In November 2015, it was announced that Nichols would be one of around 180 lay-offs from "National Geographic" in the run-up to the magazine's acquisition by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox.
(meta data) TITLE: National Geographic lays off staff following 21st Century Fox merger | Media | The Guardian (meta data) AUTHOR: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/mahita-gajanan (meta data) PUBLISHER: https://www.facebook.com/theguardian (meta data) PUBLISHED DATETIME: 2015-11-03T17:42:53-0500 Skip to main content The Guardian - Back to home Support The Guardian Available for everyone, funded by readers Search jobs Sign in current edition: US edition AU politics Indigenous Australia This article is more than 3 years old # National Geographic lays off staff following 21st Century Fox merger This article is more than 3 years old Cuts amount to about 180 people, or 9% of staff, ahead of expected closing of deal over new for-profit venture National Geographic Partners Mahita Gajanan in New York and Tafline Laylin Tue 3 Nov 2015 17.42 EST Last modified on Fri 14 Jul 2017 16.29 EDT Magazine staffers received an email from CEO Gary Knell on Tuesday morning to make them aware of announcements about their employment status. Photograph: Richard Levine/Demotix/Corbis National Geographic informed employees Tuesday it would lay off about 9% of its staff, months after announcing it would partner with Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox as part of an expanded joint venture. That would amount to about 180 people out of the total 2,000 employees under the new partnership with Fox. In September, 21st Century Fox announced a for-profit venture in which it paid $725m for control of the National Geographic Society, to create National Geographic Partners, which includes National Geographic Channels. Magazine staffers received an email from CEO Gary Knell on Tuesday morning with instructions to make themselves available throughout the day and monitor their inboxes for information about their employment status. "The National Geographic Society and the National Geographic Channels are in the process of reorganizing in order to move forward strategically following the closing [of] the National Geographic Partners deal, which is expected to occur in mid-November," a spokesperson for National Geographic Society said in an emailed statement. According to the statement, layoffs will represent about 9% of the overall workforce reduction. A "voluntary separation" offer has been made to other eligible employees. "All staff have been advised as to their status as of closing," the spokesperson said. At 63, veteran National Geographic photographer Michael "Nick" Nichols was neither surprised nor devastated when Knell handed him his termination notice today. A staff photographer since 1996 and editor-at-large since 2008 , Nichols said he received a good severance package and a contract to complete the two-year project he is currently working on. "I was getting ready to retire in January," he said. "So for me this is kind of a gift. But it's a sad day for my friends who were not as ready. "I feel for everybody," he said. As editor-at-large, Nichols rarely sets foot in the offices of National Geographic, so he said he doesn't understand why the staff cuts, which comprised a mix of buyouts and layoffs, were deemed necessary. Nichols said the important issue is whether National Geographic will continue to fund the kind of hard, long-term reporting about issues facing the planet that he and other veterans are accustomed to. "You can't do that with a for-profit company," he said. "You have to have philanthropy subsidize long-term assignments. "It used to be that people bought magazines. People don't buy magazines anymore." 21st Century Fox Newspapers & magazines Reuse this content
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Michael Nichols (photographer)
Biography.
Nichols was born in 1952 in Alabama. After studying at the University of North Alabama, where he met his mentor, former "Life" magazine photographer Charles Moore, Nichols began his photojournalism career in 1979, working for "GEO" magazine. Three years he later became a member of Magnum Photos where he worked until 1995 with its founders Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa. Starting from 1989 he has published more than 30 articles for the "National Geographic" and the same year was in collaboration with Jane Goodall to publish a book called "Brutal Kinship". 
 Later on, he traveled to Central Africa where he met with biologist J. Michael Fay and then went to Gabon where he visited 13 national parks, including the Ndoki forest which was featured in one of the NatGeo articles and in his "The Last Place on Earth" book. In 2012, he traveled to Tanzania on an assignment to document the life of lions in the Serengeti.