This excruciating footage of Boris Johnson shows video journalism at its best

To his credit, on Monday ITV reporter Joe Pike remembered the golden rules of performing an interview to camera

“Did you threaten to overrule him?” asked Jeremy Paxman for the 12th time. The year was 1997, the topic a meeting between prisons chief Derek Lewis and home secretary Michael Howard. As far as terrible and embarrassing interviews go, there are few as well known as that one. More than 20 years later, people still talk about it and it is still the question that Paxman is most famous for.

On Monday, Boris Johnson endured what is likely to be a similarly historic moment.

While asking the prime minister about a photo that emerged over the weekend – of a four-year-old boy suffering with suspected pneumonia, who was forced to lie on a pile of coats during an eight-hour wait at Leeds General Infirmary – ITV reporter Joe Pike remembered one of the golden rules of performing interviews on camera: actions that are not taken, or words that are not said, are as important as those that are.

“Have you seen the photo?” asked Pike. “I’ve been told about it by the BBC,” replied the prime minister, knowing what was coming. “This is the photo,” said Pike, calmly, holding out his phone.

He wanted the prime minister to look at the picture of Jack Williment-Barr; the prime minister would not.

What happened next had to be seen to be believed. Luckily, there was a great big TV camera recording the entire exchange.

After avoiding looking at it for a total of 53 excruciating seconds, Johnson took Pike’s phone from him and put it into his pocket, before continuing with his election script.

“You refuse to look at the photo. You’ve taken my phone and put it in your pocket, prime minister,” said Pike – a sentence surely no journalist ever thought they’ve have to say. Expertly, at this point, the camera operator begins to zoom out, to capture the moment the prime minister returns a journalist’s stolen property.

We were quick to write about the contents of that video at The Independent, and present it to you so you had all the facts (in fairness, Johnson does eventually look at the picture, but only after ignoring it for more than a minute and 20 seconds). We were able to do that because the information was clearly there in front of us, for all to see. What can be more transparent and revealing than an unedited interview with the leader of the nation repeatedly refusing to acknowledge a photo of a suffering child and then making an attempt to put the evidence out of site, in his pocket?

Of course, an on-camera interview such as this risks appearing to be shameless, “gotcha” journalism. On this occasion, it was being used to its full potential: to show a politician being held to account and to take responsibility for the fate of a young, sick child in a British hospital – and to capture their reaction when asked to do just that.

Yours,

Tom Richell

Head of video