Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of Rolling Stone

[chayton]

I was just reading an article about this...seems that RS really shot themselves in the foot, people are outraged and they've been getting slammed on their facebook page and all over the internet.

Most people are complaining that they're glamorizing the guy or putting a Jim Morrison type spin on the photo or whatever. RS is countering with "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."

Most people haven't read the article, the issue they're having is about the photo and putting him on the cover like some sort of teen heart throb. In a way I can sort of understand why they did it, showing a picture of some 'normal' young guy who wasn't normal at all. On the flip side, I can see how it would feel like a slap in the face to the people who were killed or injured, their families, and everyone else who was affected by this.

This is the cover, what do you guys think?

 

[dionysus]

Goody goody or nut job, I see no reason why the magazine cant choose to put on who they wish - Hell, half the musicians are hardly paragons of virtue

 

[jetset]

I see in today's news that a Boston police veteran has countered this "brushed and buffed" image of the alleged murderer with some pix of his own taken at the time of the arrest and showing a dishevelled and bloody youth surrendering after a gunfight.

The police guy's opinion is that these sort of alleged criminals should not be depicted in a "glamourous" manner and setting but as the emotionally disturbed, murderous losers that they really are...and that RS insulted and hurt the families of those who's lives were so prematurely ended in the Boston incident.

I can see his point, too.

 

[Casinomeister]

Rolling Stone is brilliant. They knew that this would cause outrage and put them back on the road-map. There is no such thing as bad publicity, and RS is fully aware of this.

For them to put some Morrison-like soft focused shot of this asshole mocks the pain of those who lost life or limb. They trivialize the terror that thousands of people personally felt in Boston those days when these assholes were on the run. It's a shame that the little boy who was killed wasn't old enough to be featured on the cover. How about photos of a teenaged Bin Laden? I bet that would sell magazines as well. Rolling Stone should stick to rock and roll and quit trying to be something they aren't.

I'm glad one of the cops who captured this twat posted better photos here:

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[dionysus]

And of those families who were touched by drug use or suicide and any number of other addictions or problems, directly or by influence...should we remove Cobain, Hutchence, Jackson, Winehouse etc so those families feel better?

 

[harrys99]

Not much more to add than the things you brought up Cindy-but yes I find it offensive. I think people have a hard time associating evil doings with the face of an angel, but maybe that's the secret weapon.

 

[chayton]

I think it's going to be a PR nightmare for Rolling Stone. People are really upset, they're cancelling subscriptions and calling in complaints and talking about boycotting advertisers products. Some stores have refused to sell this issue too, and there's a huge backlash all over the internet.

IMO what's even more disturbing is that there are already copies of this on ebay - people think it will be pulled so they're buying in bulk to try to profit from the rarity that it might become. Hurray capitalism.

 

[dionysus]

I'd wager there's an equal amount of people who otherwise never were much interested in the mag, will pick it up from the publicity its garnered alone - I doubt they'll lose in the long run

 

[incrediblestuff]

Just out of curiousity: has anyone read the article yet?

 

[chayton]

Just out of curiousity: has anyone read the article yet?

I haven't. Although I think they're going to put it online to try to soothe the coming shitstorm. I probably won't read it anyhow, not for any other reason than because I read enough about the brothers and saw way too much of their mom when the whole thing happened.

Funny I was just reading that the senior editor at RS made a flippant tweet about people being upset and got everyone even more pissed off, so now he's removed it and apologized but there are still pics of it all over. There's a boycott RS facebook page with over 165K likes already.

 

[incrediblestuff]

I have mixed feelings about this, as on one hand i absolutely am against any sort of radicalism, which leads to violence, and any sort of propagating articles on whatever forum (digital, printed or televised) but i also am curious as to so called "normal" people could revert to such stances and then proceed to acts of terrorism: i could imagine people turning radical after being traumatized in war, for example, but not just living next door to me: if being partially indoctrinated, and partially retarded isa enough for some to act like this, is a pretty fear-inducing idea...

That's why i probably will read the article, then i can say ivf it's just cheap shock journalism, or maybe a good article that provides some insight in the mind of such a person.

That said, i also think they way they have promoted this is a not cool, but even though they are not really comparable, i also despise a LOT of other things the media in general are doing..

Just goes to show how the media are playing us day by day, or at least trying to, messing with our heads, feelings/emotions, just to dumb us down, heat us up or divert our attention..

 

[rockycatt]

they should be charged with inciting a riot

 

[rockycatt]

BOSTON (AP) — A police photographer, furious with a Rolling Stone cover photo he believes glamorizes the surviving Boston Marathon suspect, released gritty images Thursday from the day he was captured.

Photos released to Boston Magazine by Massachusetts State Police tactical photographer Sgt. Sean Murphy show a downcast, disheveled Dzhokhar Tsarnaev with the red dot of a sniper's rifle laser sight boring into his forehead.

The pictures were taken when Tsarnaev was captured April 19, bleeding and hiding in a dry-docked boat in a Watertown backyard.

Murphy said in a statement to Boston Magazine that Tsarnaev is evil and that his photos show the "real Boston bomber, not someone fluffed and buffed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine."

 

[IanO]

Personaly I think the Mayor of Boston hit the nail right on the head with his reply:

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[BingoT]

'Trayvon Martin could have been me' - Barack Obama
President Barack Obama has said that "Trayvon Martin could have been me, 35 years ago", in his first comments on the case since last week's verdict.

The unarmed black 17-year-old was shot and killed in Florida in February 2012.

George Zimmerman, 29, said he opened fire on the teenager in self-defence and was acquitted of murder by a Florida court last week.

In an unexpected press call, Mr Obama said very few black men in the US had not experienced racial profiling.
BBC News

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[skiny]

I haven't read the article but I think Rolling Stone magazine should show some backbone and defend the point it seems to me they were trying to make. The first thing I see when I look at this cover is an average and fairly unassuming looking young man. The cover itself is in the same Rolling Stone style they've always used. The next thing I see is a caption almost right in the middle of his chest.

"How a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam and became a monster."

The caption itself proclaims him a monster right on the cover in bold capitalized print. The photo they chose could be anybody. This could be your neighbour, a classmate. This could be one of your family members. To show a person who looks incredibly hard done by or unkempt and untrustworthy - to show someone who looks like a killer really wouldn't paint a picture of someone who fell from grace.

The cover says to me "Look at this young man. Now come inside and read how he became something else. Read how he became a monster."

This story was on Talk Radio yesterday and ever single person I heard complain about the cover had not read the article. They all elude to the idea that the magazine glamourized this murderer. When I finally saw the cover myself I saw something completely different. I saw a pretty clear commentary on how a popular young man's life can take a drastically wrong turn with devastating results.

 

[skiny]

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