Ruben Bolling mox Fox taking over National Geographic

September 16, 2015 • 11:00 am

I had no idea that Rupert Murdoch’s organization 21st Century Fox had taken over National Geographic, and even the magazine’s contributors are worried about how that will change the content.  Well, the best disinfectant is satire; and here, courtesy of reader Jim, is a cartoon about what the new magazine might look like with its right-wing ownership. The cartoon is by an old favorite here, Ruben Bolling, creator of Tom the Dancing Bug:

Tom the Dancing Bug 1255 national geografox
Tom the Dancing Bug 1255 national geografox

24 thoughts on “Ruben Bolling mox Fox taking over National Geographic”

        1. Only in the natgeo.sa edition.
          No, actually, I think some other Gulf states do that too, so natgeo.ae might do too.

  2. As a reader of Nat’l Geo for close to 50 years, I am truly frightened by this news.

    And I agree satire like this (which I find especially brilliant/hilarious) might help prevent the destruction of what is one of America’s greatest cultural icons.

    However, the optimist in me notes that Murdoch isn’t quite the knuckle-dragger his ownership of Fox News suggests. There’s been some head-butting between him & Fox management over their political coverage etc. And Murdoch’s kids, who are about to inherit their father’s empire, are much more liberal, or so I’ve heard. Time will tell, but I very much hope that if News Corp. quashes an article for political or religious reasons, the editors and reporters will have the courage to speak out and not go silent in fear of a lawsuit, or to comply with a generous severance package that includes a gag clause.

  3. “I learned to communicate … by pointing to words in Das Kapital.”

    I doubt many liberals have read it. Reminds me of this classic:

    [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDJeTnLKLEI]

    1. Brilliant. My kids have AnimalJam accounts; nothing wrong with those, as far as I can tell. If the covers did start to look like that National Geographic would just be another name like, Kodak.

      1. I was going to mention this too. His bit was hilarious…especially the dinosaurs’ 5,000 year birthday.

  7. Wouldn’t Fox News think that brown and black bears are the expendable ones, while white bears are to be prized?

    1. You can probably find his interview with (I think) David Silverman on YouTube, where he says we don’t know how tides happen and that’s because God did it.

  9. Sad to hear. I have subscribed for years and give out gift subscriptions. I wonder if they will publish a retraction of “The Ouija board study, presented by National Geographic” that was posted here on 9/13?

  10. I’ve been a subscriber for 7 years or so. If I see any of Murdoch’s influence, I’m going to cancel and tell them why.

  11. Reblogged this on Nina's Soap Bubble Box and commented:
    the science that proves religion wrong is not biology

    it’s anthropology and now the main magazine that brought that awareness is owned by the religious righteous

    I wonder if NG will remain most people’s first porn magazine?

  12. I don’t like this because the Murdoch Empire has a capital E. I’m not sure that it’s as scary as many think though.

    During the ad breaks on Fox, we in NZ don’t get ads, we get vignettes from previous FNC shows. One that’s played fairly regularly is an interview with Warren Buffet and Bill Gates (and third well known person whose name currently escapes me) in which they discuss the reality of climate change and how businesses ignore it at their peril.

    Another is an interview with an astronomer – any creationist would find the whole thing heresy.

    It’s possible this will be fine.

  14. Tut tut, Mr. Bolling, there are EIGHT extant bear species, NOT nine ! I’ll put them in size order, largest to smallest (group of 3 debatable)…
    – Polar
    – Brown
    – American black
    – Asiatic black

    – Spectacled
    – Giant panda
    – Sloth

    – Sun

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