When it’s no longer about music, what’s the point?

Rolling Stone magazine has a cash flow problem which is so significant that the once iconic publication is being put up for sale.

Sydney Ember reports at the New York Times:

Rolling Stone, Once a Counterculture Bible, Will Be Put Up for Sale From a loft in San Francisco in 1967, a 21-year-old named Jann S. Wenner started a magazine that would become the counterculture bible for baby boomers. Rolling Stone defined cool, cultivated literary icons and produced star-making covers that were such coveted real estate they inspired a song. But the headwinds buffeting the publishing industry, and some costly strategic missteps, have steadily taken a financial toll on Rolling Stone, and a botched story three years ago about an unproven gang rape at the University of Virginia badly bruised the magazine’s journalistic reputation. And so, after a half-century reign that propelled him into the realm of the rock stars and celebrities who graced his covers, Mr. Wenner is putting his company’s controlling stake in Rolling Stone up for sale, relinquishing his hold on a publication he has led since its founding. Mr. Wenner had long tried to remain an independent publisher in a business favoring size and breadth. But he acknowledged in an interview last week that the magazine he had nurtured would face a difficult, uncertain future on its own. “I love my job, I enjoy it, I’ve enjoyed it for a long time,” said Mr. Wenner, 71. But letting go, he added, was “just the smart thing to do.”

This is not surprising, in fact, it was all too predictable. Growing up in the post-punk and pre-internet 1980’s, if you wanted to learn more about your favorite bands, you had few options. You could watch MTV, which actually played music videos, or you could read magazines like Rolling Stone.

At some point over the last two decades, Rolling Stone decided to focus more on politics and in the process, fully embraced the progressive platform.

The magazine’s decision to put Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on their cover in 2013 should go down in history as one of the dumbest and most tasteless choices in print media.

Their second big recent mistake was the 2015 publication of a completely false account of a gang rape at the University of Virginia titled: A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and the Struggle for Justice at UVA. Not only was the story untrue, it was an obvious attempt to advance the far left narrative of “rape culture” on college campuses.

Somewhere along the way, Rolling Stone abandoned its original mission. They’re now reaping the rewards of that decision.

Rolling Stone is up for sale. I might buy it just to put actual bands on the cover. — GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) September 18, 2017

I wonder why Rolling Stone is having financial problems. pic.twitter.com/GnrVnaE3qK — Mike LaChance (@MikeLaChance33) September 18, 2017

Wonder why they are selling. ???? pic.twitter.com/pgQ0629WtO — ProudBoys Ohio (@ProudBoysOhio) September 18, 2017

Featured image via YouTube.



