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CVS And Walgreens Refuse To Sell Rolling Stone Magazine That Features The Boston Bomber
Perhaps hoping to repeat its 1970 cover story on Charles Manson, which won a National Magazine Award, Rolling Stone has put a picture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston bomber who is still alive and facing trial, on its cover. Tagline: “How A Popular BPOP +5.4%, Promising Student Was Failed by His Family, Fell Into Radical Islam, and Became a Monster.” Read the full story here.
The decision is drawing criticism in part because of Rolling Stone’s decision to use a photo, posted on social media by Tsarnaev and previously used on the front page of the New York Times, that makes him look a bit like a Jim-Morrison-esque rock god.
But there’s one place you won’t be able to buy the issue: CVS stores. Because CVS Caremark CVS +0.77%, the $123 billion (sales) drug store and pharmacy benefits management company, has decided that it won’t sell the magazine. The company, based in Woonsocket, R.I., gave its New England roots in a statement issued on Facebook FB -1.71%, where it has been ‘liked’ 32,000 times and shared more than 13,000.
CVS/pharmacy has decided not to sell the current issue of Rolling Stone featuring a cover photo of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect. As a company with deep roots in New England and a strong presence in Boston, we believe this is the right decision out of respect for the victims of the attack and their loved ones.
A spokesman declined to make CVS executives available to comment. 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. –THE EDITORS
Update: Walgreen’s tweeted that it won’t sell the magazine either.
ROLLING STONE'S RESPONSE VIA TWITTER
Deleted tweet from Rolling Stone editor:
‘I guess we should have drawn a dick on Dzhokhar’s face’;
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