Oregon Media Insiders

The Plot Quickens

After wading through myriad comments on Hunter Thompson’s last posting having to do with the lambastation of the Portland Drive-By media, two comments caught this writer’s eye. The first was a comment by the now familiar TALPDX.

TALPDX proclaimed annoyance at my existence. In the course of said critique, TALPDX employed a number of mixed metaphors, a sign of amateurish composition. Of course, if one has followed TALPDX for any length of time, one knows that TALPDX toils in one of the Portland television sweatshops. Hence the hackneyed writing.

Still, the words appeared earnest; the disdain for the one known as Hunter Thompson obviously deeply held. Those following this saga must grant TALPDX points for an attempt at sincerity.

After completing the TALPDX comment, this writer was reminded of a famous line from William Shakespeare. Perhaps some of you have read something of the Bard’s work. The line, “Me thinks he doth protest too much,” jumped out of the page. Of course! It is plain to see. TALPDX is Hunter Thompson. Even more sinister, TALPDX may be, and this is only conjecture, tortured by multiple personality disorder. Oh, the humanity.

Then it occurred to me that perhaps TALPDX is not only Hunter Thompson, but is also the Fairy Blog Mother and cablenut – all the principals we have grown to know and love, currently dueling it out in an on-line battle for the hearts and minds of OMI fans everywhere. Wow! What a concept! A quadrangle of characters emanating from a single mind. The Bard would be pleased…things just couldn’t get any more sinister.

Or can they?

The second comment, a flash of brilliant insight that caught this author’s eye, was from Anonymous Source. The writing style seemed had a feminine touch – pardon me to all women who might see this as a sexist reference. It just seemed that a male would be incapable of making the intellectual leap to such a startling conclusion, which was (paraphrased) that the entire OMI site was the product of some twisted Troll. My God!

Imagine if you will that Anonymous Source is correct. What if you stumble into this site in hopes of discovering something about Portland media? Picture yourself as a person actively trying to build a career in Television in Portland. In your desire to move ahead, you thought OMI might provide you some insight and assistance to move your plan forward.

Innocently, you begin posting comments and queries and, interestingly, you begin to receive what appear to be helpful responses from a variety of sources, each of whom seem to have requisite experience. The respondents, with few exceptions, seem more than willing to act as a mentor. What a bonanza for the neophyte to the Portland ADI.

As you continue posting, seeking assistance and information, you begin to sense that everything is not as it appears. While the postings and blogs give every indication that several, perhaps hundreds of media experts are on-line and fully engaged in the future of Portland television, there is a nagging refrain that crosses from one posting to the next. You have been lured into a large, insidious Troll trap. You have been victimized by a scheme that could only have been created by a tortured someone. You are in the Twilight Zone.

By the time you discover your dilemma, you have bared your soul for the Troll. The Troll knows your IP address and likely knows where you live. The Troll might just be waiting outside your door. You gotta love it even as your horror grows.

So, is this OMI site a massive conspiracy? Is it a web-based black hole absorbing everything that comes near the Portland television event horizon? Can nothing escape the grip OMI has on the Drive-By media, or is this place simply the creation of one calamitous mind? One guesses that one can never be entirely sure.

Hunter