Opinion: Why Is Anyone Surprised by Rolling Stone's McChrystal Scoop?

(June 23) -- In all there was to be amazed at Tuesday about Rolling Stone's stunning, revealing and administration-shaking story about Gen. Stanley McChrystal, there was one thread of amazement that stuck out: Wait a second -- Rolling Stone?

Politico's Mike Allen cited an administration aide wondering about McChrystal giving so much access to "Rolling Stone, of all publications"; the Atlantic's Marc Ambinder used the same language, even more emphatically ("Rolling Stone (!), of all publications"). My colleague Glynnis MacNicol at Mediaite marveled: "Who'd have guessed RS would manage to step off the rock star retrospective wagon" to break this kind of story?

Yahoo's Holly Bailey offered an explanation on Twitter: "Seeing folks ask why McChrystal talked to Rolling Stone. @mmhastings [author Michael Hastings] has done some great reporting on the war." It's true, he has -- but that implies that Hastings was an anomaly here.

Are people really that distracted by Lady Gaga to forget what kind of magazine Rolling Stone actually is?

The magazine has a history not only of award-winning war reporting, but political reporting, literary reporting, literary-political reporting, cultural reporting, business reporting and, of course, music reporting. This article will likely join those linked above in Rolling Stone's trophy case.

Full Coverage:
Gen. Stanley McChrystal

In fact, a quick search through the National Magazine Awards database confirms that Rolling Stone has won the coveted Ellie -- sometimes multiple coveted Ellies -- with stunning regularity over the past decade. It only missed being nominated in two of the 11 years from 2000 to 2010, with 16 nominations and seven wins in total. Five were for political or war reporting. Three were for General Excellence, with a win in that category in 2007.

Even if you overlooked its stellar coverage of Goldman Sachs, the oil spill and McChrystal -- what about Haight Ashbury and Hunter S. Thompson? Rolling Stone has been commingling music profiles, album reviews, juicy in-depth reporting and buzzy cover images (Lady Gaga's gun-bra! Britney's side boob! Jennifer Aniston's bum!) -- ensuring that it's read equally inside teenager bedrooms and political boardrooms.

Yes, Rolling Stone has had a rocky past few years, but who hasn't? (Cough Newsweek cough.) The list of National Magazine Awards it's received in the past 40 years is as long as your arm, if you had extremely long arms. But even over the past few years, Rolling Stone has been a force. And now, thanks to the unseating of a general and the shaking of an administration, it will surely continue to be so in the future.

In other news, did you hear that Phish is touring this summer? Groovy, man.

To submit an op-ed or letter to the editor, write to opinion@aolnews.com.