‘Rolling Stone’ Tsarnaev Cover ‘Inappropriate,’ Says America [Poll]

Rolling Stone‘s Tsarnaev cover has caused a lot of controversy this past week among celebrities, social media users, some businesses, and even other media publications. But how does America feel about the issue?

More or less the same.

According to a recent HuffPost/YouGov poll, most Americans think that “The Bomber” cover is “inappropriate.”

Per The Huffington Post:

“By a 65 percent to 15 percent margin, respondents to the poll, who were shown the cover image before answering questions about it, said that the cover was inappropriate. And 51 percent said that the cover glorifies Tsarnaev’s actions, while another 26 percent said it did not, and 23 percent said they weren’t sure.”

A handful of retail chains have announced that they won’t be selling Rolling Stone‘s Tsarnaev issue in stores, and both Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick have openly criticized the publication.

As we reported this week, one Boston resident has even started a social media push to burn copies of the issue.

The poll noted that only a small number of those responding admitted to being Rolling Stone subscribers or regular readers. Among those who were, the response to the Tsarnaev cover was roughly the same.

In response to criticism of the cover, Rolling Stone issued the following statement:

“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.”

But if we feel bad for anyone, it’s Janey Reitman who did all the footwork on this story. If you can set aside your anger at Rolling Stone, the Tsarnaev article in the issue is actually quite well done. You can read it here for free.