Rolling Stone, hit by a storm of criticism and boycotts over its cover treatment and glam photo of Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, defended itself on Wednesday, saying it was within its tradition of "serious and thoughtful coverage" of important cultural and political issues, USA today reports.
Readers, particularly from the Boston area, slammed the magazine on its Facebook page, charging that the cover treatment turns the accused killer into a "rock star."
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino wrote to the publisher accusing the magazine of offering Tsarnaev "celebrity treatment" and calling the cover "ill-conceived, at best," in that it supports the "terrible message that destruction gains fame for killers and their 'causes.'"
The Rolling Stone editors said their hearts go out to the victims of the April 15 bombings, but that the cover story was an attempt to grapple with an important issue.
The article titled "The Bomber: How a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam and became a monster" is based on interviews with childhood and high school friends, teachers, neighbors and law enforcement agents.
