National Geographic magazine has been published since 1888 and is known for its book-like quality and photojournalism. It covers scientific and environmental topics from around the world through striking photographs and articles. The magazine aims to educate readers about global issues in a visually engaging way.

1. Research/Notes/planning!
National Geographic Magazine
National Geographic magazine is the official magazine for the National Geographic society. It has
published continuously since its first issue that was released in 1888. The issue in 188 was released
to 200 charter members. In 1898 the now very well-known Alexander Graham Bell assumed National
Geographic society’s president. The magazines copy from 1905 had having several pages on Tibet.
The 11 pages produced by the governor including some shocking scenes of Lhasa in Tibet were seen
to get him fired however the magazine sold copies and he was there for congratulated.
Magazine changed from a text oriented publication to a scientific journal to eventually an extensive
look on pictorial content. Now it has become well known for its style.
During the Cold war the magazine became known for presenting balanced views on physical and
human geography of nations beyond Iron Curtain. It was formally focused on scientific achievement
however now looks at several aspects such as Deforestation, Chemical pollution, Global warming,
endangered species and the environment.
The magazine recognised for its book like quality and high quality photojournalism. The magazine is
well known globally and has the magazine in many languages such as English, Arabic, Bulgarian,
Chinese, Croatian, German, Greek, Finnish, Japanese and Hungarian to name a few.
In October 1952 the magazine published the first of what was to be many articles by Jacques-Yves
Cousteau. These images of the sea were the deepest photographs ever taken.25, 000 feet down in
mid-Atlantic Romanche Trench. This only shows how far the magazine is willing to go to get
important information.
In December 2011 National Geographic launched its Global Exploration Fund, an initiative to fund
research, conservation and exploration projects through regional centres around the globe.
Examples on how to layout work.
Genre Characteristics – National Geographic
Content- More images then text focuses on high quality photojournalism
Style- House style used the yellow border and the Times new roman used for name on each copy.
Symbolic- Often bright colours but only 2-3 on each title page. The title itself is used to relate to
image.
Cultural- The images taken on covers are from exotic locations and the words go hand in hand with
what the magazine is trying to get across. Here for example ‘The other Humans’ goes with the image
of a Neanderthal.
Technical- the ration of text to image would most probably be 80% Photograph and 20% text. This is
as it focuses on the photojournalism side.
Changes over time- Old versions compared with new.

2. Here you can see that the changes from 1888 to 2013 are enormous. Not only does the front cover
look different the text inside does as well. The magazine did not used to have many images in and
was more text orientated.
Different magazines
Negative impression: This is because
females aspire to look like the
women on the magazines. Genre
characteristic s, Style can be seen
through the way the front cover is
laid out. The appearance is always
similar with a celebrity covering the
full page with little captions
supporting the image.
Positive impression: Provides
information for the age group
about the person on the cover.
Genre Characteristics,
Contentincludes interviews and
images of footballers, also
between articles adverts are
included. The images are again of
well-known people to keep the
customers.Style includes that of
the house style for the title
FourFourTwo. It is in Bold Red so
it is easily recognisable. The visual
appearance always has a lot
going on such as the title and the
variety of fonts in the same
colour as the title.
Positive impression as this also gives
information to the target audience.
Genre characteristics, Style is that of a
house style in the layout, from the title
to the way the words are in the same
position each copy. The appearance is
similar in each copy as they have an
image with someone who will be seen
to fit that of a stereotype of a typical
person related to that kind of music.

3. When looking at Genres the National Geographic
is a good example. This is made for those with
interest in the environment and all that goes
with it.
National Geographic magazine is the official
magazine for the National Geographic society. It
has published continuously since its first issue
that was released in 1888. The issue in 1888 was
first released to 200 charter members. In 1898
the now very well-known Alexander Graham Bell
assumed National Geographic society’s
presidency.
Representation
When looking at National Geographic Magazine
you can look into representation and how the
topic on the magazine is portrayed. For
example there are two main types, negative
and positive. Negative impression is showing a
group or person in a bad light.
Representation is the way people are shown.
Here the magazine is shown in a positive way as
it is trying to make a good impression of the
topic which is about the Neanderthals.

4. Social issues: These are not seen in the National Geographic magazines as it tends to
focus on Deforestation, Chemical pollution, Global warming, endangered species and
the environment. The topics are related to the target audience, as they are the types of
things that the age group will be concerned about. As the age group is that of an older
one, they are likely to have young children or grandchildren, meaning that they will
want to know how life will be like for them.
Presence and Absence: There is a group of people missing from the magazine. That is
the young people. The magazine leans towards older people.
The magazines chosen for analysis: FourFourTwo, Hello and National
Geographic.
To be analysed by looking at Genre characteristics (Content, Style, Symbolic,
Cultural, Technical and changes over time. Also analysing representation
(Social grades, Social issues and presence and absence) including stereotypes.
Start!

5. Content: The articles contain content about Rock music. Here you can see from
the website how the inside of a magazine will look. It will contain fewer words
than expected and more so, Images and bright colours used to relate to the
theme.
Content- includes gossip about other
celebrities and what they are doing. Images
used are of well-known people. Words are in
different fonts to keep that target audience
of young females interested.