The Cover of The Rolling Stone has started a controversy, specifically with those from the Boston area (Rolling Stone)

Readers, from and beyond the Boston area, accused the magazine of promoting the murder suspect as a type of rock star, giving him attention they felt he did not deserve.

Rolling Stone responded by commenting that they were within their tradition of “serious and thoughtful coverage" of important cultural and political issues.

From USA Today: 

“Boston Mayor Thomas Menino wrote to Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner 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 letter calls the cover an obvious marketing strategy and concludes: "The survivors of the Boston attacks deserve Rolling Stone cover stories, though I no longer feel that Rolling Stone deserves them."

Various markets such as Walgreens, the CVS pharmacy chain, Roche Bros. groceries, Cumberrland Farms convenience stores and Massachusetts-based Tedeschi convenience stores, have all refused to sell the issue, schedule to go out on Friday.

From their Facebook page Rolling Stone issued a statement that their “hearts go out to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing” and “thoughts are always with them and their families.”

The editor’s commented “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." 

They also stated that this issue is reminiscent of one of their earlier issues from the 1970’s when their cover featured Charles Manson. Said issue contained a prison-held interview with the murderer and was among their top selling issues as well as winning a National Magazine award.

The article featured in the magazine can be read here.

Reach Executive Producer Eric Parra here.