• by Sean Hargrave , Staff Writer, February 6, 2020

Most mothers or grandmothers have probably told children they will be known by the company they keep, and that presumably applies to the company they choose not to keep.

It is a very simple lesson Boris Johnson needs to learn -- and he needs to learn it sooner rather than later. That is, of course, assuming he doesn't already know that people will see through his thinly veiled attempt to control the media this week.

One MP came to his aid in the Commons claiming journalists were guilty of "snowflakery" when they complained at Boris' antics, but let's be clear. Boris is trying to split up the press into friends and enemies.

Friends get to stand, literally, on the right side of the rug in Number 10 from which entrance to regular lobby briefings is given. Those who are not friends get to stand on the other side of the rug and are not invited in.

It sounds like a made-up story. However, this is what is reported to have happened this week when journalists assembled for a press briefing and the undesirables were left on the naughty side of the rug.

To their credit, several top tv and newspaper reporters who were invited in boycotted the meeting unless their colleagues were admitted. They were not, and so a chasm has emerged between Boris and the press.

Let's not forget that he refused to have the left-leaning Daily Mirror on the campaign trail in December and even hid in a freezer to avoid tough questions.

He is also alleged to be barring ministers from appearing on BBC Radio 4's "Today" programme. It's the morning news from the BBC and sets the tone for the rest of the day. It is renowned for tough questions from super-smart journalists, and so Boris is not a big fan.

What he is trying to do here is turn British politics and political journalism on its head and go for more of a Trump approach -- where Fox News gets access as long as it keeps pumping out the right kind of messages.

Boris wants to use access to encourage good behaviour and punish those who challenge him by making them stand on the naughty side of a rug inside Number 10, on the side that has to watch the anointed few enter the briefing they are locked out of.

The trouble is, it's not going to work. As this week's walkout demonstrated, he has underestimated how see-through his attempt to control the media is.

Boris needs to be called out on this -- and thankfully he is.

A loyal sycophant can call it "snowflakery," but I think the rest of the media will call it upholding standards and a moral responsibility to speak truth to power, not kowtow to get a seat at the main table.