Say hello to James and Scheenagh Harrington, the latest additions to the 24fingers team. Or rather ‘bonjour’, for reasons you’ll discover tout suite.
They’re journalists by trade. They met at the Press Association at the turn of the millennium, got married in a real fake castle in 2003 (Ed’s note: OG Posh & Becks), had a daughter in 2005 and moved to France in 2009 – then added a boy to their family in 2010, and another one in 2013 (Ed’s second note: seems the TV didn’t quite make it across the Channel with them 🙈).
In between offspring two and three, they decided having children and living abroad wasn’t quite exciting enough – so, they left the jobs that had taken them to France to chase their respective passions without a safety net.
Scheenagh revels in being a typical nosy neighbour and loves nothing more than a chinwag. No sooner has she invited you in for a cuppa than she know where you were born, why you can’t stand mustard and the real reason you fell out with your cousin 16 years ago.
Lifestyle is her thing. She’s fascinated by people and their stories – finding out what makes people tick, learning their foibles and quirks. She has written for Living France and The Connexion, and also spouted off in The Independent and The Telegraph.
She also loves doing celebrity interviews (yes, in English and French). She’s chatted to Benedict Cumberbatch, celebrity chef Helene Darroze, Tilda Swinton – and once got *this* close to talking to Clive Barker … but she has yet to match the moment she finally interviewed Derren Brown, after two years of chasing, only to get him on the phone and call him DARREN…
When she’s not turning the air blue over Brexit or Donald Trump, she’s usually to be found hip-deep in Jane Austen, or trying to persuade the children to pick their clothes up. So far it’s not working…
James returned to his first love, sports journalism, and has neatly made the leap from being a rampant Ireland rugby fan to a rampant French rugby fan. He insists there’s little difference.
When he isn’t being a Papa, James divides his time between yelling at matches on TV (in French and English), talking to players and coaches, and tapping away at his keyboard. He writes for The Rugby Paper, ESPN, Rugby Pass and The Irish Examiner – to name a few.
He’s spoken to some pretty big names – including Dan Carter, Jerome Kaino, Jamie Cudmore, Ronan O Gara and Yannick Nyanga – but was reduced to awestruck fanboy silence when he met Emile Ntamack at a Champions Cup game in Toulouse.
So now we know a little bit more about Team Harrington, our turn to ask them the question du jour. So why are journalists perfect for social media and marketing content?
Scheenagh: “Well, apart from being nosy and sticklers for getting our facts straight, journalists are trained to structure a story so readers are naturally drawn in. It means your story is rich, engaging and sticky. We’re also good at grabbing attention with headlines that tell a story but also want to make people read on. We’re both pretty useful editors, too, online and elsewhere. Getting rid of all the word noise to get to the heart of a story is a real skill.”
Actual truth. Welcome to the team.
