All Reporters of 135-Year-Old 'National Geographic' Fired

The exploration magazine with a 135-year history, National Geographic, has decided to lay off all its staff reporters and will no longer be sold at newsstands starting next year due to the decline of print media.

The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 28th (local time) that National Geographic has fired all its remaining staff reporters, and from now on, articles will be written by freelancers or editors.

Among those leaving the company this time, 19 editorial staff members of National Geographic were already notified of their layoffs last April, and this reduction in personnel has also led to the disappearance of a small audio department.

Previously, in September last year, the owner Walt Disney Company had laid off six editors through an unusual reorganization of National Geographic's editorial division.

National Geographic announced internally last month that as part of cost-cutting efforts, it will no longer sell printed magazines at newsstands in the United States starting next year. Departing employees also reported that the company reduced photo contracts that allowed photographers to cover stories on-site for several months.

Craig Welch, a reporter for National Geographic, said on Twitter, "The new National Geographic containing my last feature article, my last article as a senior reporter, just arrived," adding, "It was an honor to work with incredibly talented journalists and to tell important and global stories. I was truly lucky."

National Geographic, well known for its yellow-bordered cover, was founded in 1888 by the National Geographic Society of the United States. It grew slowly but steadily, reaching one million subscribers in the 1930s.

It has covered space, the deep sea, and lesser-known parts of the Earth, and during its heyday in the late 1980s, it had 12 million subscribers in the U.S. and millions overseas.

However, this magazine could not escape the wave of digital news and information expansion and the decline of print media. WP evaluated that in the fast-paced world of digital media, National Geographic remained a craftsman’s work focused on photos, graphics, and articles based on months of investigation and reporting.

In 2015, 21st Century Fox acquired a 73% stake in the magazine for $725 million, and in 2019, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, bringing National Geographic under Disney’s umbrella.

Since the ownership change in 2015, there have been a total of four rounds of layoffs, including this one.

Chris Albert, a spokesperson for National Geographic, told WP that the personnel changes will not alter plans to publish the monthly magazine and that "it will rather provide more flexibility to deliver diverse stories across various platforms and engage with our readers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.