New Delhi: One of the oldest science and natural world magazines, National Geographic, has laid off the last of its 19 staff writers and will reportedly go off newsstands in the US from next year.
Known for its iconic yellow-bordered cover, National Geographic had around 12 million US subscribers during its peak in the 1980s and millions more across the world. But, according to estimates made by the Alliance for Audited Media, the magazine had less than 1.8 million subscribers by the end of 2022.
The recent layoffs, which took place Wednesday, is the second round of terminations in the past nine months and the fourth since the 135-year-old magazine saw a series of ownership changes. The magazine was sold to 21st Century Fox in 2015 and came under The Walt Disney Company following its acquisition of the former in 2019.
In September last year, the magazine had terminated its six top editors in a bid to reorganise editorial operations.
The 19 writers who were laid off Wednesday were informed about the terminations in April. The layoffs also did away with the magazine’s small audio department.
According to The Washington Post, the company will carry out future assignments with the help of freelance writers and the last remaining editors in the natural history magazine.
The layoffs have also impacted the magazine’s contract with several photographers, who worked for months on the field and were responsible for its iconic story-telling visuals.
In a tweet Wednesday, National Geographic writer Craig Welch said, “My new National Geographic just arrived, which includes my latest feature — my 16th, and my last as a senior writer…”
My new National Geographic just arrived, which includes my latest feature—my 16th, and my last as a senior writer.
NatGeo is laying off all of its staff writers.
I’ve been so lucky. I got to work w/incredible journalists and tell important, global stories. It’s been an honor. pic.twitter.com/VOt6KydD5Z
— Craig Welch (@CraigAWelch) June 28, 2023
Writer and editor Nina Strochlic also took to Twitter to express her grief on leaving the organisation.
It’s been an epic run, @NatGeo. My colleagues and I were unbelievably lucky to be the last-ever class of staff writers—certainly the coolest job I’ll ever have, and possibly among the coolest to ever exist. Now onto the next thing! Open to all weird/fun/interesting ideas. pic.twitter.com/aFNPRSDyt0
— Nina Strochlic (@NinaStrochlic) June 28, 2023
In a statement to CNN, National Geographic Spokesperson Chris Albert said, “Staffing changes will not change our ability to do this work, but rather give us more flexibility to tell different stories and meet our audiences where they are across our many platforms. Any insinuation that the recent changes will negatively impact the magazine, or the quality of our storytelling, is simply incorrect.”
The magazine was initially making profits, along with two flagship channels, National Geographic and Nat Geo Wild, run by its parent company.
Media layoffs
National Geographic, however, is one among many media outlets shaken by mass layoffs. In November last year, CNN let go hundreds of its employees across different locations. The media house fired 350 workers in its second round of layoffs, also last year, after abandoning the $100 million streaming service CNN+ just three weeks after launch.
Shortly after that, Jonah Peretti, CEO of Buzzfeed, had also announced terminating the contracts of 12 per cent of its digital workforce, approximately 200 people, in December last year. Online platform Vice Media similarly fired about a dozen of its employees and went into bankruptcy in May this year. It had previously laid off 250 employees in 2019.
Also read: Writer’s strike hits small businesses in LA and beyond, Hollywood economy suffers