Susan Goldberg is the editor-in-chief of National Geographic, only the 10th in the magazine’s history. Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal talkeds to her about the benefits of being a photo-heavy magazine in the age of Instagram, the partnership with 21st Century Fox and why the Atlas isn’t going anywhere.
On overcoming stereotypes one might have of a magazine founded in 1888:
“There are some people who think of National Geographic as old and stodgy, but I would tell you that 19 million young people who visit us every month on Snapchat certainly don’t think of us as old and stodgy, and 60 million Instagram followers don’t think of us as old and stodgy, nor do 50 million Facebook followers.”
On blending the magazine’s longform journalism with immediate coverage:
“There are very few stories that we need to break. We are not a news organization the way CNN or AP is. However, when some big event happens that’s within our coverage area – there’s an avalanche on Mount Everest – we are going to cover those stories in real time, because we’re experts in those areas. But then what we’ll do is step back and come back with a real National Geographic take on that with an in-depth story on how the avalanche on Everest absolutely has changed climbing and Sherpa culture.”
On becoming a separate company from the National Geographic Society and partnering with 21st Century Fox:
“It was hard to be both a media company and a non-profit. And I think it’s easier to be a for-profit that gets to contribute to a non-profit.”
To listen to the full interview, subscribe to the Corner Office Podcast on iTunes.
Correction 9/28/2016: An earlier version of this story included an inaccurate transcript.
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