During its long and prestigious history, National Geographic magazine has invested incredible resources to track the illegal ivory trade, follow storm chasers and use drones to capture stunning images of lions in the Serengeti.
The iconic publication is now entering into previously unexplored territory with a new business agreement that may raise concerns about the future of its ambitious journalistic pursuits, which are expensive and heavily oriented to climate change and social good.
The National Geographic Society announced Wednesday that it has signed a $725 million deal with 21st Century Fox to create a larger joint venture that lumps together all of National Geographic's media assets, including the iconic magazine. The venture, called National Geographic Partners, expands on an 18-year partnership between the two businesses that previously included only the TV properties.
Importantly, for the first time in its 100-plus-year history, National Geographic's magazine will now operate under a for-profit company -- and one that just happens to be majority owned by 21st Century Fox, the media giant founded by the controversial mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Declan Moore, the new CEO of National Geographic Partners and a longtime exec at the National Geographic Society, repeatedly stressed in an interview with Mashable that he is "confident" the business arrangement will not undermine the magazine's journalism and editorial independence.
"We’re very comfortable with all the provisions that are in place and so is our board with regards to how we will to continue to have that editorial independence that we have always enjoyed and the rich storytelling that we have always done," Moore said by phone.
In particular, he notes that the board of the new business entity will be made up equally of members from 21st Century Fox and the National Geographic Society, despite the fact that the former has a 73% stake of the venture. Moore also expects the Society to maintain "significant authority over the content and branding."
@natgeo photograph by @nickcobbing | An iceberg surrounded by drifting floes of thin sea ice, photographed during a recent expedition to the edge of the Arctic Ocean sea ice, north of Svalbard. In the background is our ship, the Lance, waiting patiently for us to land our tiny helicopter on its deck. Two types of ice underpin the Arctic system: One made on land from compressed snow, the other made from frozen ocean water, this photographs contains a glimpse of both. The story I made from Lance about the sea ice in winter, is being finalised and will appear in National Geographic magazine early next year. A photo posted by National Geographic (@natgeo) on Sep 9, 2015 at 12:54am PDT
Murdoch's reputation with print publications precedes him. He has fought newspaper unions and presided over extensive layoffs at publications like The Wall Street Journal and Sunday Times.
"We're really confident," Moore said, when asked about concerns that history will repeat itself. "That's not their intention to go down that route at all."
“We’re working hard to focus our portfolio on brands that have unquestionable consumer appeal," James Murdoch, Rupert's son and newly named CEO of 21st Century Fox, said in a statement about the agreement. "This expanded partnership, bringing together all of the media and consumer activities under the National Geographic umbrella, one of the most treasured names in the world, creates vast opportunities and enables this business to be even more successful in a digital environment."
National Geographic's award-winning photography has found great success on visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, but top executives see the potential to do more and hope the additional resources and partnership with Fox will make that happen.
"We’ve had great success in the social space in particular for the brand," Moore said. "We know that increasingly folks are sending more time with video and on mobile devices. We want to be able to deliver optimal storytelling experiences across those areas."