Chosen from more than 2,000 applicants, six aspiring music journalists learn that they will spend the summer working at Rolling Stone’s Manhattan office. Tika, Krishtine, Russell, Peter, Krystal and Colin meet the editors, move into New York apartments and confront the difference between their rock-and-roll expectations and the magazine’s demanding office culture. Their first writing critiques make clear that enthusiasm alone will not win the year-long contributing-editor contract.
The contestants receive their first assignments. Colin travels to Toronto to interview We Are Scientists, Russell goes to Chicago to cover Lupe Fiasco and Ghostface Killah, and Krishtine meets underground rapper El-P. Each rookie encounters a different reporting problem, including inadequate preparation, awkward questioning, insensitive phrasing and resistance to revisions. Despite his difficult interview, Colin becomes the first member of the group to have an article published on Rolling Stone’s website.
Russell’s interview with Nellie McKay falls apart when an inadequately documented quotation forces him to rewrite the article, while his lateness and resistance to editing bring a serious warning from Joe Levy. Peter struggles through a Band of Horses profile while questioning his dependence on alcohol to write. Tika loses her notes from an interview with the Roots shortly before deadline, but reconstructs the story from memory and earns a web byline.
The six writers travel to Denmark to cover the Roskilde Festival as their first major group assignment. Competition strains the team when Krishtine believes Russell has taken one of her stories and her other leads begin falling through, while Russell argues that professional writers must cover music outside their preferred genres. The group shares an onstage moment with George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, but the editors later criticize their festival reporting for failing to produce enough usable quotations.
Tika lands a coveted red-carpet assignment covering Jay-Z, stirring jealousy from Krishtine. Krystal’s interview with Atmosphere frontman Slug takes an unexpectedly personal turn when he openly flirts with her, blurring the line between access to musicians and professional distance. As the contestants encounter bigger stars, their competing ideas about journalism, celebrity and what it means to work for Rolling Stone become increasingly difficult to ignore.
At the midpoint of the internship, Joe Levy evaluates the writers’ progress and announces that only two of them will cover Lollapalooza, with the trip awarded on the strength of their pitches. Colin and Peter win the assignment and try to report amid the festival’s chaos, while Krishtine struggles to sell her ideas before interviewing Snoop Dogg. Back in New York, Russell’s continuing self-sabotage threatens to outweigh his considerable reporting talent.
The writers pitch profiles of artists they believe are about to break, giving Russell a Lupe Fiasco feature, Krishtine a story about Cassie and Krystal a shorter blog item on Brooke Hogan. Krishtine throws herself into her assignment while Russell clashes with the editors after trying to turn a conventional artist profile into a broader political story. The lost opportunity deepens concerns that his strongest reporting may never overcome his unreliability.
While the staff prepares its Fall Music Preview, Tika tackles an Ice Cube interview and a trend story about the “Chicken Noodle Soup” dance, but mounting deadlines and unresponsive sources leave both pieces unpublished. Peter secures a revealing interview with Lionel Richie about the singer’s popularity in the Middle East, earning a place in the magazine. Russell interviews Method Man, spends the night at the office and produces a chaotic draft as his behaviour becomes increasingly erratic.
For their final reporting assignment, the writers investigate major American polluters. Krishtine reports on Tyson’s chicken operations in Kentucky, Peter examines Koch Industries in Corpus Christi, Colin revisits the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska and Tika investigates ASARCO on the Texas-Mexico border. Russell is barred from travelling because of his conduct and misses the assignment’s focus, while Krystal abandons her environmental story in favour of celebrity parties and red carpets.
With the internship ending, each contestant considers what comes next while Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone’s senior editors review the group’s reporting, development and professionalism. Russell is late even on decision day, leaving the editors to weigh talent against experience, discipline and follow-through. After a final assessment of all six writers, the winner of the year-long contributing-editor contract is announced.