Rolling Stone Criticized for Putting “Rock Star” Photo of Boston Bombing Suspect on its Front Cover (+video)
Photo Credit: ABC15Rolling Stone Boston bomber suspect photo stirs online controversy; CVS, Walgreens drop the issue
By Tracy Jarrett. Rolling Stone magazine sparked a heated social media debate Wednesday after releasing a cover image promoting an upcoming profile of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
The Twitter and Facebook firestorm resulted in calls for boycotts and drugstore chains Walgreens and CVS announcing they would not carry the issue in their stores. Together, the pharmacies have more than 15,000 locations nationwide.
“As a company with deep roots in New England and a strong presence in Boston, we believe this is the right decision out of respect for the victims of the attack and their loved ones,” a statement from CVS said. CVS is headquartered in Woonsocket, R.I. Tedeschi Foods, a New England-based grocery chain with 200 outlets, also announced Wednesday that it would not carry the issue of the magazine.
The cover, released online as a preview to Friday’s edition with an in-depth article chronicling Tsarnaev’s life leading up to the Boston Marathon bombing, features a “selfie” — or self-taken photo– by Tsarnaev with the teen’s hair falling across his face. Read more from this story HERE.
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Rolling Stone, Critic Defend Cover
In a statement, the magazine said its thoughts were “always with” the bombing victims and their families.
“The cover story we are publishing this week falls within the traditions of journalism and Rolling Stone’s long-standing commitment to serious and thoughtful coverage of the most important political and cultural issues of our day,” it said. “The fact that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is young, and in the same age group as many of our readers, makes it all the more important for us to examine the complexities of this issue and gain a more complete understanding of how a tragedy like this happens.”
While primarily a music magazine, the journal also has forged a reputation for hard-hitting pieces on national affairs, politics and popular culture. For example, journalist Michael Hastings wrote a 2010 profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal that led to the officer’s abrupt retirement. In his profile, Hastings quoted McChrystal and his staff criticizing and mocking key administration officials.
Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple said Rolling Stone should be out defending its article, because it’s “a pretty easy thing to defend.”
“What you have here is a story about a guy who was very integrated and well-balanced, by all accounts, member of our society until something happened,” Wemple said. “We don’t know precisely what happend and that was the whole point of this Rolling Stone story — to account for how he slid off the rails.”
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Ex-Obama NSC spokesman the latest to criticize Rolling Stone bomber cover
By Jonathan Easley. President Obama’s former National Security Council spokesman is the latest to question Rolling Stone’s cover of the Boston Marathon suspect.
Tommy Vietor, the former spokesman, said he thought the Rolling Stone magazine cover glamorized Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is suspected of plotting and carrying out the bombing earlier this year that killed three people.
The cover photo shows an image of an angelic looking Tsarnaev, who is starting straight ahead. Read more from this story HERE.