and so many other negative stories involving Palin. ADN is notorious for deleting the comments that they disagree with on their stories and blog posts and only allow critical comments about public figures, as in Gov. Palin, because Hopfinger, like Coyne and Halcro do not like Palin.

Journalism is a public trust. And writers like Amanda Coyne and editors like Hopfinger lose credibility when they editorialize headlines, skip bylines, mix political commentary with hard news and generally misinform the reader. Amanda Coyne is a left wing political advocate who attempts to slant headlines and stories that favour her disgust with Gov. Palin. Amanda Coyne and Tony Hopfinger will say and do anything to bring Sarah Palin down. Coyne herself is often ‘busted’ for taking one statement and putting a spin on it in a way that the original statement is almost unrecognizable.

On Dec. 31, 2008, Hopfinger received an email from Gov. Palin asking questions about news coverage in the Anchorage Daily News. This was one of her questions:

“And is your paper really still pursuing the sensational lie that I am not Trig's mother? Is it true you have a reporter still bothering my state office, my very busy doctor (who's already set the record straight for you), and the school district, in pursuit of your ridiculous conspiracy?”

The governor ended with this:

As a public official, I expect criticism and I expect to be held accountable for how I govern . . . often the refusal of the media to correct obvious mistakes, unfortunately discredits too many in journalism today, making it difficult for many Americans to believe what they see in the media.

In a little-noticed speech to a GOP dinner in Alaska in Mid-March, Palin riffed that there was an "unprecedented level of media slant" that she witnessed during her two-months on the Republican ticket with John McCain. Reflecting on the campaign, Palin said "Some in the media actually participated in not so much the 'who-what-where-when-why' objective reporting”. Yes, we know Gov. Palin. And it is becoming more and more clear who some of them are.

Content in continuing to spread vicious lies, Amanda Coyne and Tony Hopfinger, in a coordinated attempt to destroy a strong and honest person, have run afoul, and continue their embracement of partisan attacks on Gov. Palin. So, we ask? Is Amanda Coyne just a writer or a reporter gone wild?

Reporter Amanda Coyne Credibility in Question

Asking Amanda Coyne to contain herself in mendacity and conspiracy reporting is the equivalent of asking water not to be wet. Her diversionary tactic in journalistic truth is hardly grounded in literary transparency. And, her alternative writing of snide political commentary, most notably, against Sarah Palin, is ripe in fallacy and deceit.

Coyne's politically-biased brand of journalism and unending drivel against Governor Palin mirrors the same level of credibility as OJ looking for the real killer. Coyne and her husband, Tony Hopfinger, are part of an unholy cabal that is trying to destroy Sarah Palin; tarnish her national image; and personally profit from it.

Amanda Coyne and Tony Hopfinger have assembled more than four dozen contributors to produce AlaskaDispatch.com, an online magazine that not only suffers from objective journalism but parallels the caustic, outrageous, dishonest and often disingenuous reporting of the Huffington Post. To note, Ms Coyne is a Huffington Post contributing blogger and Tony Hopfinger is an editor at the Anchorage Daily News.

Her brand of alternative journalism attempts to misconstrue one statement and then in the absence of any ardent facts, spin a rhetorical essay of subjective reporting. Her website, from which she and her husband profit from, is attempting to capitalize on the deceptive half-truths of left wing spin and the viciously fashionable bashing of Governor Palin.

It is then of no surprise that Ms Coyne has a Masters in ‘creative writing’ from the University of Iowa and her employment affiliation with the Alaska Pacific University brings new meaning to the term “Instructor in writing.” She once stated: “The fantasy of writing is so different than the reality.” Yes, Amanda. We know.

Her agenda is to recruit college interns to help make money so she and her husband can ‘profit’ by smearing Governor Palin. Her goal is to personally profit by capitalizing on manufactured claims and strident views toward Sarah Palin. Her website scheme is to play the same game as they do at ADN by manipulating the "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" ratings on comment walls. She will censor you - but don’t even try to censor her. Or, she cries foul.

If Amanda Coyne was banned from Team Sarah you can rest assure that it was because she wants to play by a different set of rules than everyone else. Her alternative journalism is hardly an even playing field. Indistinguishable from trash tabloid reporting, Amanda Coyne once stated: “I’m so present; people think I’m weird,” and “I’ve been accused of being crazy.” She then goes on to say casually “I’ve even hung out with white supremacists and drug dealers.” Well Amanda, being that present only makes your style of narrative journalism that much more skewed and prejudiced.

Leading the smears against Governor Palin has become a profiteering past-time of hers as she, and her husband at the Anchorage Daily News, Tony Hopfinger, seeks to personally gain financially. Such false bravado is unconscionable. And, just as her ulterior motives and lack of upfront intentions obscure the resemblance of truth, Amanda Coyne’s well orchestrated campaign lacks the credibility in her disbelief in being banned by Team Sarah.

The smell of smoke is in the air.