KazPost

Kazakhstan News
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

"Abuse, Guilt": Boris Johnson Drops Hint On Why He Left Journalism

"Abuse, Guilt": Boris Johnson Drops Hint On Why He Left Journalism

Johnson, 56, has displayed a colourful, sometimes combative speaking and writing style both as a journalist and as a politician.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested on Tuesday that he had left journalism for politics, because in his original profession he often found himself abusing people in print.

Johnson, 56, has displayed a colourful, sometimes combative speaking and writing style both as a journalist and as a politician, a trait which has fuelled many controversies during his three decades in the public eye.

"When you're a journalist, it's a great, great job. It's a great profession. But the trouble is that you always, sometimes, you find yourself always abusing people, attacking people," he said during a visit to a school on Tuesday.

"Not that you want to abuse and attack them, but you are being critical. You're being critical when maybe you feel sometimes a bit guilty about that because you haven't put yourself in the place of the person you're criticising."

Johnson concluded his off-the-cuff remarks by suggesting that it was those aspects of journalism that had driven him to give politics a go instead.

The opposition Labour Party said Johnson should apologise to journalists.

"We know from Donald Trump that these kind of assaults on the free press are dangerous and designed to stir up distrust and division," said Labour's media policy chief, lawmaker Chris Matheson.

"For Boris Johnson to say journalists are 'always abusing people' probably says more about his own career," he added.

As a young man, Johnson was sacked from his first job in journalism, at the Times newspaper, for making up a quote.

He went on to have a successful career at the Daily Telegraph, where he made his name as a Brussels correspondent lambasting the European Union in vivid if not always entirely accurate prose.

He later pursued parallel media and political careers as editor of the Spectator magazine and as a member of parliament.

Even in more recent years, when he has focused more on successive political jobs as mayor of London, foreign affairs minister and prime minister, he has written frequent newspaper columns in his trademark style.

In the latest of a series of similar examples, he caused a major public row with a 2018 column in which he likened Muslim women wearing burqas to letter boxes and bank robbers.
Newsletter

Related Articles

KazPost
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
An Ominous Shift in Warfare: Western Powers Risk War Crimes and Violate International Norms with Cluster Bomb Supply to Ukraine
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
Corruption in the European Parliament - Business as usual
UK Crypto and Stablecoin Regulations Become Law as Royal Assent is Granted
Paris Suburb Grapples with Violence as Curfew Imposed: Saint-Denis Residents Express Dismay and Anger
A Delaware city wants to let businesses vote in its elections
Alef Aeronautics Achieves Historic Milestone with Flight Certification for World's First Flying Car
Google Blocked Access to Canadian News in Response to New Legislation
French Politicians Advocate for Pan-European Regulation on Social Media Influencers
×