A West Midlands journalist who achieved worldwide notoriety last autumn after drunkenly resigning on YouTube is launching a new website.

But former Birmingham Mail reporter Adam Smith’s new online project Goggleeye.co.uk has run into trouble already after attracting the attention of m’learned friends.

Adam, left, was in Miami to cover the US presidential election last year when he infamously quit his job on camera during the early hours of the morning, noticeably worse for wear.

He was actually due to leave the title anyway after taking voluntary redundancy and has now set up his own company Cheekie Media along with Goggleeye.co.uk which promises to “tickle the underbelly of Birmingham.”

The site will feature the prose of journalists who have recently taken redundancy from various news organisations while Cheekie Media offers PR, viral marketing and web design.

It was due to go live yesterday. However, lawyers intervened and the URL currently takes you to a holding page.

Looking back on last November’s episode Adam, aka Steve Zacharanda, told HTFP: “My mum disowned me. Someone in her church group kindly shoved a copy of The Times with me in it through her letterbox.

“I just said to the girl who filmed it: ‘Stick it on YouTube’. I could never have dreamed that I would end up on Good Morning America.

“I had hundreds of messages of support from across the world but I have not met a Brummie who did not love it.

“It was a fantastic time and every journalist I’ve met since has been great – I’ve been very humbled by it, to tell you the truth.

“The most wonderful moment was when I walked into the Queens Head, next to my old work place, and colleagues gave me a round of applause.”

The incident even made The Times Top 10 ‘Most Curious’ stories of 2008 list and was HoldtheFrontPage’s most-read story of the year.

Adam added: “I’ve been busy setting up Cheekie Media with a friend who also took voluntary redundancy from Jaguar.

“But Goggle-eye is my first love, I did a pilot edition in late December 2007 and it proved very popular because it really captured the Brummie mindset which so many other media outlets fail to do.

“I took redundancy because I believed in it, we struggled getting a hard copy out but are really confident that it will hit streets and be monthly from the summer onwards.

Comments

Rebecca (03/04/2009 11:20:47)
The website appears to be live…Good bogus story to attract traffic to it tho!

Mr Mobile (03/04/2009 11:27:50)
Could it be the website went live AFTER this story was published you raging cynic?!?!?!

J (03/04/2009 11:43:48)
good luck to him.

Sid Langley (03/04/2009 11:51:03)
The man is a prince among hacks and should be given the Freedom of Lozells!

SteveZacharanda (03/04/2009 11:51:13)
Thanks guys. Yesterday my old Lichfield Mercury colleague Tim Hewitt on HTFP and today me! The website is up, please have a look around. Here is my apology video www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDZSltzP24U

Observer (03/04/2009 14:26:43)
Interesting picture. Man on his own with a laptop and a hidden hand! Caption competition anyone?

tim (08/04/2009 23:37:48)
This story is confusing. It says lawyers have intervened with the site but doesn’t say why, or who they’re representing, so we’re left to assume. Poor effort HTFP.