News For Newsies: Blogger Outs Himself At Media Circus

Sunday, 13 December 2009 09:15 | Written by Byron

HI NOON-ER: Oregon Media Central's monthly Oregon Media Circus begins at noon and ends at 2 pm today at Blitz.

Now, that isn't much news all by itself, other than the fact I knew very few journos who delight in the idea of getting their butts downtown during their designated brunch hour.

That said, today is a big day for OMC.

That's because the up-until-right-now anonymous person behind a site that has become essential reading for media junkies in this state (ever since Oregon Media Insiders went buh-bye) has blogged that he would identify himself at 12:30 sharp.

And that would be right about now (ignore the time stamp above, it's been off lately).

So I think its safe to assume he's done it.

And now, so shall I: ladies and gents (and all of you who refused to drive on slippery roads) may I introduce you to none other than Mitch Nolan.

"Mitch who," you say? Me, too. That is ,until I recalled meeting Nolan years ago at the very first Salon Q's held at Aura.

But, over the years, I had lost touch with him.

Until he popped back up on my screen and asked if I could co-host the first Oregon Media Circus with Nicolle Camarata (that's a pic of him above at last month's Circus at Invasion).

Before agreeing to that task I asked if he could identify himself. And he did. As long as I didn't blog about it.

And I honored his wish. That is, until now.

But I never really understood why he chose to be in the shadows.

He's not a member of the local media pool and well, I guess he considers himself a really shy guy.

Here's a little background on Nolan he emailed me before last month's party:

"I've been living in Chicago until late spring of this year. I'm a web developer with no formal training in journalism, but I've always been interested in the media. (Oregon Media Insiders) was one of my favorite sites. When it shut down, I knew that I had the technical knowledge for it, and I had at least some understanding of the craft and the subject matter. I also didn't have many clients then, so I had the time to run the site. It's been a bit nerve-wracking writing as an amateur for a bunch of professionals, though."

And so now we know. And no it isn't me. It's a much tougher gig than I would ever sign up for. And I think Nolan's doing a pretty decent job. I am glad he finally came out. It was about time.

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