Indira Lakshmanan is joining National Geographic as senior executive editor, overseeing content including coverage of science, environment, history, culture, travel and animals. Lakshmanan’s appointment was announced today by editor in chief and editorial director Susan Goldberg. Lakshmanan is currently executive editor at The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a journalism nonprofit that often partners with National Geographic on major stories around the world.
Over the course of her distinguished journalism career, Lakshmanan has reported from more than 80 countries on six continents for leading U.S. newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and a wire service, covering everything from wars and world leaders to environmental threats and endangered cultures. Prior to joining the Pulitzer Center in 2018, she was the first Newmark chair in journalism ethics at the Poynter Institute and Washington columnist for The Boston Globe. Before that, she spent eight years at Bloomberg News covering two secretaries of state, international affairs, and presidential politics. She has guest-hosted numerous national NPR shows and was a foreign correspondent for The Boston Globe on three continents after starting her career on NPR’s foreign desk.
“It’s a professional journey that has positioned Indira perfectly to take on this new role at National Geographic,” Goldberg said. “It’s exciting that she will bring her incredible abilities and experiences to National Geographic, where she will work with our desk leaders, our editing and reporting staffs, and colleagues across the newsroom in developing short and long-form content for all of our platforms.”
"I grew up poring over National Geographic and feeling wonder and surprise at the ideas and places in its pages, and I’m so excited to help share new stories of exploration and discovery," Lakshmanan said. "It’s such a privilege to join the immensely talented team at a media company that is more relevant than ever to understanding our fascinating, mysterious and fragile world.”
Lakshmanan will be part of the executive editorial team. Her appointment is one of a number of new editorial hires planned as National Geographic refocuses the media organization on what it does best — telling stories that matter. With global storytelling assets that include print, digital, and broadcast platforms, National Geographic’s purpose-driven content reaches millions of people around the world every month.
About National Geographic Partners
National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic’s media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 131 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers … and reaching millions of people around the world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Media Contact
Meg Calnan
meg.calnan@natgeo.com