Drunken Journalist Fired After Youtube Video, Attracts 285,000 views

Social networking websites are not the only places where posting comments could get you fired and Adam Smith, a journalist for the Birmingham mail learnt it the hard way.

After having had a few pints (and throwing any inhibitions out of the window), the British reporter who volunteered to help the Obama campaign lashed out at his editor and the newspaper which provided him with his job.

The guy, who is also known as Steve Zacharanda, ranted his heart out to a Dutch Amateur Journalist but which has been posted by Couscousglobal.

Smith also thanked the BBC for covering their extensive coverage of the US presidential elections as it gave him the opportunity to "copy and paste" from their website (ed: that's journalistic inspiration or plagiarism).

You can read a sample of his past articles here which he wrote when he was not drunk (apparently).

Intriguingly, the 4-minute video was seen by nearly 285,000 people, including more than 110,000 from Timesonline alone while the second part attracted only 19,000 or so viewers and the third iteration, which shows a more sober Smith pleading for his innocence, got only 10,000 views.

Adam Smith will be leaving the company by the end of the week and has accepted a redundancy pay package.

And neither the Birmingham Post, nor the Birmingham Mail have posted anything on Adam Smith as of this morning or given their version of the whole mini-scandal.

Could it be an elaborate viral marketing campaign?

Related Links

• Drunken 'proper' journo resigns in YouTube rant
• British journalist covering Barack Obama caught on camera in drunk, plagiarism rant
• Drunken journo slams boss in YouTube vid
• Drinking, long hours and YouTube don’t mix but bring in the viewers

Birmingham Mail Website where Adam Smith worked as a journalist

Couscousglobal website, which published the now infamous Adam Smith interview

Adam Smith at the beginning of the first interview

A Sobered-up Adam Smith at the beginning of the third video