National Geographic Magazine's Mission Remains Intact

On the evening of March 27, 1930, Hugo Eckener took the rostrum at the National Geographic Society’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to accept the institution’s gold medal. He deserved it: A few months earlier, the German explorer had piloted the first passenger-carrying flight to circumnavigate the globe. Aboard the Graf Zeppelin, Eckener had flown 21 passengers on the 21,500-mile trip in 12 days. The feat generated plenty of media attention—not least from the Hearst newspapers, which had bankrolled the trip. But none could match the astute and extensive coverage of National Geographic, whose story ran for 36 pages. The periodical was only delivering what readers had come to expect since the first issue appeared in 1888. As the publication of record for the society, the magazine manifested its raison d'être, the “dauntless exploration and the increase and diffusion of knowledge to make a positive difference in the world.” The marvel is that this old battleship is still on that mission, 134 years and counting. “Our brand’s goal—to help people better understand the world and their role in it—remains meaningful and distinctive in the media landscape,” Nathan Lump, who became editor in chief in May, told Adweek. Mission aside, today’s National Geographic bears little resemblance to its earliest volumes. For the first 15 years, the magazine was a ponderous house organ. (“The Classification of Geographic Forms by Genesis” was among the first issue’s page-turners.) It would take the ascension of Gilbert Grosvenor to editor in 1903 to make the magazine a popular read. He also made the prose more accessible, adding color photography as early as 1914. On Grosvenor’s watch, the magazine’s subscription base grew from 1,000 to 2 million. Today, it’s around 6 million. Pre-internet generations still recall National Geographic as the magazine that delivered rational, scientific, humanistic reporting right into their mailboxes, from the Apollo moon landing to the discovery of Titanic's wreckage. Climate change may feel like a recent topic, but National Geographic was reporting on it back in 1976. Today, the publication is just one tentacle of National Geographic, a venture between the Society (27% ownership) and Disney (73%) that includes everything from TV networks to branded outerwear. As befits a contemporary publication, National Geographic exists across several social media platforms, counting 350 million followers. The print magazine still comes out once a month—though largely, it seems, for its older readers. “There are people out there who are primed to engage with us but who we’re not going to reach in print—and that’s OK,” Lump said. “If we can help inspire and inform them on TikTok instead, for example, I’m good with that." An apology for the archives “Only what is of a kindly nature is printed about any country or people” might have been Grosvenor’s editorial credo, but held in the cold light of contemporary standards, National Geographic has not always been so when it comes to portrayals of people of color. That was the conclusion reached in 2018 when then-editor Susan Goldberg penned an editorial admitting that, over the preceding century, “our coverage was racist.” Frequently, the Indigenous people of other countries were portrayed as “exotics, famously and frequently unclothed, happy hunters, noble savages—every type of cliché.” The magazine pledged to do better, and Lump said he’d uphold the promise. “We’ll stay focused on ensuring that we are more inclusive in terms of who tells our stories,” he said, “and also that we are more representative in the stories that we tell.” Geographic diversity Longtime editor Gilbert H. Grosvenor (1) turned a dry academic journal into a mass-market read famed for its photos and in-depth reporting. National Geographic’s coverage of the Graf Zeppelin’s 1929 flight around the world (2, 3) ran to 36 pages. Other key topics have included Jacques Cousteau’s deep-sea exploration (4), the Apollo moon landing (5), Robert Ballard's discovery of the Titanic wreckage in 1985 (6) and King Tut’s treasures touring the world (7).

Perspective

In a Post-Truth World, National Geographic Remains 'Dauntless'

The 134-year-old magazine soldiers on in service of scientific fact

Robert Klara

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Robert Klara