MARK JUDGE: Oliver Anthony could teach Rolling Stone a thing or two.

Rolling Stone magazine is a joke. Its editorial slant is always far Left, and it has been busted more than once for unethical reporting.

There was its infamous Duke Lacrosse case, which resulted in the magazine settling a lawsuit . Then, last year, Rolling Stone Editor-in-Chief Noah Shachtman was accused of omitting a key fact from a story — namely, that a journalist had been raided not due to government overreach, but as part of a federal investigation into child pornography.

Then there was the story about Oklahoma hospitals allegedly being overwhelmed by patients who the magazine claimed overdosed on the drug ivermectin to treat COVID-19. The story was garbage, with even the Washington Post writing the “bogus” story “was just too good to check.” (Full disclosure: Rolling Stone has also taken a few whacks at me.)

Now the magazine is criticizing “Rich Men North of Richmond,” the country song by Oliver Anthony that went supernova last week. The song is a lament about low wages and political corruption. But according to Rolling Stone, the song “is a passionate screed against the state of the country and right-wing influencers are very into it.” Reporter Joseph Hudak argues that the reason the song “is appealing to right-wing influencers” is that it “wades into some Reagan-era talking points about welfare” and even makes a reference to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his infamous island.

It’s a ridiculous take on a powerful and complex song. Like all other mainstream journalistic institutions, Rolling Stone has collapsed. Ideology has eroded creativity and critical thinking.

It’s a shame because Rolling Stone was once great — a magazine whose business model was one that modern conservatives would do well to emulate.

To be fair, Tom Wolfe, P.J. O’Rourke, and Hunter S. Thompson left the building a very long time ago.

Flashback: Sticky Fingers: A New Biography Explores the Seedier Side of Jann Wenner.