Daily Beast Editor Noah Shachtman Departs to Take Over Rolling Stone

The media world is about to see a leadership shake-up: Daily Beast editor in chief Noah Shachtman is moving to Rolling Stone.

New York Times broke the announcement from the famed magazine that Shachtman will take over as editor in chief. Shachtman was reportedly chosen for the job by Rolling Stone president and COO Gus Wenner, the son of magazine founder Jann Wenner. Shachtman will take over from Jason Fine, who left the role months ago in order to supervise the magazine’s affiliated media projects.

Shachtman told the Times that he intends to adapt Rolling Stone to the fast-paced, scoop-driven approach he pushed as top editor of the Beast. He described a skeptical approach that Rolling Stone will take under his management in their continued coverage of the entertainment business.

“We’ve got to be out getting scoops, taking people backstage, showing them parts of the world they don’t get to see every day.” Shachtman said. “Rolling Stone’s at its best when it’s both celebrating great art and taking down bad actors.”

Wenner endorsed the hire in a statement to the Times:

I love that his strength is in an area where we need to get stronger. But he’s certainly got the skill set on long-form pieces, and that’s going to continue to be super important, too. Five years from now, I want Rolling Stone to be at the forefront of content creation across any platform: films, podcasts, the website, the magazine.