A brief situational analysis on the National Geographic organization.

1. National
Geographic
Society
~ A Situational
Analysis ~ Group
Members:
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Andrew 0304490
Jaden
Eleanor- 0304420
Jacinta
Hannah 0304878

2. National Geographic Societ
• Aim is to inspire people to ‘care about their planet’.
• Areas of interest are geography, archaeology, natural
science along with the promotion of environmental and
historical conservation as well as the study of world
culture and history.
• Got a variety of magazines, documentaries, videos, one
channel and one expanding website.
• One of the largest, non-profit scientific and
educational institution in the world.

3. Brief background
 NGS Founded: January 13, 1888, Washington
D.C.
 By group of eminent citizens who wished to
promote geographic research as well as the
popular distribution of the results of such
research.
 Gardiner Greene Hubbard – First Society
President.

4.  The NGS began with publishing magazines and its first
issue titled ‘National Geographic’ appeared in October and
was sent to 200 charter members. It was published
occasionally until monthly publication began in Januar y
1896.
 In 1897, Alexander Graham Bell took the helm.
 He wanted Changes: In editorial policy to make popular,
and a full-time editor required.
 In 1899, Gilber t H. Grosvenor accepted the editorship
offer from Bell.

5. Changes by Grosvenor:
 Stylistic changes for the magazine, including
eliminating academic jargon, keeping
sentences short and punchy, replacing
scholarly formality and detachment with
engaging first-person narrative, and most
significantly, introducing photographs,
gaining 11,000 regular subscribers by 1906.

6.  NGS also began its sponsorship of high-profile exploratory,
archaeological, and naturalistic expeditions, for example – It
contributed $1,000 to the Arctic expedition led by Commander Robert
E. Peary in 1906 who then became the first documented explorer to
reach the North Pole in 1909.
 By the mid-1990s, the Society had sold more than four million home
videos. It later signed an agreement with cable station WTBS to
produce a weekly documentary series, N tio na l G e o g ra p hic Ex p lo re r.
a
 Entering 21st Century: Three magazines, programs for television and
home video, an expanding web site, and two freestanding retail stores
in Washington, D.C., along with a new cable, a new magazine and
international television channels under development.

7.  National Geographic Channel: Launched in
1997 (UK,EU and AUS)
 2001 - US joint with Fox Cable Networks
 Then National Geographic Channel HD was
launched in US January 2006.
 Come a long way since 1888 with 1 magazine
to world’s popular and reliable source of
information.

8.  NatGeo 1st Issue Text orientated, articles written in dry, academic
style and no illustration.
 Alexander Graham Bell needed a change in the editorial policy.
 These changes influenced by economic and social factors : to
improve the bad financial situation and to up its popularity in society.
 Articles were made readable without losing educational value
 Photographs were introduced into the magazine.
 Used for Impact they can give
 Began the era of photojournalism

9.  Great Depression
 Move towards television due to decreased readership (economic factor)
 Signing with WTBS
 National Geographic Explorer (technological factor)
 1990s : Collaborated with Lucasfilm and Apple Computer (technological
factor)
 Multimedia packaged “GTV”
 Used in middle school and includes interactive lessons on U.S. History.
 National Geographic Channel (technological and social factor)
 Launched in UK,Europe and Australia (Sept 1997)
 Asia (July 1998)
 United States (Jan 2001)
 Audience awareness in U.S. needed a lot of work due to competitor Discovery
Channel

10.  National Geographic Television and Film (2003)
 Mix results
 Large formats IMAX films were introduced and was successful.
 NatGeo had to generate new content without losing educational
value
 Targets younger generations to create awareness
 By 2006 , National Geographic
 Foreign publishing partners began mixing local interest articles
 Aspects transitioned from bring the world to America and vice versa
Thus changes influenced by:
 Economy
 Techonology

11. Interpretation
The Old:
• National Geographic embodies a wide range of traits and ideals, from
old to new.
• Helped to sponsor popular traveling exhibits such as the "King Tut"
exhibit featuring magnificent artifacts from the tomb of the Egyptian
Pharaoh, which toured in several American cities, ending its U.S.
showing at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
• Another National Geographic exhibit called ‘The Cultural Treasures of
Afghanistan’ opened at the National Gallery of Art in Washington in
May 2008; travelled around the US for next 18 months.
• They stopped photo journalism for the time being after Kodak
stopped producing Kodachrome film, in which some of National
Geographic’s most memorable pictures were captured.

12. The New:
 Back in 2010, they introduced the National Geographic Interactional Edition to
the iPad, which allowed them to connect with an entirely new generation – our
generation.
 They have also thrown in their support for the various fields of modern science –
cryptozoology, anthropology and archaeology; in fact, NG’s CEO, John Fahey
states that National Geographic tries to only take a position on issues backed by
strong scientific support, such as global warming, a topic that’s received much
coverage in the magazine.
 The magazine also covered the Human Genome Project in 2007, which tries to
determine the origins and path of human migration.
 NG is very supportive of geology and exploration worldwide, as evidenced by
their two awards – the Hubbard and Alexander Graham Bell medal, both given
to distinguished contributors of exploration and geology respectively.

13. National Geographic has also helped sponsor numerous research projects over the
years, with examples being:
 Jacques-Yves Cousteau - Undersea exploration
 Xu Xing - Discovery of fossil dinosaurs in China with distinct feathers
 Spencer Wells - The Genographic Project
 Robert Ballard - RMS Titanic (1985) and John F. Kennedy's PT-109 (2002)
discovery
 National Geographic also sponsors the National Geographic Bee, an annual
geographic contest for American middle-school students, as well as an
international geography competition every two years.

14. Conclusion
 National Geographic is living up to its motto to
inspire people to care for their planet.
 Has evolved greatly over the years, and has a
positive impact on society with its
contributions.
 A commendable Media Organization.

15. THANK YOU
 References:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_geographic (Wikipedia)
 http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/image-
collection/#/history_of_photography/ (History of Photography website-National Geographic)
 http://theadventureblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/national-geographic-comes-to-ipad.html (Blog)
 http://www.lb9.uscourts.gov/webcites/10documents/Spencer_NatGeo.pdf (Article)
 http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/31/National-Geographic-Society.html (Reference
for Business Website)
 http://www2.mccombs.utexas.edu/news/pressreleases/fahey07.asp (News story)
 Poole, Robert M. (2004). Explorers House: National Geographic and the World it Made. New York:
Penguin (e-book)
 www.nationalgeographic.com (Official website – National Geographic)