'Rolling Stone' Leaves Its Heart in San Francisco

Wenner Media has been making a lot of cutbacks lately. Now comes one that, while small in terms of the number of people affected, packs a symbolic punch: The publisher has closed its office in San Francisco, the city where Jann Wenner founded Rolling Stone 42 years ago.

A Wenner spokesman confirms the shutdown but says only two employees were laid off as a result; a third staffer who worked in the office, an ad sales rep for Rolling Stone, is relocating to Los Angeles. "The business just is not in San Francisco now," says the spokesman.

Of course, the business isn't like it used to be anywhere: So far this year, Rolling Stone is down 21.6 percent in ad pages, Men's Journal is down 35.4 percent and Us Weekly is off 10.6 percent, according to Mediaweek.

Despite a recent batch of layoffs at Men's Journal and the departure of chief marketing officer Gary Armstrong, the special resonance of Wenner Media abandoning the city of its birth isn't lost on employees. Says one, "The staff is really in shock that Jann would turn his back on the place where he got his start."