Return to Roots for a Rock Mag

It's the weekend so there's a preponderance of entertainment news, from Adele's comeback to Squid Games' financial impact, to Superman's bisexuality an d a potential deal averting a strike by Hollywood producers.

But the most intriguing story in this genre isn't really about entertainment at all, but about a return to the tradition of hard-hitting journalism at Rolling Stone.

Over the past week, I've been noticing the references to Eric Clapton's anti-vaccine stand, but only today did I release that the storied magazine broke the story, including how Clapton benefits financially from anti-tax performances, as well as documentation of his history of racist comments.

This represents a return to its roots for Rolling Stone, now under the guidance of CEO Gus Wenner, one of co-sounder Jann Wenner's sons. Many people may not realize that the magazine's original music editor, Ben Fong-Torres, insisted that his writers not become PR hacks for the rock stars they covered but to bring back the real story, which usually was far more murky.

In addition, there were those of us who didn't cover music at all, but rather the major political stories of the day.

In my case, I used my years at the magazine to help establish with Lowell Bergman and Howard Kohn and others an investigative unit inside Rolling Stone that produced stories on official corruption, police violence, racism, environmental crime, and other non-entertainment topics.

We had the blessing of Jann Wenner until the magazine left San Francisco for New York. Afterward, Bergman and I with Dan Noyes established the Center for Investigative Reporting in late 1977.

Many, many other journalists also pursued serious journalism at the old Rolling Stone; their names are legendary.

For now, it's good to see the rag return to its roots.

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THE HEADLINES:

* Merck COVID-19 pill sparks calls for access for lower income countries (Reuters)

* Facebook Says AI Can Enforce Its Rules, but the Company’s Own Engineers Are Doubtful --AI has only minimal success in removing hate speech, violent images and other chronic problems from the platform, according to internal company reports. It can’t consistently identify first-person shooting videos, racist rants or gruesome car crashes. (WSJ)

* Money Floods the Race for Control of Congress, More Than a Year Early -- The main House war chests for both Democrats and Republicans have a combined $128 million in the bank — more than double the sum at this point in 2020. (NYT)

* House Democrats have — so far — avoided a wave of retirements that could put their majority in peril (WP)

* Up to 17 U.S. missionaries and family kidnapped in Haiti (Reuters)

* How 3 Strangers a World Away Came to the Rescue of a Badly Burned Afghan Girl -- The story of 8-year-old Asma, injured by a U.S. tear-gas canister, echoes the heartbreak and heroism of the 20-year American misadventure in Afghanistan. (NYT)

* Chronic pain is surprisingly treatable — when patients focus on the brain (WP) 

* The man known as the last Jew of Kabul could soon be heading to Israel, after agreeing to grant his estranged wife a religious divorce in a Zoom call — a precondition for smooth entry to the Holy Land. (AP)

* The New Superman Will Be Bisexual. (WSJ)

* Adele makes music comeback with new single 'Easy On Me' (Reuters)

* Syria Accuses Israel of Assassinating Official Near Golan Heights -- Midhat Saleh, who oversaw the strategic Golan Heights boundary for Syria, was shot and killed by a sniper, the government said. (NYT)

* Hollywood union reaches deal with producers to avoid nationwide strike (WP)

* Netflix's 'Squid Game' estimated to be worth about $900 million - (Bloomberg News)

* Bitcoin-mining power plant raises ire of environmentalists (AP)

* More Lead-Tainted Water in Michigan Draws Attention to Nation’s Aging Pipes -- The crises in Benton Harbor and Flint expose broader failures as a congressional push to address the country’s troubled water system stalls. (NYT)

* Strikes are sweeping the labor market as workers wield new leverage (WP)

* Democrats Weigh Carbon Tax After Manchin Rejects Key Climate Provision -- Faced with the likely demise of a central pillar of President Biden’s agenda, the White House and outraged lawmakers are scrambling to find alternatives. (NYT)

* ‘More immediate, more visceral’ and a lot tougher on Eric Clapton: A plan for reviving Rolling Stone (WP)

* Can a Carbon-Emitting Iron Ore Tycoon Save the Planet? -- Andrew Forrest made a mining fortune. Now he wants to lead a climate change revolution — and beat the fossil fuel giants along the way. (NYT)

* Man Has Never Given Single Definitive Yes To Any Invitation He's Ever Received (The Onion)