I'm From Rolling Stone

I'm From Rolling Stone is a MTV reality television show directed by Norman Green.^[1] It began airing in January 2007 and was planned for ten episodes. Six aspiring music journalists were given the summer internships in hopes of getting a contributing editor position at Rolling Stone magazine.

The contestants included six twenty-somethings that applied through a write-in contest: Krishtine de Leon is a local hip-hop magazine editor from San Francisco, CA; Peter Maiden, an Australian college student at UC Berkeley; Tika Milan, a lesbian poet and freelance journalist from Brooklyn, NY; Russell Morse, a former juvenile delinquent turned reporter for a local San Francisco newspaper; Krystal Ann Simpson from Salinas, CA with a love for classic rock; and Colin Stutz, a 20 year old University of Southern California student from Oregon.

Results

In the last episode Jann Wenner, Joe Levy, and a team of senior editors individually reviewed all the contestants and their performance in the 2 months previous. Colin Stutz was perceived as a passionate person that looks like the rolling stone-type, however too "green" for a full time position. Krystal Ann Simpson was the most enthusiastic about the idea for working at Rolling Stone, but was ultimately able to accomplish the least for the magazine. She was viewed as more attracted to the socialite, red carpet lifestyle, but uninterested in the actual work of being a music reporter. She was unable to produce any substance for the magazine, and was not considered as a viable candidate for the position. Russell Morse had the most raw talent as a writer, but was wildly irresponsible and showed no discipline as an employee. Failure to attend work regularly, tardiness, and disrespect for his superiors as well as interview subjects were cited as reasons for his exclusion. The editors felt that Peter Maiden was smart and enthusiastic, as well as a good employee but lacking journalistic experience. His failure to turn in professional caliber pieces worried the editors, but he was still noticed by Wenner, who considered giving him an additional internship. Krishtine was viewed arrogant in the beginning of the internship, but her knowledge of hip-hop was invaluable in the last four weeks. Tika Milan started very strong in the initial stages of the show, but it was perceived that she gave up towards the end, producing very little material and not aggressively pursuing stories.

Later it was revealed that the winner of the year-long contributing editor position was Krishtine de Leon. It was speculated that her extensive understanding of hip-hop music and culture and her ability to turn in usable, relevant material was what catapulted her over the top.

After I'm From Rolling Stone

Peter Maiden is now a video editor for Rolling Stone. He is also a bartender in New York. Tika Milan is a freelance writer for a new magazine called Dapper. Russell Morse returned to San Francisco and his position at New American Media. He now works as an Outreach Coordinator at a Youth Development Organization called The Door in Manhattan. Krystal Ann Simpson currently splits her time between Los Angeles and New York designing, modeling, and writing for her social commentary blog WhatisRealityAnyway.com.^[2] Colin Stutz returned to Los Angeles to complete his junior year at USC and work as the editorial assistant at Filter Magazine.

Viewership

The show was plagued by low ratings, getting only 369,000 viewers for the premiere episode.^[3] To further exacerbate the problem, the show's time slot was also pushed back to 11 PM.^[4] The show was generally considered a flop due to very little promotion and its aim towards an older demographic, thus it was not renewed for a second season.

References

1. ^ I'm From Rolling Stone^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Krentcil, Faran (2010-05-12). "BLOG OR BAG". Nylon magazine (Nylon (magazine)). http://www.nylonmag.com/?section=article&parid=4606. Retrieved 2010-05-12. 
3. ^ WWD: ROLLING FLAT^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Idolator: I'm From Rolling Stone, Episode Guide, Part 6^{[dead link]}