National Geographic

National Geographic, formerly The National Geographic Magazine, is the official

magazine of the National Geographic Society. It has been published continuously since its

first issue in 1888, nine months after the Society itself was founded. It primarily contains

articles about geography, history, and world culture. The magazine is known for its thick

square-bound glossy format with a yellow rectangular border and its extensive use of

dramatic photographs.

The magazine is published monthly, and additional map supplements are also included with

subscriptions. It is available in a traditional printed edition and through an interactive online

edition. On occasion, special editions of the magazine are issued.

As of 2014, the magazine was circulated worldwide in 40 local-language editions and had a

global circulation of 6.8 million per month.[4] Its U.S. circulation is around 3.5 million per

month.[5]

Administration[edit]

The current Editor-in-Chief of the National Geographic Magazine is Susan Goldberg.[1]

Chris Johns is chief content officer. He oversees the print and digital expression of National

Geographic’s editorial content across its media platforms. He is responsible for National

Geographic magazine, News, Books, Traveler magazine, Maps and all digital content with

the exception of National Geographic Kids. He reports to Knell.

Terry B. Adamson, Executive Vice President of the Society and the Society's chief legal

officer, has overall responsibility for the Society's international publications, including the

magazine. He also reports to Knell.

History[edit]

January 1915 cover of The National Geographic Magazine

The first issue of National Geographic Magazine was published in October 1888, nine

months after the Society was founded. Starting with its January 1905 publication of several

full-page pictures of Tibet in 1900–1901, the magazine changed from being a text-oriented

publication closer to a scientific journal to featuring extensive pictorial content, and became

well known for this style. Among its more recent issues, the June 1985 cover portrait of 13-

year-old Afghan girl Sharbat Gula became one of the magazine's most recognizable images.

In the late 1990s, the magazine began publishing The Complete National Geographic, a

digital compilation of all the past issues 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 availability of the compilation. The magazine eventually prevailed in

the dispute, and in July 2009 it resumed publishing a compilation containing all issues

through December 2008. The compilation was later updated to make more recent issues

available, and the archive and digital edition of the magazine are available online to the

magazine's subscribers.

The magazine celebrated its 125th anniversary in October 2013.

Editors-in-chief of the National Geographic Magazine[edit]

Editor (1888-1920)[edit]

John Hyde (October 1888-14 September 1900; Editor-in-Chief: 14 September 1900-February 1903)

Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor (1875-1966) (Editor-in-Chief: February 1903-20 January 1920; Managing Editor: 14 September 1900-February 1903; Assistant Editor: May 1899-14 September 1900)

Editor and president of the National Geographic Society (1920-1967)[edit]

Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor (21 January 1920 – 5 May 1954)

John Oliver LaGorce (1880-1959) (5 May 1954 – 8 January 1957)

Melville Bell Grosvenor (1901-1982) (8 January 1957 – 1 August 1967)

Editor-in-chief (1967-present)[edit]

Frederick Vosburgh (1905-2005) (1 August 1967-October 1970)

Gilbert Melville Grosvenor (1931- ) (October 1970-July 1980)

Wilbur E. Garrett (July 1980-April 1990)

William Graves (April 1990-December 1994)

William L. Allen (January 1995-January 2005)

Chris Johns (1951-) (January 2005–April 2014)

Susan Goldberg (April 2014–present)[1]

[6] [7]

Articles[edit]

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help

improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2014)

During the Cold War, the magazine committed itself to presenting a balanced view of the

physical and human geography of nations 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.

In later years articles became outspoken on issues such as environmental

issues, deforestation, chemical pollution, 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 theme. In recent decades, the

National Geographic Society has unveiled other magazines with different focuses. Whereas

in the past, the magazine featured lengthy expositions, recent issues have shorter articles.

Photography[edit]

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 its

standard of photography. This standard makes it the home to some of the highest-

quality photojournalism in the world. The magazine began to feature color photography in the

early 20th century, when this technology was still rare. During the 1930s, Luis

Marden (1913–2003), a writer and photographer for National Geographic, convinced the

magazine to allow its photographers to use small 35 mm cameras loaded

with Kodachrome film over bulkier cameras with tripods and glass plates. In 1959, the

magazine started publishing small photographs on its covers, later becoming larger

photographs. National Geographic photography has quickly shifted to digital photography for

both its magazine on paper and its website. In subsequent years, the magazine cover, while

keeping its yellow border, shed its oak leaf trim and bare table of contents, for a large

photograph taken from one of the month's articles inside. Issues of National Geographic are

often kept by subscribers for years and re-sold at thrift stores as collectible back-issues. In

2006, National Geographic began an international photography competition with over

eighteen countries participating.

In conservative Muslim countries like Iran and Malaysia, photographs featuring topless or

scantily clad members of primitive tribal societies are often blacked out; buyers and

subscribers often complain that this practice decreases the artistic value of the photographs

for which National Geographic is world-renowned.