New Zealand Geographic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
New Zealand Geographic is a magazine published in Auckland, New Zealand. It is in the style of other international geographic magazines—the best known of these is National Geographic — but NZ Geographic focuses on the biodiversity, geography and culture of New Zealand; New Zealand's interests abroad, and that of the adjoining region: Antarctica and nearby Pacific Islands.
NZ Geographic is bimonthly. It features four to six main articles per issue, packaged with regular and occasional columns. Its main point of difference from most other magazines is the length of articles, with some exceeding 30 pages. The current editor is director and photographer James Frankham. The magazine has a science flavour, reflecting a bias of previous editor, Warren Judd, who holds a PhD in molecular biology. Judd's predecessor, Kennedy Warne—now a regular writer for NZ Geographic and National Geographic—who holds a master’s degree in marine biology, established this style when he co-foundered the magazine in 1989.
Beside Frankham, the other fulltime editorial staff members are the Art Director, Andrew Caldwell, who has a background in the fine arts, but writes on mostly science-related topics, and Margo White as Deputy Editor who is an experienced writer in her own right. Most stories and photographic assignments are compiled by freelance contributors, although editorial staff contribute essays and columns on a range of topics. The publication is strongly oriented toward photography and it tends to attract dedicated wildlife, landscape and social commentary-style photographers into its pool of contributors. Contributing essayists are often specialists or individuals who hold a deep interest in a narrow field, which makes their style and the informational content of their writing ineffably different from that of professional journalists. The tone of pieces seldom deviates from political neutrality—an “information without advocacy” stance—although many stories explore conservation and other emotive issues. While most NZ Geographic articles are a combination of essay and photo-narrative, some articles consist entirely of photo-essays, albeit with extended captions.
Each volume draws from a wide range of subjects and most issues include a mix, which is sometimes eclectic: locations, natural history, technology, industry, history, biology, geology, astronomy, culture, and exploration/adventure. This gamut occasionally stretches to biographies, with pieces appearing from time to time on explorers, scientists, artists and notorious individuals. Locations beyond the Pacific are inevitably featured in connection with New Zealand interests: New Zealanders at war, NZ peacekeepers or volunteers abroad, or tracing the paths of NZ explorers and adventurers.
The magazine has regularly produced posters on diverse subjects including marine mammals, extinct and indigenous fauna and flora, maps of geological features, rivers, National Parks, and industrial processes such as oil extraction or winemaking. In 1995 a book bearing the title New Zealand Geographic (David Bateman Ltd, ISBN 1 86953 219 8) by Kennedy Warne and photographer Arno Gasteiger summarised the best stories and photography that had featured in the magazine up to that date. In 2006 the magazine produced and distributed a double album (Sound Barrier) of works by 28 leading NZ composers, to accompany a story about new music.
