Johnny Harris: A Story of YouTube Propaganda

A story about Johnny Harris, propaganda and misinformation on YouTube.

*Chapters*
0:00 Introduction
0:40 1. A Journalist Who Hates the News
03:48 2. "How China Became So Powerful"
08:31 3. The World Economic Forum, the Davos Summit and the "Great Reset"
15:40 Surfshark VPN Spot
17:19 4. Brand Deals, Sponsorships and Misinformation
22:44 5. From Journalism to Propaganda
29:13 6. The Golden Age of Misinformation

*Some Copy about the Video for the YouTube Algorithm*

In this month's video, we're looking at a couple of videos by journalist Johnny Harris (Vox Borders), particularly a recent video by Harris called "How China Became So Powerful", which was produced in partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF). I use the story of Johnny Harris' partnership with the WEF as a jumping-off point for discussing the growing tide of propaganda and misinformation on social media sites such as YouTube.

In particular, I'm interested in using the example of Harris as a means of discussing the various dangers of independent journalism coming into contact with the so-called "influencer economy" and how this might leave such journalism open to distortion by bad actors.

Along the way, we also touch upon what the shady activities of the World Economic Forum (organisers of the annual Davos Summit in which Heads of State meet with representatives from some of the richest corporations in the world) and their current initiative the "Great Reset", which has been jumped upon by conspiracy theorists but is actually a vague attempt to rebrand capitalism as being able to solve inequality and the climate emergency (rather than being their cause).

We also very briefly touch upon the notions of "shareholder capitalism" and "stakeholder capitalism" which Harris discusses in his "How China Became So Powerful" before considering what Harris' partnership with the World Economic Forum might have in common with attempts by the Chinese Government to spread its own propaganda on this platform.

If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing.

Thanks for watching!

#johnnyharris #propaganda #tomnicholas

[johnnyharris]

Hey there so I finally watched your video. You raise some strong points (I had only seen the thumbnail when someone sent it to me and figured it was a conspiracy theory about me.) I’m deleting my original comment cuz it’s snarky and undermining. Not warranted for what seems like a well constructed set of arguments against my WEF video.
You raise useful points about ethics and journalism in a YouTube context.
The short answer to your concerns is that 1. I may not agree with you on where the ethical line is in journalism and working with think tanks to tell stories I feel are compelling.
And 2. The video I made with the WEF was the product of me having read a pre order copy of the book (cuz I like books like this) and pitching the WEF on sponsoring a video on the topic of the duck graph. They agreed. I made the video. They didn’t write the script. They didn’t see the script. They didn’t have any creative or editorial influence in the work. They did really solid research and analysis for their book and I wanted to make a video that unpacked it. I think it’s reasonable if you disagree with my decision. But I feel comfortable having done this work.
Overall, I’m impressed with your writing and presentation skills in this vid. Well researched and connecting useful dots to make your point. You have a new sub!

[TheWinterscoming]

Nestle "stopping slavery would make chocolate more expensive" is pushing for an improved world? Have they considered shutting down?

[aprofondir]

I think it's kinda funny how "propaganda" to Westerners often just means "a country's government (always another country though, never us!) serving a narrative to blissfully ignorant people" and never even consider uh, free market corporate propaganda. This is why I think this video is very important - with all the smugness I see with Americans laughing at the "propagandized", they often don't realize they're being sold something.

[gianlatorre]

This is why I give more trust to Youtubers with sponsors like Raid: Shadow Legends...

[alyahyai]

Having seen Harris’s videos on China, Qatar’s World Cup, WEF & many others I confirm that his channel is well-crafted propaganda machine

[meredithwhite]

World Economic Forum = Do the bare minimum required to keep the people from revolting.

[bjornbjornson]

I watched the “How China got so Powerful” video a few weeks ago as well, and found it to be strange. As soon as he started talking about “stakeholder capitalism” I was like, bro this is straight up corporate propaganda isn’t it? And the World Economic Forum sponsor confirmed it.

Thank you for making a video about this. Blatant propaganda like this needs to be challenged and debunked.

[lucascheiring]

I came into this thinking: “Who’s that brat talking sh*t about one of my favourite creators?”
And I came out of it thinking: “Damn, this guy is smart and i should really level up my critical thinking when it comes to handsome hipsters who share my map fetish.”

Great Job, Tom!

[WLTR_]

I’ve always disliked Johnny Harris’s videos, not only because I’m a big history fan, because he sees these videos, comment on them saying he understands the points and apologizes, and promises to change, but the misinformation and propaganda CONTINUES, that’s what I hate about him.

[boysenbeary]

World Economic Forum: “How do you do fellow proletariat?”

[tristanneal]

Ngl you were alot more generous to Harris then I would've been. The whole "a text version of this was listed on their website where he wasn't even the primary author" was just SO shady

[byrongsmith]

Davos: where the world's richest go to pretend to have a conscience.

Great summary.

[the_abumuailek]

As a "traditional" journalist, I always laugh at all those videos and discussions about the downfall of mainstream media, when, in fact, "alternative" media, such as podcasts, youtube content creators, and digital news platforms are EXACTLY mimicking the modus operandi of MSM media, from the agenda-setting, to subtle political messaging, and income acquisition and sponsorship deals.

One final thing: I covered 2 Davos Summits, and I can tell you: it's a MASSIVE PR fest that every company worth its shares is keen on attending, and I've seen political/news content creators from all over the world rubbing shoulders with CEOs and politicians. No way in hell are you going to convince me that those impressionable teens/zoomers, who mostly sit at home and make videos, aren't going to be swayed and ideologically influenced by veteran capitalists and career politicians, whose entire careers are built on convincing millions of voters that their points of view are the correct ones.

[happyperson]

I think this is a good reminder to be skeptical of most things, even if its coming from someone you think you generally agree with or like.

[MrElionor]

"The Great reset" it's like they were trying to spur on conspiracy theories

[Vaffulz]

I've been subscribed to Johnny for a while now, and I tend to really like what he has to say and the way he says it but yeah, that China Video was a yikes

[gianb]

I was particularly shocked by his portrayal of medieval Europe in one of his recent videos. It's not propaganda, but it's a rewrite of history that spreads misinformation, which according to him, is for "story-telling purposes"

[AliceCappelle]

Can't wait to hear Harris' response to this brilliant analysis, I want the drama

[AhsanteB]

I'm a big fan of Johnny Harris's work, and this is the best call out I think I've ever seen. Civil, thoughtful, with very valid points and without any aggression. The bottom line is that it's incredibly important to be up-front about your relationship with funders, especially within journalism.

[samuelschonenberger]

I remember that video striking me the wrong way especially when he stops talking about China
The mention of the World Economic Furum only makes it worse. As a Swiss guy, I never liked the idea that we basically gift a village to an international organization to host the global elite so that these guys can fulfil their yearly quota of pretending to care