Johnny Harris (born May 28, 1988)[‡ 1][‡ 2] is an American YouTuber, filmmaker, and independent journalist, currently 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] Harris launched the company Bright Trip in 2019, which has video-based travel courses.[12]
| Johnny Harris | ||||||||||
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| Born | May 28, 1988 | |||||||||
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| Spouse | Isabel Harris | |||||||||
| Children | 2 | |||||||||
| Website | www | |||||||||
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| Years active | 2011–present | |||||||||
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| Subscribers | 5.92 million[1] | |||||||||
| Total views | 782 million[1] | |||||||||
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Last updated: October 19, 2024 | ||||||||||
Early life and education
editHarris 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] Harris' great-great-great-grandparents, Robert Harris and Hannah Eagles, originally came from Wales, where they were converted by a Mormon missionary.[13] The couple and their children were sponsored by Mormons in Salt Lake City to "build Zion" and settled north of Salt Lake City.[13]
Harris holds a Bachelor of Arts in international relations and affairs at Brigham Young University (2013) and a Master of Arts in international peace and conflict resolution at American University (2016).[‡ 6][2]
Career
editBorders
editFrom 2017 to 2019, Harris produced and hosted Borders, a documentary short film series on Vox that profiled sociopolitical issues in various border regions worldwide.[14] It was twice nominated for an Emmy Award.[15] The series was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, George Floyd riots, and budgeting considerations.[‡ 7][16]
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Location(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Producer | |||
| 1 | 6 | May 22, 2017 | October 14, 2017 | Vox Media Inc. | Various |
| 2 | 5 | July 11, 2018 | August 15, 2018 | Hong Kong | |
| 3 | 5 | November 22, 2018 | December 18, 2018 | Colombia | |
| 4 | 5 | June 26, 2019 | July 24, 2019 | India | |
| 5 | Release cancelled | United States | |||
YouTube
editHarris's YouTube channel was set up in June 2011. Since the cancellation of Borders, Harris has continued to produce videos on international affairs, history, and geography with creative visual graphics, which he has published on his own channel.[‡ 8]
He has partnered with The New York Times [‡ 9][9] as well as the World Economic Forum in producing videos.[17]
As of November 29, 2024,[update] Harris has 6.07 million YouTube subscribers.[‡ 10] Some of his notable videos tackle topics such as wars, foreign relations, the metric system, Western Asia, North Korea, and the Pacific islands, and the history of colonization in the United States.
newpress
editNewpress is a collective of freelance journalists founded by Johnny Harris.[18]
"An association of independent journalists who are credible, serious and courageous, focusing on the context, history and background of the events that shape our world."[18]
It aims to fill a gap in the media landscape. Three journalists are currently part of newpress:
| Journalist | Kanal |
|---|---|
| Johnny Harris | Johnny Harris |
| Sam Ellis | SearchParty |
| Christophe Haubursin | tunnel_vision |
Freelance
editOn November 9, 2021, Harris was credited as the video producer on an opinion piece published to The New York Times, titled "Blue States, You're the Problem".[10] It later won an Emmy Award.[19]
CSIS.org
editIn his YouTube piece entitled "How to Start a War With a Flash Drive",[‡ 11] published on Feb 14, 2024, Johnny communicated that he used to work at the think tank called Center for Strategic and International Studies. He indicated that he had spent two years there during a previous interview.[20]
Personal life
editHarris is married to Isabel "Izzy" Harris, with whom he has two sons.[‡ 12]
Harris is diagnosed with dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.[‡ 13]
His father-in-law is the captain of a ballistic missile submarine (SSBN).[‡ 14]
References
editCitations
edit- ^ a b "About Johnny Harris". YouTube.
- ^ a b "Johnny Harris". Vox. July 24, 2019. Archived from the original on July 12, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b How America Bungled the Plague | NYT Opinion, September 29, 2020, archived from the original on September 5, 2023, retrieved May 21, 2021
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Bright Trip Inc. Launches Travel Industry's First Video-Based Travel Courses". PRWeb. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
- ^ a b The INSANE Story of How the Mormons Created Utah YouTube. 22 August 2024
- ^ "Borders". Vox. December 5, 2017. Archived from the original on June 24, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Vox Borders cancelled: Why has the popular documentary series been axed?". Reality Titbit. September 15, 2020. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
- ^ "How China Became So Powerful". www.youtube.com. January 28, 2021. Archived from the original on June 24, 2024. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
- ^ a b "The Future of This Channel". www.youtube.com. December 13, 2024. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "The reason we talk about history is because it affects people today". July 12, 2021. Archived from the original on February 14, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
Primary sources
In the text these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):
- ^ 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
- ^ "#69: Johnny Harris – Himalayan Borders, Making Maps, Traveling with Purpose", Finding Founders, archived from the original on July 12, 2024, retrieved April 28, 2021
- ^ Why New York City is so Huge, October 20, 2020, archived from the original on March 18, 2022, retrieved April 28, 2021
- ^ Am I Happy?: Q&A, May 27, 2021, archived from the original on March 18, 2022, retrieved June 12, 2021
- ^ Why I Left The Mormon Church. YouTube. June 11, 2021. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
- ^ Johnny, Harris. "Johnny Harris". LinkedIn. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
- ^ Harris, Johnny (September 14, 2020). Vox Borders is Canceled. Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Johnny Harris – YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2022. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
- ^ I Made a Video with The New York Times, September 29, 2020, archived from the original on March 18, 2022, retrieved May 21, 2021
- ^ "Johnny Harris YouTube Page". YouTube. Archived from the original on November 20, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ "How to Start a War With a Flash Drive". YouTube. February 14, 2024. 25:52 min. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
- ^ Who Are We?!. YouTube. February 4, 2018. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
- ^ Harris, Johnny (January 13, 2019), Johnny Harris — Should You Go to College?, 7:10 min, archived from the original on June 24, 2024, retrieved January 23, 2023,
[...] I'm diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD.
- ^ Harris, Johnny (January 18, 2023), Johnny Harris — Our Best Military Weapon is… Invisible?, 25:13 min, archived from the original on June 24, 2024, retrieved January 23, 2023,
[...] my father-in-law is actually the captain of a submarine, one of the SSBNs.