Popular geographies and geographical imaginations: contemporary English-language geographical magazines

• Published in: GeoJournal Vol. 74; no. 4; pp. 347 - 362
• Main Author: Johnston, Ron
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands 2009; Springer; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Academic disciplines; Academic education; Academic standards; Audiences; Bgi / Prodig; Colleges & universities; Countries; Dictionaries; English language; Environmental Management; French language; Geography; Geography education; Human Geography; Magazine publishing; Periodicals; Popular culture; Popularity; Scholarly publishing; Schools; Social Sciences; Studies; The practice of geography; Travel; Universities; Geographical imaginations; Geographical magazines; Popular geographies; Human geography; Definition
• ISSN: 0343-2521; 1572-9893
• DOI: 10.1007/s10708-009-9293-6

English-language geographical magazines present very different geographical imaginations to their readers than those portrayed by academic geographers, with whom the editors and publishers of those magazines have very little contact. There is a mutual lack of appreciation--which could have substantial consequences for the academic discipline. To increase academic geographers' appreciation of the popular geographies being portrayed, the contents of recent volumes of three magazines--National Geographic, Geographical, and New Zealand Geographic--are distilled, with their major themes identified. One clear conclusion is that there is virtually no contact between the two imaginations: popular geographical magazines almost entirely ignore the work of academic geographers.