LONDON: National Geographic, the iconic yellow-framed monthly magazine, has laid off the last of its staff writers, with media reports and employees saying the company will no longer sell the publication on US newsstands.
CNN reported that the cuts were part of an internal restructure by parent company The Walt Disney Co., which has slashed thousands of staffers across its divisions this year.
“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,” said a spokesperson for the magazine.
“Any insinuation that the recent changes will negatively impact the magazine, or the quality of our storytelling, is simply incorrect.”
The publication dedicated to nature, science, history and geography, is more than 130 years old and had over 1.7 million subscribers at the end of last year.
It said monthly editions would continue to be published, but would be written by either freelancers or staff editors.
However, some media sources reported that copies of the magazine would not be available on US newsstands from next year, adding that the publication had cut back on its photo contracts.
News of the layoffs at the magazine was first reported on Twitter on Tuesday by departing staff writers.
“Today is my last day at National Geographic,” Michael Greshko, a former science writer, tweeted.
“The magazine is parting ways with its staff writers, including me.”
In a November interview with Axios News, National Geographic’s new editor-in-chief Nathan Lump said that the outlet was focused on expanding its digital footprint and planned to invest more in social video as the brand continued to modernize.
The layoffs at National Geographic are the latest in a series of cuts that have shaken the media industry in recent months.
CNN, Buzzfeed and Vice Media have all laid off hundreds of employees in the past year, in a sign of the financial challenges faced by the industry, which is struggling to adapt to the changing landscape of news consumption.
