| Product: |
National Geographic |
| Date: |
08/01/03 (93 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Incredible Photography, Dverse Subjects
Disadvantages: Very USA biased
I have just finished a 12-month subscription to this magazine and am left somewhat disappointed.
The magazine covers a huge variety of subjects from the topical (Weapons of Mass Destruction, Global Warming, Al Quaeda) to the more extraordinary (a detailed look at Human Skin, The Shrinking of the Great Lakes, Canine Evolution).
The photography is phenomenally good and each issue is packed full of pictures that you would want to frame. There is also often a well-designed poster pull out which deserves clearing a space on the table to look at properly.
Over all, it’s a great publication for the whole family. It’s laid out in such a way that you can just flick through and look at the pictures and read the captions. You can dig a bit deeper and study some of the graphs and diagrams or you can go the whole hog and read the often lengthily articles.
It’s a quality publication printed on good quality paper and well bound. It’s also a handy size for handbags/the bathroom shelf.
So why am I disappointed? Unfortunately, the first article I read was about the Euro. It was written by an American, for an American audience and talked about Europe almost as a suburb of the US rather than a union with almost as much financial clout as the USA.
I have found this theme of ambivalence to the rest of the world to be recurring in many articles, especially those that examine the role the USA plays in global affairs. Some of the journalists go to amazing places and discover remarkable things but often describe it as if they are stunned, not only that it exists, but that it is not American. Another article about emissions & global warming failed to mention that the USA is one of (if not the) largest polluters in the world.
It’s a great magazine for broadening your horizons and seeing some amazing things that you wouldn’t want to miss but I’d take some of the journalism with a pin
ch of salt - it’s not the final word.
Summary:
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