National Geographic acknowledges past racist coverage

WASHINGTON (AP) - National Geographic is calling its past coverage of the world racist and says it will work to ensure a more comprehensive picture in the future.

The magazine is devoting its April issue to race, and editor-in-chief Susan Goldberg says the publication had to own its story "to move beyond it."

National Geographic's magazine published its first issue in 1888. An internal investigation showed that until the 1970s, it all but ignored people of color in the United States who were not domestics or laborers. It also reinforced people of color from foreign lands as "exotics, famously and frequently unclothed, happy hunters, noble savages--every type of cliché."

National Geographic magazine reaches 30 million people. Goldberg is recruiting diverse storytellers to make sure the magazine reflects the true world.