Some Concord Stores Ban Rolling Stone; Some Won’t

Those looking to buy a copy of the latest edition of Rolling Stone, which features a cover story about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the suspect in the April 19, Boston Marathon Bombings, may have a tough time finding it.

A number of stores with locations in Concord – including Shaw’s, Rite Aid, Walgreens, and Tedeschi Foods – are choosing not to carry this edition of the magazine that drops on July 19.

Other stores, like 7-Eleven, and locally owned and operated Gibson’s Bookstore on South Main Street, will carry the magazine, with owner Michael Herrmann noting in an email that “after a brief reflection,” the store decided to carry the controversial edition.

“We understand that there is a cultural significance to ‘the cover of Rolling Stone,’ but to our mind that just makes the image more useful,” Herrmann said. “It is a stone fact that this kid looks like one of our kids, or like someone in a band they listen to. What do we do with that fact? It’s a mistake to ignore it and just paint the bomber as an alien. So while we think the editors of RS were perhaps naïve in not foreseeing the controversy they were creating, we think we would be doing the community a disservice if we censored this issue and prevented a useful conversation from taking place.”

As the controversy exploded, prompting Boston Mayor Tom Menino to write a letter to the publisher of Rolling Stone, others stated that it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the magazine would put together a story with Tsarnaev on the cover.

Media critic and journalism professor Dan Kennedy featured a May 5, screen grab of the New York Times that featured the same photo. Herrmann said that the magazine “is actually one of the best political magazines in the country,” adding, “Anyone who thinks it’s just about music and entertainment hasn’t been reading it. So we expect the article on the bomber to be of very high quality.”

Herrmann added that the store only carries a few copies of Rolling Stone so, more than likely, readers will have a tough time finding it at his store too, since it will sell-out quickly. 

What do you think of this move by retailers? Should they carry the magazine or not? Leave a note in the comment section.

Additional writing for this report was contributed by Patch Regional Editor Marc Fortier.