National Geographic is firing more writers
National Geographic, the science and nature magazine that has sent its writers and photographers to explore and document some of the remotest corners of the planet for more than a century, this week laid off more writers and other staff in a round of layoffs. announced that April.
The layoffs are the second in the past year at the Washington-based magazine, after several top editors were fired in September. , Los Angeles Times, Vox Media and The Washington Post.
The company that manages the publication, National Geographic Partners, said in a statement Thursday that National Geographic “will continue to publish a monthly magazine dedicated to exceptional cross-platform stories with cultural impact.”
“Staff changes won’t change our ability to do this work, but rather give us more flexibility to tell different stories and meet our audience where they are across our many platforms,” the company said, without specifying the number of people who gets fired. “Any insinuation that the recent changes will negatively impact the magazine, or the quality of our stories, is simply false.”
Those laid off were notified in April and reached their last week of work at the company this week. The magazine still employs writers and editors, but the company would not say whether they are employed full-time or on a contract basis.
The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society, which owns the magazine and news site, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
The association, a non-profit organization, announced a $725 million deal with 21st Century Fox in 2015, creating a joint for-profit partnership called National Geographic Partners. Fox owned 73 percent of the partnership and the National Geographic Society owned 27 percent. That partnership became part of Disney in 2018 when the conglomerate acquired 21st Century Fox assets in a $71.3 billion deal.
The magazine is still well read at a time when other magazines have lost subscribers or completely folded their print publications. At the end of last year, the magazine had more than 1.7 million subscribers Controlled Media Alliancethat checks publications.
National Geographic, easily identified on newsstands by its yellow border on the cover, continues to report on natural wonders and archaeological finds from places around the world, such as a meeting place for elephants at Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and the ruins of Machu Picchuthe Inca city discovered in Peru in 1911.
Founded in 1888, the magazine grew over the decades from a single magazine to a versatile media outlet with a edition of the magazine for children, a TV channel, podcasts, documentary series and international expeditions.