You won’t be able to pick up the monthly issue of National Geographic at the store come next year.
The 135-year-old publication will still be printed each month but will only be available by mail subscription or digitally, The Associated Press reported.
The company will still sell special editions at newsstands.
The change is happening as National Geographic plans to focus on its digital products. Newsstand sales account for only a small amount of its roughly 1.8 million monthly circulation, according to the company.
National Geographic is currently owned by the Walt Disney Corp. after the entertainment company purchased 20th Century Fox in 2019. It has been impacted by the financial issues hitting most media companies and laid off several staff members, including doing away with the position of “writer.”
Craig Welch, a senior writer with National Geographic, shared that he had received the newest issue last week that featured his 16th and last article as a senior writer.
“NatGeo is laying off all of its staff writers,” Welch wrote on Twitter.
My new National Geographic just arrived, which includes my latest feature—my 16th, and my last as a senior writer.
— Craig Welch (@CraigAWelch) June 28, 2023
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
Other former staff members’ tweets were shared by Welch.
Today I'm celebrating my last day @NatGeo - it's def been a fascinating 2 and a half years working with some of the most talented editors, writers photographers, storytellers of the world. I've been so lucky to have worked on the #OverheardNatGeo podcast with such an amazing team pic.twitter.com/VrV3xigCg9
— Eli Chen 陳歆 (@StoriesByEli) June 27, 2023
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
Magazine officials said that no staff members have the title “writer,” but they do have people who are both writers and editors. They will also use non-staffers to write stories after the company’s reorganization in April, the AP reported.
“National Geographic will continue to publish a monthly magazine that is dedicated to exceptional multi-platform storytelling with cultural impact,” National Geographic spokesman Chris Albert told the AP. “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,” he added.
