Critics: Boston bombing suspect made a 'rock star' by Rolling Stone

A Rolling Stone story on Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is generating controversy even before it hits stores, with critics saying the cover photo glamorizes an accused killer and some retailers refusing to carry the issue.

The photo of Tsarnaev scheduled to hit shelves on Friday looks more like a young Bob Dylan or Jim Morrison than the 19-year-old who pleaded not guilty last week, looking casual despite having a swollen face and his arm in a cast. The same image of Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen who came to the United States as a child, was widely circulated and used by newspapers and magazines before, but the music magazine is being criticized for turning it into something more appealing - and making Tsarnaev look like a rock star.

"I can't think of another instance in which one has glamorized the image of an alleged terrorist. This is the image of a rock star. This is the image of someone who is admired, of someone who has a fan base, of someone we are critiquing as art," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

The magazine uses Tsarnaev's playful nickname in a headline: "Jahar's World". Its cover teaser reads: "The Bomber. How a Popular, Promising Student was Failed by His Family, Fell Into Radical Islam and Became a Monster." The story was made available on the magazine's website on Wednesday.

A brief Rolling Stone statement offered condolences to bombing survivors and the loved ones of the dead. Three people were killed in the bombing and dozens were wounded.

"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," the statement said.

While the magazine defended its decision, drugstore chain CVS Caremark Corp refused to sell it.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino told reporters at the opening of a rail station the cover was a "total disgrace".

"Why are we glorifying a guy who created mayhem in the city of Boston? I am going to be in touch with the publishers and tell them how I feel about it," he said.

Lauren Gabler had finished her fourth Boston Marathon and was two blocks from the finish-line explosions that April day. At first she thought the Rolling Stone photo, first released on the magazine's website and Facebook page, was of a model or a rock star.

"All of a sudden you realize that's the Boston bomber," she said. "The cover almost tricks you into what you're looking at. I haven't read the article yet, and I know it will probably be quite in-depth, but my initial reaction is that the photo that's being used almost makes him look like a good guy."

Rolling Stone said the cover story was part of its "long-standing commitment to serious and thoughtful coverage of the most important political and cultural issues of our day." The magazine has had plenty of covers featuring people outside the realm of entertainment, from US President Barack Obama to Charles Manson.

Putting criminals and alleged criminals on the covers of major magazines is justified if they are major news figures, said Samir Husni, who heads the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi.

AP-Reuters

(China Daily 07/19/2013 page12)