Editing Rolling Stone (section)

===1967–1979: Founding and early history===
''Rolling Stone'' was founded in [[San Francisco]] in 1967 by [[Jann Wenner]] and [[Ralph J. Gleason]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/rolling-stone-at-50-making-the-first-issue-193707/|work=rollingstone.com|title=Rolling Stone at 50: Making the First Issue|first=Andy|last=Greene|date=January 6, 2017|access-date=June 27, 2021|archive-date=June 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627084302/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/rolling-stone-at-50-making-the-first-issue-193707/|url-status=live}}</ref> To pay for the setup costs, Wenner borrowed $7,500 ({{Inflation|US|7500|1967|fmt=eq|r=-3}}{{Inflation/fn|US}}) from his family and the parents of his soon-to-be wife, Jane Schindelheim.<ref name="Wenner's world">{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/1999/04/20/wenner/|title=Wenner's World: The evolution of Jann Wenner. How the ultimate '60s rock groupie built his fantasy into a media empire|last=Weir|first=David|date=April 20, 1999|work=Salon|access-date=August 18, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131107043121/http://www.salon.com/1999/04/20/wenner/|archive-date=November 7, 2013}}</ref> The first issue was released on November 9, 1967, and featured [[John Lennon]] in costume for the film ''[[How I Won the War]]'' on the cover. It was in newspaper format with a lead article on the [[Monterey International Pop Festival]].<ref>{{cite web|last=French|first=Alex|title=The Very First Issues of 19 Famous Magazines|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/50299/very-first-issues-19-famous-magazines|work=Mental Floss|date=August 9, 2013|access-date=August 12, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810181820/http://mentalfloss.com/article/50299/very-first-issues-19-famous-magazines|archive-date=August 10, 2013}}</ref> The cover price was 25¢ (equivalent to $2.27 in 2023) and it was published bi-weekly.

In the first issue,<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Rolling Stone 1967 Magazine Archives {{!}} Rolling Stone|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/coverwall/1967|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=November 20, 2017|archive-date=November 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171121123154/http://www.rollingstone.com/coverwall/1967|url-status=live}}</ref> Wenner explained that the title of the magazine came from the old saying "[[A rolling stone gathers no moss]]". He also mentioned the 1950 blues song "[[Rollin' Stone (Muddy Waters song)|Rollin' Stone]]", recorded by [[Muddy Waters]], [[The Rolling Stones]] band, and [[Bob Dylan]]'s 1965 hit single "[[Like a Rolling Stone]]". Some authors have attributed the name solely to Dylan's hit single: "At [Ralph] Gleason's suggestion, Wenner named his magazine after a [[Bob Dylan]] song."<ref>Richardson, Peter (2009). A Bomb in Every Issue: How the Short, Unruly Life of Ramparts Magazine Changed America. (The New Press) p. 109</ref>

''Rolling Stone'' initially identified with and reported the [[hippie]] [[counterculture]] of [[Counterculture of the 1960s|the era]].

{{Blockquote|text=You're probably wondering what we're trying to do. It's hard to say: sort of a magazine and sort of a newspaper. The name of it is ''Rolling Stone'' which comes from an old saying, "A rolling stone gathers no moss." Muddy Waters used the name for a song he wrote. The Rolling Stones took their name from Muddy's song. ''Like a Rolling Stone'' was the title of Bob Dylan's first rock and roll record. We have begun a new publication reflecting what we see are the changes in rock and roll and the changes related to rock and roll.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Jann|last=Wenner|author-link=Jann Wenner|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=November 9, 1967|page=2|title=A Letter from the Editor}}</ref><ref name="Deep">{{Cite book | last = Palmer | first = Robert | title = Deep Blues | publisher = Penguin Books | year = 1981 | page = [https://archive.org/details/deepblues00palm/page/104 104] | url = https://archive.org/details/deepblues00palm/page/104 | isbn = 0-14-006223-8 | url-access = registration }}</ref>}}

However, it distanced itself from the underground newspapers of the time, such as ''[[Berkeley Barb]]'', embracing more traditional journalistic standards and avoiding the radical politics of the [[underground press]]. In the first edition, Wenner wrote that ''Rolling Stone'' "is not just about the music, but about the things and attitudes that music embraces".<ref name="HMI">{{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=Raymond A.R. |last2=Hargreaves |first2=David John |last3=Miell |first3=Dorothy |title=Handbook of Musical Identities |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199679485 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=COIWDgAAQBAJ&q=%22%22is+not+just+about+the+music%2C+but+about+the+things+and+attitudes+that+music+embraces%22%22&pg=PA288 |access-date=August 15, 2019 |archive-date=September 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910030350/https://books.google.com/books?id=COIWDgAAQBAJ&q=%22%22is+not+just+about+the+music,+but+about+the+things+and+attitudes+that+music+embraces%22%22&pg=PA288 |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 2017 article celebrating the publication's 50th anniversary, ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s [[David Browne (journalist)|David Browne]] stated that the magazine's name was a nod to the Rolling Stones in an addition to "Rollin' Stone" and "Like a Rolling Stone".<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Browne|first=David|date=September 8, 2017|title=50th Anniversary Flashback: The Rolling Stones in Rolling Stone|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/50th-anniversary-flashback-the-rolling-stones-in-rolling-stone-255924/|access-date=September 30, 2020|magazine=Rolling Stone|archive-date=September 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919092052/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/50th-anniversary-flashback-the-rolling-stones-in-rolling-stone-255924/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The magazine's long-running slogan, "All the news that fits", was provided by early contributor, manager and sometime editor [[Susan Lydon]]. She lifted it from an [[April Fools]] issue of the ''[[Columbia Daily Spectator]]'' which posted "All the news that fits we print", a parody of ''The New York Times''{{'}} slogan, "All the News That's Fit to Print".<ref name=VQ1978>{{cite magazine |last=Lydon |first=Susan Gordon |author-link=Susan Lydon |date=September 1978 |title=A newspaper for the 'new age,' in which no news is good news |magazine=Vassar Quarterly |volume=LXXV |number=1 |url=https://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/?a=d&d=vq19780901-01.2.26&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------- |access-date=August 28, 2020 |archive-date=March 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316161434/https://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/?a=d&d=vq19780901-01.2.26&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------- |url-status=live }}</ref> The first appearance of the rubric was in 1969.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/on-rolling-stone-covers-203887/ |title=On 'Rolling Stone' Covers |last=Seymour |first=Corey |date=December 10, 1992 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=August 28, 2020 |archive-date=July 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723050938/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/on-rolling-stone-covers-203887/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the 1970s, ''Rolling Stone'' began to make a mark with its political coverage, with the likes of [[Gonzo journalism|gonzo]] journalist [[Hunter S. Thompson]] writing for the magazine's political section. Thompson first published his most famous work, ''[[Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas]]'', within the pages of ''Rolling Stone'', where he remained a contributing editor until his death in 2005.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jan/06/fear-rolling-stone-hunter-thompson|title=Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone: The Essential Writing of Hunter S Thompson – review|last=East|first=Ben|date=January 5, 2013|work=The Guardian|access-date=May 31, 2017 |issn=0261-3077|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602115226/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jan/06/fear-rolling-stone-hunter-thompson|archive-date=June 2, 2017}}</ref> In the 1970s, the magazine also helped launch the careers of many prominent authors, including [[Cameron Crowe]], [[Lester Bangs]], [[Joe Klein (journalist)|Joe Klein]], [[Joe Eszterhas]], [[Ben Fong-Torres]], [[Patti Smith]] and [[P. J. O'Rourke]]. It was at this point that the magazine ran some of its most famous stories. The January 21, 1970, issue covered the [[Altamont Free Concert]] and the [[killing of Meredith Hunter]], which won a [[National Magazine Awards#Specialized Journalism|Specialized Journalism]] award at the [[National Magazine Awards]] in 1971.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Rolling Stone|title=Rolling Stone at 50: Shaping Contrasting Narratives of Woodstock, Altamont|date=February 7, 2017|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/rolling-stone-at-50-shaping-contrasting-narratives-of-woodstock-altamont-196583/|last=Browne|first=David|access-date=July 8, 2020|archive-date=July 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709082620/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/rolling-stone-at-50-shaping-contrasting-narratives-of-woodstock-altamont-196583/|url-status=live}}</ref> Later in 1970, ''Rolling Stone'' published a 30,000-word feature on [[Charles Manson]] by [[David Dalton (writer)|David Dalton]] and David Felton, including their interview of Manson when he was in the L.A. County Jail awaiting trial, which won ''Rolling Stone'' its first National Magazine Award.<ref name=scoops>{{cite news|title=The Early Scoops|work=Rolling Stone 50 Years|pages=8–9}}</ref> Four years later, they also covered the [[Patty Hearst]] abduction odyssey. One interviewer, speaking for many 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]]".<ref name="samuelfreedman.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.samuelfreedman.com/articles/culture/ust_rolling.html|title=Literary 'Rolling Stone' sells out to male titillation|last=Freedman|first=Samuel G.|date=2002|newspaper=USA Today|access-date=February 12, 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312094229/http://www.samuelfreedman.com/articles/culture/ust_rolling.html|archive-date=March 12, 2009}}</ref>

In 1972, Wenner assigned [[Tom Wolfe]] to cover the launch of [[NASA]]'s last Moon mission, [[Apollo 17]]. He published a four-part series in 1973 titled "Post-Orbital Remorse", about the depression that some astronauts experienced after having been in space. After the series, Wolfe began researching the whole of the space program, in what became a seven-year project from which he took time to write ''[[The Painted Word]]'', a book on art, and to complete ''[[Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine]]'', a collection of shorter pieces<ref>Ragen 2001, pp. 22–26.</ref> and eventually ''[[The Right Stuff (book)|The Right Stuff]]''.

The magazine began running the photographs of [[Annie Leibovitz]] in 1970. In 1973, she became its chief photographer, and her images appeared on more than 140 covers. ''Rolling Stone'' recruited writers from smaller music magazines, including [[Paul Nelson (critic)|Paul Nelson]] from ''[[Sing Out!]]'', who became record reviews editor from 1978 to 1983, and [[Dave Marsh]] from ''[[Creem]]''.<ref name=writers>{{cite news|title=The Writers|work=Rolling Stones 50 Years|pages=10–13}}</ref> 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".<ref>Temple, Charles (April 18, 2009) [http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Rolling-Stone-closes-last-S-F-office-3164870.php "Rolling Stone closes last S.F. office".] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814034224/http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Rolling-Stone-closes-last-S-F-office-3164870.php |date=August 14, 2014 }}. San Francisco Chronicle. (Retrieved August 13, 2014.)</ref>