What is your reaction to the National Geographic Magazine being sold to the FOX News conglomerate?

I guess Murdoch has to do something to replace his Page 3 girls. ~

Can we hope that National Geographic will class-up FOX News, rather than Fox News dragging the venerable magazine down to its own level?

It wasn’t sold to Fox News, it was sold to 21st Century Fox (sorta, Fox now has a large stake in, but not total ownership of, National Geographic). While the 21st Century Fox group owns Fox News it would be a mistake to conflate the two. 21st Century Fox owns a shit ton of media and entertainment properties, most of which are basically apolitical. Besides, the National Geographic Society and 21st Century Fox (and its predecessor) have been in partnership for nearly 20 years now. I don’t suspect anything substantial will change about National Geographic.

@Darth_Algar Oh thank god! I was afraid I could no longer trust NG.

@Darth_Algar Thank you for the clarification. I am a bit relieved.

When I was 11–12 years old, I paged through National Geographic each month looking for pictures of naked women from African or South American tribes, to satisfy my adolescent curiosity.

Somewhere in the last couple of decades, NG decided to become politically sensitive and not print pictures of native women in situ, presumably to kow-tow to the parents who didn’t want their kids to see how the natives really lived.

So while I still get the magazine – some of the articles are interesting – every year when I get the renewal notice, I wonder if it’s worth it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Fox tried to influence NG; if that’s the case, I won’t renew.

@elbanditoroso

I just went through my dad’s stash of Playboy and Penthouse for that.

In all seriousness, the stockholders of 21st Century Fox have one priority – profit. Sure, they own Fox News. They also own properties like FX, which is known for shows like The Shield and Sons of Anarchy (hardly shows pushing conservative Christian family values). They understand the value of brand image, and National Geographic is a long established and highly valuable brand. They’re not going to start altering what makes that brand so popular. The Fox News (which is itself is own particular brand) folks aren’t going to start editorializing National Geographic Magazine.

Not that many years ago, the entire Fox “empire” was held by News Corporation. I believe the entity spun-out into 21st Century Fox and “new” News Corporation.

No matter how you slice it, it’s still baloney.

@Darth_Algar I sure hope your assessment is spot on.

My two main concerns are:
first, that 21st Century Fox will demand a sizable increase in the subscription price that makes it too expensive for those who benefit from it the most. And
second, that they will force the implementation of major changes to NG’s iconic cover and content layout (sharp reduction in color photography) in order to cut costs.

@sahID I can envision it becoming a tabloid (think The Sun) type periodical and I shudder at the very thought of it.

Why would it become a tabloid?

This is what I think about when I see a Fox Network NatGeo.

WARNING Terrifying, should not be viewed by those weak of mind or subject to night sweats.

Update: about 180 employees let go on day one of the new ownership. Not a promising sign.