Gonzo politicking was Rolling Stone. Not originally flavored by the latest case of celebrity indulgence, the grassroots publication that emerged from San Francisco's Counterculture talked about Vietnam and Nixon. Stars like Cameron Crowe, Annie Leibovitz and Hunter S. Thompson strutted over pages of essays on Kent State or rock star ODs or Fear and Loathing Anywhere. Today, the inclusion of at least one non-celeb article per issue is a requisite, but somehow, it tends to get lost in a mix of bikinied Pink, Army advertisements and investigations into Avril Lavigne's authenticity. As a magazine that helped elect Jimmy Carter, its political force has surely diminished.
Yet the current issue features Howard Dean--the first politician on-cover since Al Gore--marking the disruption of a trend that's been towards more celebrity skin rather than substantive coverage. It turns out, the National Affairs section--RS's politics--has been publishing all along. In fact, each issue for the last six months has contained a National Affairs article--articles which are almost always critical of the administration's policies and which range from "The House of Bush: A Secret History" to "Wyoming: Bush's Eco-Vandals Go to Work." Indeed, while the political heavies left on the magazine's masthead, P.J. O'Rourke and Thompson, have been MIA for several years, a new political awareness is streaming into RS.
"My impression is that throughout its history, coverage goes in cycles," said David Weir, former associate editor and co-author of RS's classic three-part series on Patty Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army. "Drug abuse... abuse by DEA officials [and], since John Lennon's death, gun issues are a common focus for the magazine."
Not since 1992 has the magazine's commentary been as political charged as it is today. Then-national commentator William Greider presided over the magazine's strong National Affairs section and wrote visceral articles attacking the first Bush administration. But by 1996, political stories were listed under features, not national affairs, and by 2000, political writing returned to the National Affairs umbrella, though it appeared less frequently. Describing the section as "a living, breathing part of the magazine," Dana argued that political coverage never left the magazine; it's just been through a period of restructuring--and back now stronger than ever.
"Rolling Stone is still a place where people turn to when important events happen," said Eric Bates, assistant managing editor and a recent Mother Jones transplant hired to supplement RS's political coverage. He cited recent articles on Johnny Cash's death and the decimation of Tongass National Forest as examples. The latter, he said, "is a great example of what Rolling Stone does best: the great illustrations, big pages, great map. There's a map included that nobody had that shows exactly where Bush plans to cut the forest." Another groundbreaking article was Bobby Kennedy's searing 11-page account, "Bush's Crimes Against the Environment."
The magazine is focusing on the current Presidential election process to a greater extent than it has in many years. Reasons why this particular election is receiving special attention vary. "I think it's different because you've got a president in office who didn't win the majority of the vote," said Bates. "There's [also] a sense that Bush has mobilized the country in a violent way." Nine democratic presidential candidates this time around also help increase coverage; incidentally, RS has interviewed all of the current candidates, including, yes, Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton. John Kerry was criticized in one such interview for his use of the f-word. The ramifications of a post-9/11 world and a publisher/editor, Jann Wenner, with die-hard political views also strongly influence the magazine.
In a time when Maxim and its pop music offshoot Blender are some of the hottest magazine properties with their increasing circulations and centerfolds, RS has expanded the breadth of its issue stories. For Bates, this is how RS differentiates itself from the publishing pack. "For the other music magazines out there, I think politics is anathema to them, and they don't want it on their pages," he said.
At the same time, the blurb-filled front of the magazine, the growing number of cover almost-nudes and the hiring of Ed Needham, formerly of FHM, as managing editor hints at some of Maxim's influence.
Nevertheless, an oddly-juxtaposed commitment to long-form journalism remains.
Will Dana conceded, "I feel some of the stuff that we run, only 30% of the magazine's audience will read, but we're fine with that. We'd just like to get it out there."
RS's Iraq-embedded reporter, Evan Wright, wrote perhaps the most adventurous feature of last year, a three-part, 30,000 word series on the Marines' "Killer Elite." Contemplating the magazine's contrast between pop and politic, he says, "When my Iraq stories ran, you had teenybopper girls, buying the magazine for Justin and Christina Aguilera on the cover and then, they'll open it up to my story and a picture of a burnt corpse."
Imagine their reaction.
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