1. What is Australian Geographic magazine? What sort of content does it carry?
As our title suggests, Australian Geographic is fundamentally – and unashamedly – about Australia… although I suspect most people might not realise just how wide-ranging the topics are that we cover. Sure, you’ll find articles in the pages of the magazine that celebrate Australia’s plants, animals and landscapes. But we also delve deeply into cultural issues, exploring the often-extraordinary experiences of the many different peoples who make up Australia’s eclectic human population.
In any one issue of the magazine you might, for example, find: creature features explaining the weird ways of Tasmanian walking fish or Australian ghost sharks; wide-ranging examinations of the history and cultural impact of cricket or yacht-racing; historic examinations of our film industry or architectural heritage; and detailed accounts of how to experience the country’s national parks, Indigenous Protected Areas and state nature reserves.
2. What can readers expect from Australian Geographic in future issues?
Always expect to be surprised and entertained! Every time you open our magazine you’ll be greeted with stunning photos, text that’s insightful, well-researched and entertaining to read, and gloriously detailed maps (created by a professional cartographer, not AI!).
If photography is your passion be sure each year to get our September–October issue, which reveals the category winners of our prestigious annual photography competition. If you want to keep up on matters of environmental change, keep an eye open for our regular articles on people and organisations making a positive difference in an ever-changing world. And if you’re a responsible traveller looking for inspiration about extraordinary places to visit, you’ll find an article or two to motivate you in every issue.
3. Has digital impacted your approach to the magazine?
Of course! Reporting about the natural world is as much at our heart as it’s ever been, but these days Australian Geographic is so much more than only a print magazine. Storytelling remains our strength, but now, as a multi-platform media organisation, our traditional words, photographs and videos are being promulgated (love that word, which essentially means dispersed!) in a highly sophisticated and far-reaching way. We now have more than 2 million users across all platforms. And our capacity to find and tell fabulous stories remains as strong as ever. Part of the reason for that is that we continue to be committed to sending our writers and photographers into the field to gather stories. It’s another way that adds to our authenticity, and we’re now one of the few media organisations that continue to do this with frequency.
The print mag content remains the cornerstone of our identity. All content still goes through the same rigorous print treatment, but it’s then also consumed in bite-size, fast-moving snippets across our various social media – platforms from Instagram and X to YouTube and Pinterest.
An important note about AI: you’ll never see editorial content that’s been generated by artificial intelligence in any AG products! Sure, we use it to make life easier when it comes to the mundane things like transcribing interviews. We’d be crazy not to. But our articles are all written and photographed by real humans – and that includes many of the country’s best writers and photographers.
4. Does Australian Geographic have a motto?
Absolutely, yes! “It’s in our nature.” It beautifully and simply encapsulates what Australian Geographic does, and why we do it.
5. Why subscribe?
With all the complex issues surrounding the natural world in Australia and beyond I’d say you can’t really afford not to subscribe. If you love Australia and you want to understand what makes this country so amazing and how it’s being kept that way, you need to become part of the AG family.
PLUS, when you subscribe you automatically become a member of the Australian Geographic Society, our charitable arm. All profits made by the magazine, and indeed the wider organisation, are channelled through the society to support scientific and environmental research, conservation, community projects, and Australian exploration and adventure.
