Journalists’ Brexit Freak Out: Britain ‘Broken Beyond Repair,’ Blame Xenophobia

Sam Dorman
June 24th, 2016 2:11 PM
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Warning: Story includes explicit content.

The UK’s surprising decision to exit the European Union brought out typical sneering from journalists, as well as warnings that the decision would bring gloom and doom to the country.

Business Insider Finance Editor Lianna Brinded warned Britain was “beyond repair,” and the worst was “yet to come.”

Fellow Business Insider editor Julie Bort tweeted out Brinded’s article, with an apocalyptic picture:

Business Insider wasn’t the only outlet predicting calamity as a result of Brexit. New York Times writer Roger Cohen said Brexit was a "colossal leap in the dark," while columnist Paul Krugman told readers to "grieve for Europe." 

Fusion’s Senior Editor Felix Salmon similarly wrote that he was “grieving” because “the world of hope, the world of ever-closer union among countries which for centuries would kill each other by the million” ended with Brexit.

Salmon's headline declared, “With a single vote, England just screwed us all.” Several journalists retweeted that article.

Plenty of others in the media hyped the “risk” of Brexit, too:
 

Outside of fear, there was loathing from journalists. A New York Times editorial from June 24, described Britain as “vulnerable nationalist, antiglobalization and anti-immigrant sentiments.”

“Will the British precedent embolden other xenophobic movements, weakening the remaining union?” editors asked.

Besides Bort claiming the "ignorant are officially running the world" and Salmon saying the Brexit referendum was "idiotic,"  several journalists tweeted insults, with some blaming Brexit on ignorant or prejudiced voters.