In 1967, 21-year-old Jann Wenner founded Rolling Stone magazine to cover popular culture, music, film, and politics. In his first issue, Wenner wrote: "Rolling Stone is not just about music, but also about the things and attitudes that the music embraces." At the time, there were a dozen other magazines trying to set up shop in San Francisco, each hoping to become the voice of the generation facing those turbulent times. They featured fresh, provocative writing from columnists like John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and original, often psychedelic artwork.

Music and manuscript mix

Soon after the launch of Rolling Stone Wenner formed Straight Arrow Publishers. After launching a number of short-lived magazines, Straight Arrow created a book division in 1971. For its first book project, the company published Wenner's interview with John Lennon. It went on to publish a variety of musician's biographies, photography collections, and music chronologies.

Fame

Through the 1970s, Rolling Stone gained an excellent reputation. It helped to launch the careers of writers like Hunter S. Thompson and Joe Eszterhas, and photographers like Annie Leibovitz. In 1974, the magazine broke the true story on the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst. As his pet project grew, Jann Wenner made sure that the magazine of the times changed with them. As pop culture began to overshadow politics, Rolling Stone followed the trend. In 1977, Rolling Stone left San Francisco (which Wenner called a "media backwater") for the media hotbed that is New York City. From then on, the magazine focused almost entirely on music. In fact, today, Rolling Stone commends itself as the magazine with "the most credible and authoritative coverage of popular music in America."

Where the celebrities congregate

In 1985, Jann Wenner acquired 25% of US, a magazine featuring celebrity interviews and in-depth entertainment news. Straight Arrow bought up the rest of US in 1989. Three years later, the publishing company launched Men's Journal, a fashion and lifestyle magazine for men. 1993 saw the birth of yuppie parenting mag Family Life. Soon thereafter, Straight Arrow was renamed Wenner Media. In 1995, Jann and Jane Wenner were separated, leading to speculation as to whether the company would be sold or split. Aside from the sale of Family Life, the company remained intact.

Jam

In 1997, Wenner Media invested in pop music web site JAMtv. The following year, it merged with Rollingstone.com to form the Rolling Stone Network. Also that year, the company launched Rolling Stone Radio, an online music channel featuring 12 channels of music that run on RealNetwork's G2 player. Wenner's future projects include a partnership with Internet search engine Excite; the two hope to publish an Internet guide to rock-and-roll.

Risky business