#LGBTQI+ #ClimateScience #NatGeo

"Why Did National Geographic Disappear Its Own Documentary About A Queer Climate Scientist?

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But, in the days right after Donald Trump’s inauguration, every one of the film’s hundreds of planned screenings worldwide was abruptly canceled. Soon after, all mentions of For Winter were scrubbed from the Impact Story Lab’s website. Even a trailer for the film that was still watchable on Vimeo when I started working on this story is now gone. When I first wrote to National Geographic in mid-March to ask what had happened, I received a one-line statement in reply:

'The National Geographic Society has made the decision to no longer air the film.'

It wasn’t just me who couldn’t find any answers about why the film has vanished. Crew members who worked on the project, scientists and athletes who were featured in it, and organizers at venues that had planned to screen For Winter have all been left without any clear explanation. Eventually, National Geographic offered a few words beyond that initial one-liner. In multiple communications to me and others, they’ve repeated the phrase 'something came to light that was relevant to the film,' with no further explanation. What could’ve prompted them to torch their own work, after it had already reached the heights of their industry?

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'After a vibrant and sold-out premiere of For Winter in Banff last year, we were confused and surprised to hear about the film’s sudden withdrawal from our World Tour,' Joanna Croston, director of the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, told me. 'National Geographic has always been a brilliant partner of ours, submitting some of the top adventure documentaries in our film competition each year. The removal of For Winter from our World Tour without much explanation certainly caught us off guard.'

Around the same time, National Geographic was making some other noteworthy changes. Since 2021, a woman named Shannon Bartlett has been the National Geographic Society’s lead on DEI. She was identified—on the society’s website and in its May 2024 IRS filings—as the society’s chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, and was counted as a member of its executive team. As of Jan. 29 of this year, according to a capture by the Wayback Machine, that was still her title. But sometime between Jan. 29 and early March, that changed. Bartlett was instead then known as the chief community engagement and social impact officer. And while the society’s 2022 and 2023 annual reports each included a prominently displayed headline about Nat Geo’s 'commitment to DEI,' the 2024 report, released in early June of this year, does not feature any such language.

When asked for comment on these changes, Duncan Phillips, National Geographic’s chief communications officer, provided this statement:

'The Society shifted its strategy to focus on community engagement, recognizing that many of our efforts shared a common theme of engaging with local communities in our grant funding and programmatic work. The Society’s community engagement work is embedded throughout the annual report. Our mission to use the power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of the world continues. The Society remains dedicated to fostering a community, where all—staff, Explorers, supporters and partners—are welcomed, respected and valued.'

What might have prompted these changes—Bartlett’s title, the scrubbing of For Winter? In the absence of details from National Geographic, it’s hard not to remember that in the hours immediately following Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, he issued several executive orders related to DEI both inside and outside the federal government. One of them in particular, 'Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,' ordered all federal agencies 'to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.' We know that this has already resulted in a retreat from diversity initiatives at companies like Google, Target, Amazon, and McDonald’s, and prompted military officials to delete from their websites (and then scramble to restore) both the Army’s sexual assault guidelines and Air Force training videos featuring the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots.

National Geographic’s 2022 and 2023 annual reports shared detailed acknowledgments of the society’s donors and funders, including a page headlined 'Foundations and Federal Agencies.' In the recently released 2024 report, the comparable page is simply headlined 'Foundations,' although some fine print still notes the society’s 'partnerships' with 'federal agencies.'

When I asked whether the cancellation of For Winter, the updated language in the annual reports, or Bartlett’s title change were related to the Trump administration’s crackdown on federal funding for projects associated with DEI-related programming, National Geographic said simply, 'No.'"

Near the end of February, according to a source who saw the email, National Geographic Society staffers were told to not communicate with Criscitiello, and to forward any communications from her to the society’s chief legal officer, Sumeet Seam. In late April, according to another email that was shared with me, Bartlett gave her notice. Her last day was May 15."

Bartlett did not respond to multiple requests to speak to me for this story.

https://defector.com/why-did-national-geographic-disappear-its-own-documentary-about-a-queer-climate-scientist