National Geographic, the widely read magazine in the United States (US), has laid off its remaining staff writers.
The magazine spokesperson confirmed that the Walt Disney Co-owned magazine vows to publish monthly issues despite the latest job cuts.
National Geographic Lays Off Remaining Staff Writers
This photo reviewed by the US military and made during an escorted visit shows an issue of the National Geographic Magazine with the famous Steve McCurry photo of an Afghan girl on its front page, being scratched by a detainee, seen at the library in "Camp Echo" detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, April 9, 2014.
As per The Washington Post, the National Geographic magazine remains the most-read title in the US. However, the publication, which dived into the vibrant realm of science and the natural world, needed help to keep up with the digital era.
And now, the Nat Geo mag is the latest casualty of Disney's series of job cuts within the company. A total of 19 editorial staff, which the firm notified about the layoff last April, lost their jobs.
Besides the editorial staffers, the latest round of layoffs also dismantled the audio department of the magazine. According to CNN, some former magazine writers shared their last day of the publication.
In his recent tweet, the former Nat Geo science writer Michael Greshko announced his departure. He wrote, "Today is my last day at National Geographic." He further disclosed that "the magazine is parting ways with its staff writers."
Meanwhile, another ex-writer of the magazine, Nina Strochlic, also took to Twitter to share that she is part of "the last-ever class of staff writers" in the widely read publication.
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Freelancers to Take Over?
The National Geographic spokesperson Chris Albert confirmed that they would continue to publish their monthly issues as freelancers replace their former staff writers. And as such, the magazine, with roughly 1.7 million subscribers, will now contract freelancers to continue moving forward.
The spokesperson says, "Staffing changes will not change our ability to do this work." And instead, the layoffs give the publication "more flexibility to tell different stories."
On top of that, the spokesperson dismissed insinuations, suggesting that removing all its staff writers will affect the quality of their storytelling. The magazine spokesperson says it is "simply incorrect."
As Deadline reports, the first-ever issue of the National Geographic Magazine debuted in 1888. Initially, the issues only contained text. But in 1905, things changed remarkably when Nat Geo started publishing photos.
WaPo notes that National Geographic peaked in the late 1908s, amassing roughly 12 million subscribers in the US alone, alongside millions more in other parts of the world.
However, several decades after, with the boom of the digital age, fewer people are reading magazines. In 2022, Alliance for Audited Media's data shows that the subscribers of National Geographic dwindled to only 1.8 million.
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