National Geographic (formerly The National Geographic Magazine,[3] sometimes branded as Nat Geo[4]) is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners.[5]The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine months after the establishment of the society, but is now a popular magazine. In 1905, it began including pictures, a style for which it became well-known. Its first color photos appeared in the 1910s. During the Cold War, the magazine committed itself to present a balanced view of the physical and human geography of countries beyond the Iron Curtain. Later, the magazine became outspoken on environmental issues.
Topics of features generally concern geography, history, nature, science, and world culture. The magazine is well known for its distinctive appearance: a thick square-bound glossy format with a yellow rectangular border. Map supplements from National Geographic Maps are included with subscriptions, and it is available in a traditional printed edition and an interactive online edition.
As of 1995[update], the magazine was circulated worldwide in nearly forty local-language editions and had a global circulation of at least 6.5 million per month including 3.5 million within the U.S.,[6][7] down from about 12 million in the late 1980s. As of 2015[update], the magazine had won 25 National Magazine Awards.[8]
In 2023, National Geographic laid off all staff writers and announced they would stop U.S. newsstand sales in the next year.[9][10][11]
As of November2024[update], its Instagram page has 280 million followers, the third most of any account not belonging to an individual celebrity.[12] The magazine's combined U.S. and international circulation as of June 30, 2024 was about 1.65 million, with its kids magazines separately achieving a circulation of about 500,000.[13]
History
Front cover from the first edition of The National Geographic Magazine, c.September 1888
The first issue of the National Geographic Magazine was published on September 22, 1888, nine months after the Society was founded. In the first issue, Gardiner Greene Hubbard writes,
The "National Geographic Society" has been organized to "increase and defuse geographic knowledge", and the publication of a Magazine has been determined upon as one means accomplishing these purposes.[14]
It was initially a scholarly journal sent to 165 charter members; in 2010, it reached the hands of 40 million people each month.[15] Starting with its January 1905 publication of several full-page pictures of Tibet in 1900–01, the magazine began to transition from being a text-oriented publication to featuring extensive pictorial content. By 1908 more than half of the magazine's pages were photographs. The June 1985 cover portrait of a 12-year-old Afghan girl Sharbat Gula, shot by photographer Steve McCurry, became one of the magazine's most recognizable images.[16]
National Geographic Kids, the children's version of the magazine, was launched in 1975 under the name National Geographic World.
At its peak in the late 1980s, the magazine had 12 million subscribers in the United States, and millions more outside of the U.S.[2]
In the late 1990s, the magazine began publishing The Complete National Geographic, an electronic collection of every past issue of the magazine. It was then sued over copyright of the magazine as a collective work in Greenberg v. National Geographic and other cases, and temporarily withdrew the compilation. The magazine eventually prevailed in the dispute, and in July 2009 resumed publishing all past issues through December 2008. More recent issues were later added to the collection; the archive and electronic edition of the magazine are available online to the magazine's subscribers.[17]
In September 2022, the magazine laid off six of its top editors.[22] In June 2023, the magazine laid off all of its staff writers, shifting to an entirely freelance-based writing model, and announced that beginning in 2024 it would no longer offer newsstand purchases.[2]
Administration
Editors-in-chief
The magazine had a single "editor" from 1888 to 1920. From 1920 to 1967, the chief editorship was held by the president of the National Geographic Society. Since 1967, the magazine has been overseen by its own "editor" and/or "editor-in-chief". The list of editors-in-chief includes three generations of the Grosvenor family between 1903 and 1980.[23]
Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor (1875–1966): (Editor-in-Chief: February 1903– January 1920; Managing Editor: September 1900 – February 1903; Assistant Editor: May 1899 – September 1900)
John Oliver La Gorce (1879–1959): (May 1954 – January 1957) (president of the society at the same time)
Melville Bell Grosvenor (1901–1982): (January 1957 – August 1967) (president of the society at the same time) (thereafter editor-in-chief to 1977)
Frederick Vosburgh (1905–2005): (August 1967 – October 1970)
Gilbert Melville Grosvenor (born 1931): (October 1970 – July 1980) (then became president of the society)
Wilbur E. Garrett: (July 1980 – April 1990)
William Graves: (April 1990 – December 1994)
William L. Allen: (January 1995 – January 2005)
Chris Johns: (January 2005 – April 2014) (first "editor-in-chief" since MBG)
The first issue of The National Geographic Magazine featuring the oak leaf perimeter and yellow border. c.February 1910
During the Cold War, the magazine committed itself to present a balanced view of the physical and human geography of countries beyond the Iron Curtain. The magazine printed articles on Berlin, de-occupied Austria, the Soviet Union, and Communist China that deliberately downplayed politics to focus on culture. In its coverage of the Space Race, National Geographic focused on the scientific achievement while largely avoiding reference to the race's connection to nuclear arms buildup. There were also many articles in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s about the individual states and their resources, along with supplementary maps of each state. Many of these articles were written by longtime staff such as Frederick Simpich.[27]
After 21st Century Fox acquired controlling interest in the magazine, articles became outspoken on topics such as environmental issues, deforestation, chemicalpollution, global warming, and endangered species. Series of articles were included focusing on the history and varied uses of specific products such as a single metal, gem, food crop, or agricultural product, or an archaeological discovery. Occasionally an entire month's issue would be devoted to a single country, past civilization, a natural resource whose future is endangered, or other themes. In recent decades, the National Geographic Society has unveiled other magazines with different focuses. Whereas the magazine featured lengthy expositions in the past, recent issues have included shorter articles.[28]
Photography
Color photograph of the Taj Mahal. Source: The National Geographic Magazine, March 1921
In addition to being well known for articles about scenery, history, and the most distant corners of the world, the magazine has been recognized for its book-like quality and the high standard of its photography. It was during the tenure of Society President Alexander Graham Bell and editor Gilbert H. Grosvenor (GHG) that the significance of illustration was first emphasized, in spite of criticism from some of the Board of Managers who considered the many illustrations an indicator of an "unscientific" conception of geography. By 1910, photographs had become the magazine's trademark and Grosvenor was constantly on the search for "dynamical pictures" as Graham Bell called them, particularly those that provided a sense of motion in a still image. In 1915, GHG began building the group of staff photographers and providing them with advanced tools including the latest darkroom.[29]
The magazine began to feature some pages of color photography in the early 1930s, when this technology was still in its early development. During the mid-1930s, Luis Marden (1913–2003), a writer and photographer for National Geographic, convinced the magazine to allow its photographers to use the so-called "miniature" 35mm Leica cameras loaded with Kodachrome film over bulkier cameras with heavy glass plates that required the use of tripods.[29] In 1959, the magazine started publishing small photographs on its covers, later becoming larger photographs. National Geographic photography quickly shifted to digital photography for both its printed magazine and its website. In subsequent years, the cover, while keeping its yellow border, shed its oak leaf trim and bare table of contents, to allow for a full-page photograph taken for one of the month's articles. Issues of National Geographic are often kept by subscribers for years and re-sold at thrift stores as collectibles. The standard for photography has remained high over the subsequent decades and the magazine is still illustrated with some of the highest-quality photojournalism in the world.[30] In 2006, National Geographic began an international photography competition, with over eighteen countries participating.[31]
Gallery
Srirangam Temple, India (National Geographic Magazine November 1909)
Supplementing the articles, the magazine sometimes provides maps of the regions visited.[33]National Geographic Maps (originally the Cartographic Division) became a division of the National Geographic Society in 1915. The first supplement map, which appeared in the May 1918 issue of the magazine, titled The Western Theatre of War, served as a reference for overseas military personnel and soldiers' families alike.[34] On some occasions, the Society's map archives have been used by the United States government in instances where its own cartographic resources were limited.[35]PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt's White House map room was filled with National Geographic maps. A National Geographic map of Europe is featured in the displays of the Winston Churchillmuseum in London showing Churchill's markings at the Yalta Conference where the Allied leaders divided post-war Europe.[36]
In 2001, National Geographic released an eight-CD-ROM set containing all its maps from 1888 to December 2000. Printed versions are also available from the National Geographic website.[37]
Language editions
Active
In April 1995, National Geographic began publishing in Japanese, its first local language edition.[38] The magazine is currently published in 29 local editions around the world.[39][27]
Eliza R. Scidmore was the first woman to photograph for The Magazine. Japanese people. 1914.National Geographic English editions from 2015
First UkrainianNational Geographic magazine presentation, 2013
In association with Trends Publications in Beijing and IDG Asia, National Geographic has been authorized for "copyright cooperation" in China to publish the yellow-border magazine, which launched with the July 2007 issue of the magazine with an event in Beijing on July 10, 2007, and another event on December 6, 2007, in Beijing also celebrating the 29th anniversary of normalization of U.S.–China relations featuring former President Jimmy Carter. The mainland China version is one of the two local-language editions that bump the National Geographic logo off its header in favor of a local-language logo; the other one is the Persian version published under the name Gita Nama.[41]
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian version of National Geographic was discontinued effective April 2022. Its publication team then launched the Russian Traveler, which is not associated with the National Geographic brand.[42][43]
Distribution
In the United States, National Geographic is available only to subscribers beginning with the January 2024 issue. For the first 110 years of the magazine's existence, membership in the National Geographic Society was the only way to receive it.[44] Newsstand sales, which began in 1998, ceased in 2023, following a year of layoffs and a shift in focus to digital formats amid the decline of the print media industry.[45][46]
Worldwide editions are sold on newsstands in addition to regular subscriptions. In several countries, such as Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Turkey and Ukraine, National Geographic paved the way for a subscription model in addition to traditional newsstand sales.
Between 1980 and 2011, the magazine has won a total of 24 National Magazine Awards.[48]
In May 2006, 2007, and 2011, National Geographic magazine won the American Society of Magazine Editors' General Excellence Award in the over two million circulation category. In 2010, National Geographic Magazine received the top ASME awards for photojournalism and essay. In 2011, National Geographic Magazine received the top-award from ASME – the Magazine of the Year Award.
In April 2014, National Geographic received the National Magazine Award ("Ellie") for best tablet edition for its multimedia presentation of Robert Draper's story "The Last Chase", about the final days of a tornado researcher who was killed in the line of duty.[49]
In February 2017, National Geographic received the National Magazine Award ("Ellie") for best website.[50]National Geographic won the 2020 Webby Award for News & Magazines in the category Apps, Mobile & Voice.[51]National Geographic won the 2020 Webby Award and Webby People's Voice Award for Magazine in the category Web.[51]
Controversies
On the magazine's February 1982 cover, the pyramids of Giza were altered, resulting in the first major scandal of the digital photography age and contributing to photography's "waning credibility".[52]
The cover of the October 1988 issue featured a photo of a large ivory portrait of a male, whose authenticity, particularly the alleged ice age provenance, has been questioned.[53]
In 1999, the magazine was embroiled in the Archaeoraptor scandal, in which it purported to have a fossil linking birds to dinosaurs. The fossil was a forgery.[54]
In 2010, the magazine's Your Shot competition was awarded to American filmmaker and photographer William Lascelles for a photograph presented as a portrait of a dog with fighter jets flying over its shoulder. Lascelles had in reality created the image using photo editing software.[55]
In March 2018, the editor of National Geographic, Susan Goldberg, said that historically the magazine's coverage of people around the world had been racist. Goldberg stated that the magazine ignored non-white Americans and showed different groups as exotic, thereby promoting racial clichés.[58]
The first issue of The National Geographic Magazinea was published in October 1888 for the cost of fifty cents (USD), with an introductory address by the President of the magazine, Gardiner G. Hubbard.
The first photograph of a natural scene was that of Herald Island in the Arctic, photographed by Assistant Paymaster J. Q. Lovell (USN) aboard the USS Thetis in the July issue of 1890.
The first image photographed (only the second in color, the first being in the same issue) by a woman was in the July 1914 issue by Eliza R. Scidmore, that of a young Japanese boy gazing at a chicken and her newborn hatchlings.
The first use of 35 mm film, produced by Kodak under the brand Kodachrome, was published in the April 1938 issue. The photographs were captured by Bob Moore, that of Austrian dancers and would be the preferred film stock for decades.
Louis and Mary Leakey report on the discovery of Zinjanthropus, a more than 1,750,000 years old man-like species in the Hominin family. Published in the September issue of the magazine.
After astronauts took one of the first color full-disk photos of Earth from space in 1968, Gordon Young wrote an article highlighting the state of pollution on the planet. The article was published in the December 1970 issue, photographed by James P. Blair and marked a shift away from attractive photos and towards photo-journalistically stronger images.
Steve McCurry took the photo that was featured on the June 1985 issue of the magazine, that of Afghan Girl, a twelve year old Afghan refugee in Pakistan named Sharbat Gula. She had green eyes and her picture would become the most recognized photo from National Geographic.
After the Titanic was found in the Atlantic Ocean by Robert Ballard, he wrote the cover story for the December 1985 issue of the magazine titled "How we found the Titanic", documenting his experience.
Seventeen years after her portrait appeared on the cover, Sharbat Gula, the Afghan Girl, was found at the age of twenty nine in the mountains of Afghanistan. Her name was not known until this time.
The first all-digital photography within an article was titled "The Future of Flying", published in the December 2003 issue by Michael Klesius and photographed by Joe McNally. The cover story showcased the F/A-22 Raptor.
In a society sponsored expedition to the North Pole, explorer Robert E. Peary was the first to discover the region on April 6, 1909. The article featured accolades that were received and published in the January 1910 issue of the magazine.
The first flight to the South Pole was a National Geographic Societyg sponsored expedition. On November 29, 1929 Richard E. Byrd flew over the South Pole photographing more than 60,000 square miles of Antarctica from the air, which was featured in the August 1930 issue of the magazine.
The magazine publishes first of many undersea articles by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. The name of the article was called "Fish Men Explore a New World Underwater" and was published in the October issue of 1952.
Jane Goodall starts her expedition and research on chimpanzees in Tanzania, Africa's Gombe Stream Park using funds from National Geographic.g Her findings were published throughout the later half of the 20th century.
Sign-language skills of Koko the gorilla, following six years of National Geographic Society-funded training by Francine Patterson, was reported in the October 1978 issue of the magazine.
In the February 1910 issue, the design of the front cover changed to a yellow oak leaf border illustration featuring a yellow border; with the exception of a few background color and font changes, this would be the primary design through June 1959.
In the December 1959 issue, the word "Magazine" was excluded from the title. In January and February 1960 the publication was called "The National Geographic". By March 1960 the name of the magazine was simply titled National Geographic.
National Geographic Society gives access of photographs, maps, and cartographic details to U.S. PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt to help with the war efforts of WWII.
The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Time is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on March 3, 1923, and for many years it was run by its influential co-founder, Henry Luce.
Men's Health (MH), published by Hearst, is the world's largest men's magazine brand, with 35 editions in 59 countries; it is the bestselling men's magazine on U.S. newsstands.
Nylon is an American multimedia brand and publishing company, which produces a lifestyle magazine that focuses on pop culture and fashion. Its coverage includes art, beauty, music, design, celebrities, technology and travel. Originally a print publication, it switched to an all-digital format in 2017. Its name references New York and London, and it is currently owned by the Bustle Digital Group. The magazine will return to print in 2024.
Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, was the first full-time editor of the National Geographic magazine (1899–1954). Grosvenor is credited with having consolidated the nascent magazine.
New Zealand Geographic is a bi-monthly magazine founded in 1989 and published by Kōwhai Media of Auckland, New Zealand. In the format popularised by National Geographic, it focuses on the biodiversity, geography, and culture of New Zealand, Antarctica, and nearby Pacific Islands. The magazine showcases documentary and editorial photography, and each year runs a national Photographer of the Year competition.
Melville Bell Grosvenor was the president of the National Geographic Society and editor of The National Geographic Magazine from 1957 to 1967. He was the grandson of telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell.
Charles O'Rear is an American photographer and author, known for photographing Bliss, the default wallpaper of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system, and for being a National Geographic photographer from 1971 to 1995.
Gilbert Melville Grosvenor is the former president and chairman of the National Geographic Society, who previously served as the editor of National Geographic magazine. Now largely retired, Grosvenor and his wife Wiley live in Virginia.
Brian Skerry is an American photojournalist and film producer specializing in marine life and ocean environments. Since 1998 he has been a contributing photographer for National Geographic magazine with more than 30 stories to his credit, including seven covers. In 2021 Skerry won a Primetime Emmy Award for his role as producer in the miniseries, Secrets of the Whales.
Christopher P. Baker is a professional travel writer and photographer, adventure motorcyclist, tour leader, and Cuba expert, and the 2008 Lowell Thomas Award 'Travel Journalist of the Year.' He is a contributor to magazines and other publications worldwide, and is the author of travel guidebooks for publishers such as Dorling Kindersley, Lonely Planet, Moon Publications, and National Geographic.
Stephen Alvarez is an American photojournalist. He is founder and president of the Ancient Art Archive, a global initiative to record, preserve, and share high-resolution images of ancient artwork. Throughout his career, he has produced global stories about exploration and culture. He became a National Geographic photographer in 1995. His pictures have won awards in Pictures of the Year International and Communications Arts and have been exhibited at Visa Pour L’Image International Photojournalism Festival in Perpignan, France.
Edwin S. Grosvenor is a writer, photographer, and President and Editor-in-Chief of American Heritage. He has published nine books and is best known for writing on his great-grandfather, Alexander Graham Bell, including two books and several magazine articles. Early in his career, Grosvenor worked as a freelance photographer for National Geographic, completing 23 assignments. He has been interviewed on History Channel, CBS News Sunday Morning, AARP Radio, AP Radio, CBC, NBC Radio Network, NPR, and Voice of America, and has lectured at the Smithsonian Institution, Boston Museum of Science, and other venues.
Joel Sartore is an American photographer focusing on conservation, speaker, author, teacher, and long-time contributor to National Geographic magazine. He is the head of The Photo Ark, a 25-year project to document the approximately 12,000 species living in the world's zoos and wildlife sanctuaries.
Paul Nicklen is a Canadian photographer, film-maker, author and marine biologist.
National Geographic Partners, LLC is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the namesake non-profit scientific organization National Geographic Society. The company oversees all commercial activities related to the Society, including magazine publications and television channels. The company's board of managers is evenly divided between the Society and Disney.
Bill Curtsinger is an American photographer and writer who publishes on underwater photography and natural history subjects. Curtsinger has photographed thirty-five articles, including six cover stories for National Geographic and a cover story for Life. His photos have also appeared in Smithsonian, Natural History, various scientific journals, and a number of books worldwide.
B. Anthony Stewart was an American photographer with National Geographic. Stewart is known for having the first image featured on the cover of the magazine, that of the 49-star flag of the United States after Alaska's admission to the Union as a U.S. state. He is credited with more than one-hundred photos in the publication, five of which were featured on the cover.
↑ Beatty, Luke (January 2018). "Evolving one of the world's most iconic, recognizable brands: National Geographic". brandfolder.com. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2023. Our formal brand name is National Geographic and that is what we use. Of course, we recognize that a lot of our consumers call us "Nat Geo," and that's fine. We use "Nat Geo" primarily in the digital space, where character count is at a premium.
↑ "National Geographic Boilerplates". National Geographic Press Room. National Geographic Society. April 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2016. Published in English and nearly 40 local-language editions, National Geographic magazine has a global circulation of around 6.7 million.
1 2 Wentzel, Volmar K (1998). "GILBERT HOVEY GROSVENOR, FATHER OF PHOTOJOURNALISM". Cosmos Club. Archived from the original on February 24, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2015. Photographs had unquestionably become the Magazine's trademark. They confirmed GHG's conviction, "If the National Geographic Magazine is to progress, it must constantly improve the quality of its illustrations..." At first he borrowed, then bought and probably would have stolen "dynamical" photographs, if in 1915 he had not engaged Franklin L. Fisher as his Chief of Illustrations.
↑ "Milestone Photos". Photo Galleries Celebrating 125 Years. National Geographic Society. 2013. Archived from the original on June 29, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
↑ "National Geographic". apollostrategiccomms.com. Apollo Strategic communications agency. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
↑ "Maps". nationalgeographic.com. National Geographic. Archived from the original on June 29, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
↑ Howard, Brian Clark (May 1, 2014). "National Geographic Wins National Magazine Awards". NGS. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on June 29, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2016. The annual National Magazine Awards are considered the premier awards for magazine journalism and are administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Winners were announced at a dinner in New York.
↑ "Firsts and Frontiers". fieldnotes.nationalgeographic.org. National Geographic. April 23, 2018. Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
Stephanie L. Hawkins, American Iconographic: "National Geographic," Global Culture, and the Visual Imagination, University of Virginia Press, 2010, 264 pages. A scholarly study of the magazine's rise as a cultural institution that uses the letters of its founders and its readers; argues that National Geographic encouraged readers to question Western values and identify with others. ISBN978-0-8139-2966-8
Catherine A. Lutz and Jane L. Collins. Reading National Geographic. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1993. A foundational work in the field of visual anthropology. In 1915, Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor announced seven principles which would guide National Geographic. These included a call for absolute accuracy and objective reporting of important issues. Nothing controversial or partisan would be included. The emphasis would be on the photographs themselves.
Robert M. Poole, Explorers House: National Geographic and the World it Made, 2004; reprint, Penguin Press, 2006. ISBN978-0-14-303593-0
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