Johnny Harris (journalist)

Last updated

Johnny Harris
Personal information
Born (1988-05-28) May 28, 1988 (age 37)
Oregon, U.S.
Education
Occupations
  • Filmmaker
  • journalist
  • YouTuber
SpouseIz Harris
Children2
Website www.johnnyharris.ch OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2011–present
Genres
  • International affairs
  • history
  • geography
Subscribers6.99 million [1]
Views1.067 billion [1]
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg100,000 subscribers2019
YouTube Gold Play Button 2.svg1,000,000 subscribers2021
Last updated: September 13, 2025

Johnny Harris (born May 28, 1988) [‡ 1] [‡ 2] is an American YouTuber, filmmaker, and independent journalist based in Washington, D.C. [2] Harris produced and hosted the Borders series for American news and opinion website Vox. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] He also created three videos for The New York Times . [9] [10] [11]

Contents

Early life

Harris was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a small town in Oregon. [‡ 3] He graduated from Ashland High School, in Ashland, Oregon. [‡ 4] He served a two-year mission in Tijuana, Mexico, and identified as a devout Mormon but has since left the church after the birth of his first son. [‡ 5] [ better source needed ] Harris holds a Bachelor of Arts in international relations and affairs from Brigham Young University (2013) and a Master of Arts in international peace and conflict resolution from American University (2016). [‡ 6] [2]

Career

Borders

From 2017 to 2019, Harris produced and hosted Borders, a documentary short film series on Vox that profiled sociopolitical issues in various border regions worldwide. [12] It was twice nominated for an Emmy Award. [13] The series was cancelled in 2020 likely due to budgeting considerations. [14] [ better source needed ]

SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedLocation(s)
First airedLast airedProducer
16May 22, 2017October 14, 2017 Vox Media Inc. Various
25July 11, 2018August 15, 2018 Hong Kong
35November 22, 2018December 18, 2018 Colombia
45June 26, 2019July 24, 2019 India
5Release cancelled United States

Freelance

On November 9, 2021, Harris was credited as the video producer on an opinion piece published in The New York Times , titled "Blue States, You're the Problem". [10] It later won an Emmy Award. [15] [16]

Criticism

On December 15, 2024, Harris posted a video attributing the Russo-Ukrainian War largely to NATO expansion, a viewpoint that a Kyiv Independent reporter argued aligns with Kremlin propaganda and omits historical context. [17] The author argues that this was a microcosm of Harris' tendency in "prioritizing sensationalism over facts and disregarding history," especially regarding NATO and Russia.

The science communicator Jonathan Jarry has criticized Harris' coverage of scientific, historical, and economic issues for oversimplifying or misrepresenting facts and omitting key details. Jarry criticized Harris for producing a video written by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in a form indistinguishable from his typical journalism, only disclosing the partnership at the end of the video. Jarry claimed that the purpose of the video was "neither education nor journalism, but an ad for the WEF’s meeting in Davos and its founder’s latest book." [18]

Personal life

Harris is married and has two sons with his wife. [‡ 7]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 "About Johnny Harris". YouTube.
  2. 1 2 "Johnny Harris". Vox . July 24, 2019. Archived from the original on July 12, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  3. ↑ Schmidt, Christine (August 27, 2018). "Explanatory video + engagement = How Vox's Borders series is humanizing the map and building local source networks". Nieman Lab . Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  4. ↑ Scott, Caroline (August 30, 2017). "Why Vox has been crowdsourcing for its latest international documentary series". journalism.co.uk . Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  5. ↑ Scott, Caroline (August 23, 2018). "How Vox expanded its network by crowdsourcing for its latest documentary series". journalism.co.uk . Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  6. ↑ Llewellyn, Tom (September 15, 2020). "Vox Borders cancelled: Why has the popular documentary series been axed?". Reality Titbit. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  7. ↑ Schochet, Max (March 11, 2020). "Behind the scenes of the Vox web series "Borders"". Storybench. Northeastern University School of Journalism. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Alumnus Spotlight: Johnny Harris". BYU Political Science Blog. Brigham Young University. March 9, 2016. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  9. ↑ How America Bungled the Plague | NYT Opinion, September 29, 2020, archived from the original on September 5, 2023, retrieved May 21, 2021
  10. 1 2 Harris, Johnny; Appelbaum, Binyamin (November 9, 2021). "Opinion | Blue States, You're the Problem". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 17, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  11. ↑ Harris, Johnny; Cottle, Michelle (September 21, 2022). "Opinion | Inside the Completely Legal G.O.P. Plot to Destroy American Democracy". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 20, 2022. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Borders". Vox . December 5, 2017. Archived from the original on June 24, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Vox Earns 3 News and Documentary Emmy Award Nominations". Vox Media . July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  14. ↑ Llewellyn, Tom (September 15, 2020). "Vox Borders cancelled: Why has the popular documentary series been axed?". Reality Titbit. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  15. ↑ "The New York Times Wins 5 Emmy Awards". The New York Times Company. September 30, 2022. Archived from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  16. ↑ Schneider, Michael (September 29, 2022). "ABC, Vice Lead 2022 News Emmy Award Winners" . Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  17. ↑ Blevins, Jason (December 11, 2024). "YouTuber Johnny Harris' lens on Eastern Europe is distorted and irresponsible". The Kyiv Independent . Archived from the original on April 1, 2025. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  18. ↑ Jarry, Jonathan (August 2, 2024). "The Many Mistakes of Johnny Harris". McGill University . Office for Science and Society. Archived from the original on June 11, 2025. Retrieved June 11, 2025.

Primary sources

In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

  1. ↑ Why Britain is the Center of the World, November 22, 2019, retrieved June 2, 2022 At the time 10:14 he reveals the date of his birth
  2. ↑ "#69: Johnny Harris – Himalayan Borders, Making Maps, Traveling with Purpose", Finding Founders, archived from the original on July 12, 2024, retrieved April 28, 2021
  3. ↑ Why New York City is so Huge, October 20, 2020, archived from the original on March 18, 2022, retrieved April 28, 2021
  4. ↑ Am I Happy?: Q&A, May 27, 2021, archived from the original on March 18, 2022, retrieved June 12, 2021
  5. ↑ Why I Left The Mormon Church. YouTube . June 11, 2021. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  6. ↑ Johnny, Harris. "Johnny Harris". LinkedIn . Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  7. ↑ Who Are We?!. YouTube . February 4, 2018. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
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