“Your August 3 cover rewards a terrorist with celebrity treatment. It is ill-conceived, at best, and re-affirms a terrible message that destruction gains fame for killers and their 'causes.’ ” - Boston Mayor Tom Menino
The controversy over Rolling Stone magazine’s August issue cover started with officials in Boston, including Boston’s mayor Tom Menino. Rolling Stone put accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Twitter profile photo on its August cover. Thousands of people expressed outrage using social media.
Depicting a Monster
"Rolling Stone's decision to glamorize the image of a man who brought terror to our city is disappointing. The marathon bombing shook our city and now thousands of people who were personally affected by this tragedy will have the unfortunate experience of coming across the face of a terrorist in a space usually reserved for rock stars and cultural icons.” - Boston City Councilor Rob Consalvo
“Tedeschi Food Shops supports the need to share the news with everyone, but cannot support actions that serve to glorify the evil actions of anyone. With that being said, we will not be carrying this issue of Rolling Stone. Music and terrorism don't mix!” – Tedeschi Food Shops, Inc. Facebook page July 17, 2013
"What Rolling Stone did was wrong. This guy is evil. This is the real Boston bomber. Not someone fluffed and buffed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine." – Sergeant Sean Murphy, Police officer who released arrest photos of Tsarnaev
Critics perceive the cover photo on the magazine as glamorizing Tsarnaev and expressing support for his actions. Rhode Island-based chains: CVS pharmacy stores and Cumberland Farms convenience stores, and Massachusetts-based chains: Tedeschi convenience stores and Roche Bros. grocery stores all announced they would not sell the August issue.
Critics were concerned that the evil Tsarnaev is accused of doing wasn’t evident from his picture on the cover. If Rolling Stone had portrayed him, as in old Westerns where the bad guys wore black hats, there would have been no controversy over the magazine’s cover story about the Boston Marathon bomber. At the marathon, Bostonians gained intimate knowledge of the carnage bombs cause and also learned how deceptive appearances can be—at least in Tsarnaev’s case.
“A More Complete Understanding”
“Our hearts go out to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, and our thoughts are always with them 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. 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.” – Rolling Stone magazine editors
New England businesses and local politicians announced intentions to boycott the issue out of respect for the bombing victims and because they refuse to “glorify the evil actions of anyone.” The editors at Rolling Stone magazine issued a statement expressing their sympathy for the Boston bombing victims, but say that their article addresses “important political and cultural issues.”
Rolling Stone sees its article, titled: “The Bomber: How a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam and became a monster,” as a way to “gain a more complete understanding of how a tragedy like this happens.” All of the critics implicitly understand that when Rolling Stone puts someone on its magazine cover, Rolling Stone is elevating that someone’s status in our society. Rolling Stone doesn’t deny the cachet that comes with a cover photo on their magazine, but responds that it’s trying to understand how Tsarnaev, who is accused of injuring hundreds and killing three, became a monster—presumably because Rolling Stone understands bombing civilians is the act of a monster.
After one of many US drone strikes killed innocent civilians in their countries, Pakistanis, Yemenis, Afghans, and Somalis must consider US President Barack Obama a monster, just as Bostonians see Tsarnaev as a monster.
“Fame for a Killer and His Cause”
Rolling Stone magazine had Barack Obama on its cover four times before the end of his first year in office. Obama graced the cover of Rolling Stone seven times before the end of his first term.
By the time the hagiographic August 20, 2009 Rolling Stone cover appeared, drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen under Obama had exceeded the number of strikes during George Bush’s eight years in office.
By the time the time Rolling Stone depicted a smartly dressed, handsome President Obama on its May 10, 2012 cover, Obama had approved of hundreds of bombings that killed hundreds of civilians.[1][2] By then Obama had even approved explosions that killed four Americans.[3]
Why has there been no controversy in New England over Obama’s cover photos on Rolling Stone magazine?
Why was there no boycott out of respect for the bombing victims and as a refusal to “glorify the evil actions of anyone”?
Not only was there no controversy, one can be sure many Bostonians drive around with Obama bumper stickers on their cars, even as they pull into a Roche Bros. parking lot to shop or make a quick stop at a CVS store. Perhaps, everyone in New England hasn’t yet learned that appearances can be deceiving.
The Making of Monsters
In its attempt to “understand” how the “bomber became a monster,” the Rolling Stone article makes it clear from interviews of Tsarnaev’s friends and some of his writing on the internet that the bombing was Tsarnaev’s mistaken way of striking back at the country he saw “killing our innocent civilians.”
If bombing innocent civilians makes Tsarnaev a monster, between Tsarnaev and Obama: who is the bigger monster?
While we can expect another Rolling Stone issue with Obama on the cover, we shouldn’t expect a Rolling Stone article anytime soon attempting to “gain a more complete understanding” about how Barack Obama became a monster.[4][5]
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[1] “Living Under Drones: Death, Injury and Trauma to Civilians from US Drone Practices in Pakistan,” Stanford International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic (IHRCRC) and Global Justice Clinic (GJC) at NYU School of Law, September 25, 2012, (Accessed at http://www.livingunderdrones.org/report/ on July 28, 2013).
[2] “Emerging From The Shadows: US Covert Drone Strikes In 2012,” By Chris Woods, January 8, 2013, Mintpress News, (Accessed at http://www.mintpressnews.com/emerging-from-the-shadows-us-covert-drone-strikes-in-2012/45099/ on July 28, 2013).
[3] “Holder: We’ve Droned 4 Americans, 3 by Accident. Oops.” by Spencer Ackerman and Noah Shachtman, May 22, 2013,(Accessed at http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/05/4-americans-drone/ on July 28, 2013).
[4] “The Children Killed by America’s Drones. ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ committed by Barack H. Obama,” By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, January 26, 2013, (Accessed at http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-children-killed-by-americas-drones-crimes-against-humanity-committed-by-barack-h-obama/5320570 on July 28, 2013).
[5] “A List Of Children Killed By Drone Strikes In Pakistan and Yemen,” by Chris Miles, World, (Accessed at http://www.policymic.com/articles/24164/a-list-of-children-killed-by-drone-strikes-in-pakistan-and-yemen on July 28, 2013).
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