Well, it's been about three months since my last blog, and with me now once again among the ranks of the unemployed, I thought it time to bring you up to speed with what has been a topsy-turvy time in your writer's life and career. Yes, I, Jimmy Barnes, had a career... for a little while, anyway.
In October of last year I was offered the job of Wexford County Media Manager for the fledgling media company Feck TV, whose aim was to give Ireland and beyond all their news, reviews and whathaveyou in a quirky, offbeat manner. With dozens of articles posted every day and original television programming hosted by, among others, former Bagpipe Report presenter Blake Norton, I was proud and excited to be involved in such an ambitious undertaking.
My job as County Manager for where I live was to write (and source from other local writers when possible) content for my Wexford section of the Feck TV website, in the humorous, no-holds-barred style that Feck TV expected from all it's writers. Though for about two months I was doing this job for free just for something interesting to put on my CV, right before Christmas I got a call asking for me to go not only paid, but also full-time in the New Year and take on two additional counties, those being Wicklow and Carlow, which meant I would be in charge of all FTV journalistic output for a large portion of the South-East of Ireland.
Well this was my dream come true: I had wanted to be a professional, paid writer ever since I was old enough to scrawl my name in crayon. A hastily-arranged trip to parent company Verzik Media in Cork a few days after Christmas to meet with Feck's owner, staff and my fellow CMMs from all over the island of Ireland, only heightened my excitement. By some stroke of luck or good fortune or just being a jammy bastard, I had landed my perfect job: writing witty things from the comfort of my own home.
I loved being Carlow, Wicklow and Wexford CMM, and I know my colleagues around the country enjoyed their responsibilities to their own corner of the website too. It was heavy-going at times, especially when having to constantly update our counties readers on all the sports results and fixtures came into our job remit, but there was a massive sense of pride and satisfaction as I saw that, thanks in no small part to social media, my pages were being read by my target audience, and being appreciated and commended.
The cliche is "all good things must come to an end", but I didn't expect this job to end after little more than a month. In late January I received a phonecall from my supervisor who had to break the devastating news that, due to a lack of success with the company gaining advertising revenue, Feck TV was axing all it's County Managers and many other of it's writers and staff in a cost-cutting measure. I was to write up until the first Friday in February, then that would be it.
Though I was told that it was hoped that this would only be a temporary measure and that most of us could get our positions back within around six weeks, by the looks of things, Feck TV have failed to raise the funds needed, and are still continuing as I speak on a shoestring. Each day I look at my phone and hope that I get a call from them asking me to rejoin the crew, but each day it feels less and less likely. A crying shame, not just for myself and the other journalists, but for the website itself, which was building such momentum back in January and since has been somewhat of a shell of its former self.
I would encourage all of you to visit the site regularly by clicking this link and read, comment on and watch what they still have to offer. That influx of cash from advertisers seems increasingly unlikely now, which is a real kick in the bollocks when, only two months ago, the sheer wealth of regional, national and international content on FTV made it look a dead cert for mainstream success as it prepared for a Big Launch. But if you think your business can do worse than advertise on what it still technically a really amazing idea just waiting to take off, then contact the lads in Cork at the appropriate links provided, and tell them their former Star Employee Jimmy Barnes sent you. You scratch my back, etc...
Verzik Media/Feck TV aren't perfect; they've made one or two mistakes during their first few months in existence, not least letting all of us CMMs go right when we were making the site into something unique, popular and talked-about on Facebook and Twitter throughout Ireland and beyond. But they gave me my first foray into the world of professional journalism, and I was promised to be the first to get a call asking me to rejoin the team should the cash situation be resolved. So obviously I have a vested interest in seeing them succeed.
In the meantime, I am continuing to look for any writing positions, and so far, so bugger all. One of the few upsides of being unemployed again is that this blog, neglected as it was for the last few months, can be tended to by your writer on a more frequent basis again. You lucky sods! Anyhoo, watch this space, I'll keep you informed of the highs and lows of my homies at Feck TV, as well as other fucking nifty tidbits that only Jimbo can delightfully shove down your gullet. I may even include some of my old FTV articles on here, so you can see for yourselves why I don't think I'm being big-headed in saying that I really was one of the company's MVPs.
Hmmm, thinking about it, that did sound a bit big-headed. Ahh well, it cheers myself up in this state of Jobless Purgatory. Until next time, m'nerds.
UPDATE: Feck TV Editor Lorcan MacMuiris has contacted me to rightly address and rectify one or two points I made in the above post, and also to let me know that FeckTV.com will be relaunched with an exciting new format on Monday March 25th. Fingers crossed this will mark a turning point in the fortunes of the project, and be something that I myself will once more be involved in.
Visit FeckTV.com as often as you can, and I hope one day to be writing for them again, watch this space and all that palaver...
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