Can Jossip mascot and The Paper star Amanda Lorber just might make newspapers cool again? You know, among the kids! And isn’t what’s trendy among a generation of people who can’t even apply for a credit card all that matters?

Sadly, you already know the answer to this question, but it’s fun watching the argument get made about a little MTV reality show that’s turning geeky kids supplanting their social life with newspaper copy into tween idols.

“The Paper,” while certainly worthwhile, has yet to live up to my lofty hopes. For one thing, Amanda’s a bit of a dork — a power-hungry, show-tunes-loving Pollyanna who fails to see that she doesn’t have the respect of her staff. Seizing upon this dynamic, the producers seem obsessed with turning her into one of those caricaturized love-to-hate-her females that TV thrives upon.

Consequently, “The Paper,” in some ways, is no different from a typical reality show. We get plenty of scenes showing Amanda’s frenemies talking behind her back. And we get lots of sniping, jealousy, conflict, duplicity and shameless two-faced behavior. In other words, it’s “Survivor” with pimples.

What we don’t get — at least not so far — are very many scenes of the kids actually working on the newspaper: hashing out story ideas, debating important topics they want to cover, or wrestling with grammar and ethics. “The Paper,” it seems, has essentially buried the lead.

Obviously, I realize the best way for a show like this to send viewers running for “The Hills” is to get too entrenched in the details. And based on all the tabloid attention lavished upon bickering former BFFs Lauren and Heidi, it’s the personal stuff that MTV kids seem to dig. [CCT]