Chapter 2 - Journalist

Summary

Arriving at the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1737, Johnson soon plunged into workaday journalism which absorbed a great deal of energy for little pay. After an unsuccessful attempt to leave, he settled to his task, including the labour of composing parliamentary reports without entering Parliament itself. He began to develop an essayistic style, and to establish a certain attitude towards journalism itself: wary of sensationalism and propaganda, but respectful of the functions of the ‘humble author’ in providing harmless entertainment and useful knowledge. This was good preparation for the Rambler series, sometimes seen as the pinnacle of Johnson’s work: an ironic, self-deprecating set of twice-weekly essays, which amounts to a sustained study of human nature and human existence. In his later Idler essays, Johnson introduced a lighter touch, and in his articles for the Literary Magazine, he gave a Johnsonian treatment to such topics as beekeeping and electricity.