Johnny Harris (born May 28, 1988) At the time 10:14 he reveals the date of his birth is an American

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

, and independent journalist based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Harris produced and hosted the ''Borders'' series for American news and opinion website '' Vox.'' He also created three videos for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

Early life

Harris was raised as a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

in a small town in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. He graduated from Ashland High School, in Ashland, Oregon. He served a two-year mission in

Tijuana, Mexico Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

, and identified as a devout Mormon but has since left the church after the birth of his first son. Harris holds a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in international relations and affairs from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(2013) and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in international peace and conflict resolution from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

(2016).

Career

''Borders''

From 2017 to 2019, Harris produced and hosted ''Borders'', a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

series on ''Vox'' that profiled sociopolitical issues in various

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

regions worldwide. It was twice nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

. The series was cancelled in 2020 likely due to budgeting considerations.

Freelance

On November 9, 2021, Harris was credited as the video producer on an opinion piece published in ''

'', titled "Blue States, You're the Problem". It later won an Emmy Award. On December 15, 2024, Harris posted a video attributing the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

largely to NATO expansion, a viewpoint that a

Kyiv Independent ''The Kyiv Independent'' is an English-language Ukrainian online newspaper founded in November 2021, three months before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, by former staff of the ''Kyiv Post'' and media consultancy Jnomics Media. The online ...

reporter argued aligns with

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

and omits historical context. The author argues that this was a microcosm of Harris' tendency in "prioritizing sensationalism over facts and disregarding history," especially regarding NATO and Russia. Furthermore,

Jonathan Jarry Jonathan Jarry is a Canadian scientist and Science education, science communicator working in Montreal, at McGill University's Office for Science and Society (OSS). He is frequently quoted by news media on topics such as misinformation. Educatio ...

has criticized Harris' coverage of scientific, historical, and economic issues for oversimplifying or misrepresenting facts or omitting key details. Jarry had condemned Harris for a video that was written with the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

for only disclosing the partnership at the end of the video, claiming that the purpose of the video was not for education nor journalism, but for advertising.

Personal life

Harris is married and has two sons with his wife.

References

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Johnny 1988 births Living people 21st-century American journalists Actors with dyslexia American documentary filmmakers American male journalists American people of Welsh descent American Mormon missionaries in Mexico American University alumni American writers with disabilities Brigham Young University alumni Educational and science YouTubers Former Latter Day Saints Nebula content creators People from Ashland, Oregon People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Writers with dyslexia YouTube filmmakers YouTubers from Oregon