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This is Steve Ember.
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And this is Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA SpecialEnglish. Today we tell about the National Geographic Society and itsinternational programs.
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Books. Movies. Magazines. Maps.Television programs. Internet sites. Trips for travelers. Continuingsupport for research and exploration around the world. These are allways an American organization, the National Geographic Society, istrying to increase its worldwide reach.
The National Geographic Society began in the United States morethan a century ago with thirty-three members. Today it has more thannine million members worldwide. It is the largest non-profitscientific and educational organization in the world. It has taughtmillions of people about the world they live in, the deep oceans andouter space.
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In eighteen eighty-eight, thirty-three men gathered at a socialclub in Washington, D.C. They were scientists, explorers, militaryofficers and teachers. Most of them had traveled many places. Theywere excited about new discoveries. They believed in the importanceof geography – the study of the Earth and its resources.
The men believed travel helps people understand their world andother cultures. So they decided to create an organization for peopleinterested in knowing more about the world. They named it theNational Geographic Society.
Nine months later they published their first effort tocommunicate with members. It was the official record of the society.It contained factual, scientific reports.
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Gilbert H. Grosvenor (GROVE-nor)became the editor of the magazine in nineteen-oh-three. He remainedwith the magazine for fifty-five years. He wanted to increase theSociety’s membership by presenting “the living, breathinghuman-interest truth about this great world of ours.” He wanted themagazine to offer simple, clear writing describing the personalexperience of explorers and photographs of what they saw.
The magazine continues to offer writing that describes thepersonal experiences of explorers and adventurers. It has becomefamous for its memorable photographs from around the world. It is arecord of what is happening to cultures, nature, science andtechnology.
Today about forty million people read the National Geographicmagazine every month. It is published in twenty-five languagesincluding Japanese, Korean, Greek, Chinese, Turkish and Russian.Eight years ago, only twenty percent of the National Geographicreaders lived outside the United States. Now, more than fortypercent of the readers live outside the United States.
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During the last century, the National Geographic Society expandedin many different areas. It now publishes four other magazines,including one especially for children. It publishes about eightybooks a year for adults and children, a total of more thantwo-thousand books in thirty-two languages.
The National Geographic also produces videos and movies. It hasan Internet Web site, nationalgeographic.com. And it has twentylocal Web sites, including ones in India, Brazil, Japan, Romania andLatin America.
National Geographic Channels International broadcasts televisionprograms in twenty-six languages. People in about one hundred fiftycountries can see them. One recent program followed the steps ofearly explorer Marco Polo in China. Another went to the middle of atornado to see nature at its worst.
The main goal of the National Geographic Society still is tosupport research and exploration throughout the world. The Committeefor Research and Exploration has paid for more than seven thousandscientific research and exploration projects in about one hundredeighty countries. Forty percent of the grants have been given toexplorers and scientists outside the United States. Recently, theSociety has increased its international reach through new programsfor younger explorers and for filmmakers.
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In nineteen ninety-eight, the National Geographic created theExpeditions Council. The Council awards grants for explorations inunrecorded or little known areas of the world. Rebecca Martin isexecutive director of the Expeditions Council. She says it isseeking projects that may not be scientific but will provideexciting stories in words and pictures about the world we live in.
In the year two thousand, the Society began a program to honorand give financial support to experienced explorers. There are eightExplorers-in-Residence now. They share what they learn with thepublic through National Geographic Society books, magazines,television programs, and talks.
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Underwater explorer Robert Ballard is one of theExplorers-in-Residence. He returned this year to the Atlantic Oceanto examine the famous sunken passenger ship, the Titanic, nineteenyears after he discovered it. He found that other divers aredamaging the ship when they land on it and remove objects. His newexamination of the Titanic led to a National Geographic book, amagazine report and two television programs.
The newest Explorers-in Residence are Meave and Louise Leakey whoare mother and daughter. They are paleontologists who have madeimportant discoveries of early human ancestors and prehistoricmammals in Africa.
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Last month, the Society announced a new program for youngerexplorers. Barbara Moffett is a spokeswoman for the NationalGeographic Society. She says the Emerging Explorers program isdesigned to help younger people who are adding to world knowledge.
Up to ten people will be chosen each year. Each one will receivean award of ten thousand dollars to help with his or her researchand explorations. The program is open to explorers, scientists,photographers and storytellers who are not yet known for their work.
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Nine people are in the first group of Emerging Explorers. One ofthem is Tierney Thys (tees) who works for a movie company inCalifornia. She has spent four years traveling the oceans of theworld. She is studying a giant sunfish named the mola. It can weighmore than two hundred twenty-five kilograms. Zeray (ze-RYE)Alemseged is an anthropology researcher in Leipzig, Germany. He isleading a scientific dig in Ethiopia’s Afar area. His team isdiscovering important information about the four million yearhistory of human development.
Photographer Jimmy Chin is anotherEmerging Explorer. He is climbing some of the highest mountains inthe world to take pictures of places most people will never see.
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Earlier this year, the National Geographic launched the All RoadsFilm project. Its goal is to provide support to filmmakers who aremembers of a native group or minority culture.
The All Roads Film project will provide grant money to producefilms or videos. Experienced filmmakers will offer training andadvice. The project will provide public showings of some of the bestmovies made by independent filmmakers who have difficulty gettingtheir work shown.
This month, movies made in sixteen countries will be shown at twoAll Roads Film Festivals in Los Angeles, California, and Washington,D.C. A group of movie industry advisors chose the winners from morethan five-hundred entered in the competition.
Members of the native Maoris of Australia made one of the movies.It is about a group of Maori soldiers in World War Two. Anothermovie, made in Thailand, looks at a Buddhist’s feelings aboutterrorism. An Iranian actress directed a movie that shows Iranianwomen and what they think.
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The National Geographic Society has become increasingly concernedabout the need to protect the Earth’s natural resources. It alsobelieves that young people must better understand the world if theyare to become its future leaders.
And, the Society needs to provide exciting stories for itstelevision programs and magazines that are produced in many areas ofthe world.
So, Rebecca Martin says, the National Geographic is alwayslooking for younger explorers whose exciting projects will helppeople understand their world.
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This program was written by Marilyn Christiano and produced byMario Ritter. This is Steve Ember.
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And this is Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week forEXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.