According to CNN, Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman has announced that he will be formally vacating the position on March 1 but will nonetheless remain on the team as a contributing writer. Shachtman had taken over the role in 2021 and is departing due to having differences when it came to the direction of the publication’s scope.
In a statement issued about his departure, Shachtman praised the magazine’s recent milestones and successes, “Culture-shaping scoops and profiles, a National Magazine Award, an Emmy nomination, more than two billion views in the last year alone, and, most importantly, the assembling of a genuinely remarkable team.”
Rolling Stone’s Chief Executive Officer Gus Wenner has explained that deputy editor Sean Woods and digital director Lisa Tozzi will be taking over the day-to-day editorial operations while he searches for a new editor-in-chief to appoint.
In a message sent to staff, Wenner offered, “I have an incredible amount of confidence and trust in our entire team and could not be more excited about the next chapter in Rolling Stone’s evolution.”
Last year, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner was removed from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame board after making comments about Black and female musicians that were largely condemned as racist and sexist.
During an interview with the New York Times, Wenner had commented, “For public relations sake, maybe I should have gone and found one Black and one woman artist to include here that didn’t measure up to that same historical standard, just to avert this kind of criticism… just none of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level.”
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