Portage la Prairie, MB –

The website for the imaginary CIPP-TV Channel 116 launched to great fanfare and critical acclaim this summer but Portagers have become concerned about the satirical local media outlet.

With a blend of fictional and fabricated stories, about make-believe characters, CIPP-TV has provided a constant source of satire and, at times, humour set in the Portage la Prairie area.  Reactions from local viewers are mixed.

“I thought a couple of the stories were kind of funny,” Joan Bedford said.  “I didn’t realize they were made up until my sister commented on my Facebook page after I shared the story about Trudeau smoking weed.”

“You mean it’s not a real TV station?” Quincy Rhodes asked when informed of the fictional nature of CIPP-TV.  “I thought everything I read on Facebook is real.  So the story about the trees with genitals is made up?”

“I just about wet myself everyday.  The best comedy has a lot of truth in it,” Betty Snow said.  “Portage is this wonderful, quirky place with a lot to offer and a lot to laugh at.  I love the idea to convert the mall into a 80’s retail museum.”

While some locals have found comfort and pleasure in the satirical style of humour, others seem disturbed.

“The people writing this stuff should be embarrassed,” Brian Milton offered.  “It’s juvenile crap.  I don’t get why you’d want to make up stories about Portage and put them on a website like the survey on how Portagers make love 15 times a week.  I can barely stand reading their daily posts.”

“Some of it seems real, like the bikini lady on Crescent Lake,” Owen Gabranski said.  “It’s not right to make fun of things around here.  Why would anyone want to make fun of us and this place?”

Many Portagers have mixed emotions about the new website and its subject matter.

“I liked the site for the first month or so, and then they poked fun of a few things close to me like the woman who gave birth at the Keith Urban concert,” Sherry Blackburn shared.  “These fictional stories were hurting the real feelings of actual people.  I think the people running this site are cowards.  If they want to make fun of something they shouldn’t hide behind pen names and satire, they should do it in real life.”

“Portage is a funny place,” Vern Fritz said.  “I don’t think the website does justice to how hilarious this town can be.  I don’t think fiction could ever capture the absurdity of this place.  I could see the splashing at Splash Island being banned.”

The fanciful owner of the imaginary television station CIPP-TV pushed back at the criticism.

“I’ve received complaints from real Portagers who are upset about our satire.  I truly underestimated Portage’s ability to handle fictional criticism,” CIPP-TV Owner Ryan Coke explained.  “There is freedom that comes with being imaginary that allows us to cover topics other media outlets can’t or won’t.”

“We like it when people are entertained by our satire but we love it when it motivates a response from them,” Coke added.  “We think fiction can help contribute to the open dialogue and varied perspective we need in Portage.”

While the owner of the imaginary TV station claims to have good and noble intentions, some Portagers are still mad.

“They aren’t funny,” Blackburn added.  “We don’t allow the real media to criticize, ask questions or make fun of the town and authorities, why should we let a fake TV station away with it?  Maybe if CIPP-TV lost it’s advertisers they’d be held accountable.”

Station owner, Ryan Coke, is not concerned with an advertiser backlash.

“I know that reality based media outlets have to bow to sponsor pressure but we are imaginary.  Since we generate most of our imaginary income from fictitious advertisers, we should be able to endure a handful of Portagers who take an exception to our humour.”

“We’ve already fired our imaginary News Director to try to placate locals who were upset about her left-leaning take on things,” Coke said.  “I guess we could fire some more imaginary people.  It’ll only cost us imaginary severance anyway.”

Notice to readers – if you didn’t get the joke of this story and website please click here to read more about the fictional and satirical nature of this.  Feel free to comment on the story and have some fun with us.  If you are offended by what we do – please choose not to consume it.  How about you respect our fictional opinion, even if you disagree, and we’ll respect your real or imaginary opinion.

Photo: Joe Goldberg – https://www.flickr.com/photos/goldberg/