“Is the thrill that will get ya when you get your picture on the cover of Rolling Stone”- Dr. Hook.
As a writer for Rolling Stone Magazine in the early 1970’s, I would butt heads over assignments with Jann Wenner, the publisher. In fact, I even got the magazine’s “free all editorial prisoners award” one year.
Consequently, this is a serendipitous moment for me to personally write a defense of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine. But, the media inflamed outrage and horror of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the “alleged” (not convicted in a Court of Law, yet) Boston Marathon bomber/terrorist , on the cover of Rolling Stone warrants a defense.
Jann Wenner was the ultimate rock music fan. His starry-eyed love for the music and the musicians coupled with his savvy business instincts brought rock music into the mainstream . The music via Rolling Stone Magazine could no longer be ignored as a “teenage” fad, especially with all that corporate record company money knocking on the advertising doors.
He demanded a professionalism from his writers and editors which built Rolling Stone Magazine from a rag newspaper in San Francisco about rock music , to a multi-million dollar media empire.
There is no media outlet today that does not carry a pop/rock music culture section- thanks to the marketing foresight of Jann Wenner. The Queen has even graced England with a Sir Paul McCartney , Sir Mick Jagger, and Sir Elton John which would have been unheard of in the days of the Empire.
Rolling Stone editors and writers could make or break a musician or band with a bad review, or worse-ignore their existence. Jann was a tough task master. He made his editors check every fact that was written and every quote that was uttered, before it appeared in print. He paid his staff well for the times and attracted the talent to expand beyond the music scene into other pertinent current and political events.
Rolling Stone covers sold magazines like any other media outlet did and does today. Whether it was a cover of His Holiness Sadguru Meher Baba (article written by Peter Townshend of The Who), Charles Manson, Bob Dylan, or Jimi Hendrix, people bought the magazine to read what was inside. Rolling Stone photographers such as Baron Wolman and Annie Leibovitz broke new creative ground with their images. The late writer, Hunter Thompson, was another legend.
Time Magazine has had an illustrious crew of mass murderers on their covers including Adolph Hitler-Man of the Year, Benito Mussolini, Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Stalin-Man of the Year, and Osama Bin Laden. No one is or has ever boycotted Time Magazine for glorifying criminals.
So, why take Rolling Stone to task? They did not write a “modest proposal” that recommended “eating Irish babies”. They simply tried to shed some light on how a seemingly “average” young college student could go berserk and “allegedly” set off bombs at an innocent Marathon Event.
Admittedly, the article on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was not an example of some of the magazine’s past stellar investigative reporting on sensitive topics. He was presented as a kid from a broken home, an outsider who smoked a lot of pot according to his “friends” that were interviewed. Not exactly in-depth reporting in this era of sound-bites. Simply generic information that could describe a majority of young people of any generation. (Although, most kids with the “munchies” would probably be warming up cans of Chef Boyardee Ravioli like their parents did instead of making bombs.) Did the pot make him super paranoid? Detached? Angry enough to want to kill and maim innocents? Was he abused by his parents or his siblings?
We will probably never know the “answers” . Dzhokhar probably doesn’t even know the how or the why behind these inhuman acts of violence.
The cover of Rolling Stone has created such a storm, though, that perhaps someone somewhere will pay attention to the next elephant in the room that is off balance before tragedy strikes.
Personally, I prefer Meher Baba or John Lennon on the cover of my Rolling Stone and would definitely “wanna buy five copies for my mother”…-Dr. Hook
Meher Baba c.1970 courtesy of Rick Chapman
www.MeherBabaInformation.org
MeherBaba,RollingStone,PeterTownshend,TheWho,Boston,JannWenner
As a writer for Rolling Stone Magazine in the early 1970’s, I would butt heads over assignments with Jann Wenner, the publisher. In fact, I even got the magazine’s “free all editorial prisoners award” one year.
Consequently, this is a serendipitous moment for me to personally write a defense of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine. But, the media inflamed outrage and horror of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the “alleged” (not convicted in a Court of Law, yet) Boston Marathon bomber/terrorist , on the cover of Rolling Stone warrants a defense.
Jann Wenner was the ultimate rock music fan. His starry-eyed love for the music and the musicians coupled with his savvy business instincts brought rock music into the mainstream . The music via Rolling Stone Magazine could no longer be ignored as a “teenage” fad, especially with all that corporate record company money knocking on the advertising doors.
He demanded a professionalism from his writers and editors which built Rolling Stone Magazine from a rag newspaper in San Francisco about rock music , to a multi-million dollar media empire.
There is no media outlet today that does not carry a pop/rock music culture section- thanks to the marketing foresight of Jann Wenner. The Queen has even graced England with a Sir Paul McCartney , Sir Mick Jagger, and Sir Elton John which would have been unheard of in the days of the Empire.
Rolling Stone editors and writers could make or break a musician or band with a bad review, or worse-ignore their existence. Jann was a tough task master. He made his editors check every fact that was written and every quote that was uttered, before it appeared in print. He paid his staff well for the times and attracted the talent to expand beyond the music scene into other pertinent current and political events.
Rolling Stone covers sold magazines like any other media outlet did and does today. Whether it was a cover of His Holiness Sadguru Meher Baba (article written by Peter Townshend of The Who), Charles Manson, Bob Dylan, or Jimi Hendrix, people bought the magazine to read what was inside. Rolling Stone photographers such as Baron Wolman and Annie Leibovitz broke new creative ground with their images. The late writer, Hunter Thompson, was another legend.
Time Magazine has had an illustrious crew of mass murderers on their covers including Adolph Hitler-Man of the Year, Benito Mussolini, Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Stalin-Man of the Year, and Osama Bin Laden. No one is or has ever boycotted Time Magazine for glorifying criminals.
So, why take Rolling Stone to task? They did not write a “modest proposal” that recommended “eating Irish babies”. They simply tried to shed some light on how a seemingly “average” young college student could go berserk and “allegedly” set off bombs at an innocent Marathon Event.
Admittedly, the article on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was not an example of some of the magazine’s past stellar investigative reporting on sensitive topics. He was presented as a kid from a broken home, an outsider who smoked a lot of pot according to his “friends” that were interviewed. Not exactly in-depth reporting in this era of sound-bites. Simply generic information that could describe a majority of young people of any generation. (Although, most kids with the “munchies” would probably be warming up cans of Chef Boyardee Ravioli like their parents did instead of making bombs.) Did the pot make him super paranoid? Detached? Angry enough to want to kill and maim innocents? Was he abused by his parents or his siblings?
We will probably never know the “answers” . Dzhokhar probably doesn’t even know the how or the why behind these inhuman acts of violence.
The cover of Rolling Stone has created such a storm, though, that perhaps someone somewhere will pay attention to the next elephant in the room that is off balance before tragedy strikes.
Personally, I prefer Meher Baba or John Lennon on the cover of my Rolling Stone and would definitely “wanna buy five copies for my mother”…-Dr. Hook
Meher Baba c.1970 courtesy of Rick Chapman
www.MeherBabaInformation.org
MeherBaba,RollingStone,PeterTownshend,TheWho,Boston,JannWenner