Magazine institution

Magazine institution

 

Rolling Stone Magazine

Rolling Stone is a biweekly magazine that focuses on popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner, who is still the magazine's publisher, and music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known for its musical coverage and for political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine shifted focus to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors, and popular music.In recent years, the magazine has resumed its traditional mix of content.

Rolling Stone Magazine was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner to get the magazine off the ground, Wenner borrowed $7,500 from his own family and from the parents of his soon-to-be wife, Jane Schindelheim. The first issue carried a cover date of November 9, 1967and was in newspaper format with a lead article on the Monterey Pop Festival. 

 

At Raplgh Gleason's suggestion, Wenner named his magazine after a Bob Dylan song. Then Wenner stated in the first issue that the title of the magazine referred to the 1950 blues song, "Rollin' Stone, recorded by Muddy Waters, the rock and roll band The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan's hit single "Stone”. Rolling Stone initially identified with and reported the hippie counterculture of the era. However, the magazine distanced itself from the underground newspapers of the time, embracing more traditional journalistic standards and avoiding the radical politics of the underground press. In the very first edition of the magazine, Wenner wrote that Rolling Stone "is not just about the music, but about the things and attitudes that music embraces."

In the 1970s, Rolling Stone began to make a mark with its political coverage, In the 1970s, It was at this point that the magazine ran some of its most famous stories, including that of the Patty Hearst abduction odyssey. One interviewer, speaking for a large number of his peers, said that he bought his first copy of the magazine upon initial arrival on his college campus, describing it as a "rite of passage".

In 1977, the magazine moved its headquarters from San Francisco to New York City. Editor Jann Wenner said San Francisco had become "a cultural backwater."

During the 1980s, the magazine began to shift towards being a general "entertainment" magazine. Music was still a dominant topic, but there was increasing coverage of celebrities in television, films and the pop culture of the day.

Rolling Stone was initially known for its musical coverage and for Thompson's political reporting. In the 1990s, the magazine changed its format to appeal to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors and popular music. In recent years, the magazine has resumed its traditional mix of content, it has also expanded content to include coverage of financial and banking issues.

In 2005, a former rolling stone journalist, who had worked at the magazine for 17 years, was an inaugural inductee into the Magazine Hall of Fame. Showing they were something big