• USA Today, Wednesday, May 3, 2006 11 AM

On the occasion of its 1000th issue, a milestone the magazine marks this month with a million-dollar 3D cover, Rolling Stone is again the topic of considerable cultural buzz--just like the great old days, some might observe, when every new issue of the mag was greeted with enormous enthusiasm throughout the rock-and-roll nation.  That enthusiasm has dulled as the music and country have evolved, but the magazine is nevertheless consistently first-rate.  Jann Wenner, its founder, now 60, talked to USA Today about his beloved book, and why, in his opinion, it remains vital nearly three decades after its launch.  Wenner: "I don't think it's lost its clout culturally. If you look around at all the media and think about the most impactful place you can be, if you're a musician or a movie star, Rolling Stone still carries more weight and prestige, I dare say, than Time, which used to have a lock. Most other magazines have an interview in a hotel room with a PR person present.It's nice, it's fun, and there's some prestige to being in some of these magazines, but there's no real depth. We go inside a person's life. You really see stuff."

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