Rolling Stone Gathering Few New Fans

Finally, someone has pointed out that Rolling Stone is a mere shell of its former self and recognized that Q and Mojo are two of the best music magazines in print today (“It’s Over 30; Can Rolling Stone Be Trusted?,” by Robert Hilburn, Sept. 7).

Rolling Stone has gone from “All the news that’s fit to print” to “All the schmooze that we can print.” I realize that keeping current is a necessity in business, but its near worship of the “flavor of the month” pop stars is nauseating.

JAY MUSSLEWHITE

Woodland Hills

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The period that gave birth to Rolling Stone was one of those occasions when demographics, media of communication and commercial manipulation of each combined to persuade readers and writers of Rolling Stone alike that their opinions were revelations and their moment transformational in all history.

Some of the music and some of the insights were indeed fresh and enlightened, but not as much as the relentless hype about the period would have us believe.

When you run out of things to say, you put Britney Spears on the cover. Meanwhile, those of us who are raising children, rather than trying to act like them, are listening to other music and reading other journals. The question is no longer whether to trust someone over 30 but the more difficult one of how to live a life beyond 30 that is worthy of trust.

Too little of rock music, and next to nothing found anymore in the pages of Rolling Stone, helps answer that question.

RICHARD RANGER

Valdez, Alaska

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Not to defend a magazine’s descent into dismissibility, I want only to offer my criticism of Robert Hilburn’s seeming myopia for not understanding why Rolling Stone has become what it has.

He yearns for the socio-political relevance of a music and a magazine of the ‘60s and ‘70s ... but isn’t he really just mourning the culture, climate and creativity that gave birth to Rolling Stone and the world it reflected?

Hilburn takes the magazine to task for putting Britney Spears on its cover, but I ask you: Who can you point to on today’s scene who belongs in the company of John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan?

DAN PASTERNACK

Manhattan Beach