The Rolling Stone magazine is a significant artifact spanning throughout American pop culture; yet it has fought to be considered a legitimate news source in American media. This thesis study examines how Rolling Stone frames news and politics, and how the magazine portrays itself as being political, through its front covers. Research has shown that magazine covers “communicate,” “visually summarize” and work “as an advertisement to attract customers” (Kang & Heo, 2013). The purpose of this study is to understand how Rolling Stone presents itself as a legitimate news source and how the covers convey the publication’s identity. A mixed-methods content analysis was used to analyze both front cover artwork and front cover text. This research reveals how magazines can use their covers to establish legitimacy in American media.
","abstract_html":"<p>The Rolling Stone magazine is a significant artifact spanning throughout American pop culture; yet it has fought to be considered a legitimate news source in American media. This thesis study examines how Rolling Stone frames news and politics, and how the magazine portrays itself as being political, through its front covers. Research has shown that magazine covers “communicate,” “visually summarize” and work “as an advertisement to attract customers” (Kang & Heo, 2013). The purpose of this study is to understand how Rolling Stone presents itself as a legitimate news source and how the covers convey the publication’s identity. A mixed-methods content analysis was used to analyze both front cover artwork and front cover text. This research reveals how magazines can use their covers to establish legitimacy in American media.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Walter, Ashley Anne"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS","degree_level":"One-year Embargo","degree_discipline":"Journalism and Multimedia Arts","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Pamela Walck","Michael Dillon","Maggie Patterson","Zeynep Tanes-Ehle"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:09:13Z","subjects":["Cover lines","Magazine","Magazine covers","news","politics"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/153","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Pamela Walck","Michael Dillon","Maggie Patterson","Zeynep Tanes-Ehle"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Walter, Ashley Anne"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-10-11T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Journalism and Multimedia Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["One-year Embargo"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Cover lines","Magazine","Magazine covers","news","politics"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/153"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The Rolling Stone magazine is a significant artifact spanning throughout American pop culture; yet it has fought to be considered a legitimate news source in American media. This thesis study examines how Rolling Stone frames news and politics, and how the magazine portrays itself as being political, through its front covers. Research has shown that magazine covers “communicate,” “visually summarize” and work “as an advertisement to attract customers” (Kang & Heo, 2013). The purpose of this study is to understand how Rolling Stone presents itself as a legitimate news source and how the covers convey the publication’s identity. A mixed-methods content analysis was used to analyze both front cover artwork and front cover text. This research reveals how magazines can use their covers to establish legitimacy in American media.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["On the Cover of The Rollin’ Stone: How Rolling Stone Magazine Frames Politics and News"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Pamela Walck","Michael Dillon","Maggie Patterson","Zeynep Tanes-Ehle"],"dc:creator":["Walter, Ashley Anne"],"dc:date.available":["2020-10-11T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The Rolling Stone magazine is a significant artifact spanning throughout American pop culture; yet it has fought to be considered a legitimate news source in American media. This thesis study examines how Rolling Stone frames news and politics, and how the magazine portrays itself as being political, through its front covers. Research has shown that magazine covers “communicate,” “visually summarize” and work “as an advertisement to attract customers” (Kang & Heo, 2013). The purpose of this study is to understand how Rolling Stone presents itself as a legitimate news source and how the covers convey the publication’s identity. A mixed-methods content analysis was used to analyze both front cover artwork and front cover text. This research reveals how magazines can use their covers to establish legitimacy in American media.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/153"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Cover lines","Magazine","Magazine covers","news","politics"],"dc:title":["On the Cover of The Rollin’ Stone: How Rolling Stone Magazine Frames Politics and News"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Journalism and Multimedia Arts"],"thesis:degree_level":["One-year Embargo"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:09:13Z"}