Matt Whittington Period: F

Behind The Rolling Stone Controversy

In an interesting, and respectable Rolling Stone article, the careless choice of a cover photo launches a swath of up rage from a nation in mourning. The article named “Jahar's World” was written by a woman named Janet Reitman. The article itself contained a diversity of sources including Jahars' high school wrestling coach, his friend Alyssa ,and an FBI agent. The variety of sources allows for an unbiased, and interesting article. The cover Rolling Stone selected , however, was a costly mistake.

Rolling Stone selected a “selfie” of Jahar Tsarnaev appearing as an attractive young man as their cover photo, but was seemingly unaware of the consequences. After the Boston Marathon Bombings, the nation was in a crazed frenzy trying to identify the people responsible. The identity of the bombers came as a shock to many including Jahars' wrestling coach, Payack, “'To think that a kid we mentored and loved like a son could have been responsible for all this death. It was beyond shocking.'” Then only a short while after the bombings Rolling Stone released a magazine with Tsarnaevs' face plastered on the cover. The reaction was apparent as many store owners boycotted the magazine. It is unlikely that many people actually read the article, before completely disregarding it. It was a case of reading a book (or magazine) by its cover, but that still is no excuse for a reputable company with thousands of other options.

For those who looked past the cover, and read the article, found an intriguing, and well written piece of journalism. The author, Janet Reitman, is a credible writer for Rolling Stone, which is one of the most reputable magazines in the entire world. She may have described Jahar as “a beautiful, tousle-haired boy with a gentle demeanor, soulful brown eyes and the kind of shy, laid back manner”, but she also called him a “monster”. This made for a fair and unbiased article. The article shed some light on how he, and his brother, Tamerlan, grew up in Boston, looking to start new lives. The Tsarnaevs were from Chechnya, a war-ridden nation without a lot of opportunity. Jahar had a seemingly great childhood, and was known as a “chill dude”. Tamerlan, however had a rough time growing up in America with a thick accent. Tamerlan later turned to Islam as a focus in his life, and he, and his brother moved back to Chechnya for

6 months. Then during the Boston marathon they succeeded in one of the most horrific acts of terrorism on American soil. “Jahar's World” by Janet Reitman is a very fair and interesting article.

That is why I believe that the article hiding behind the unreasonable cover photo, was very well written and worth the read. Rolling Stone, however, probably should have selected a much less offensive cover photo for such a controversial topic. It may have been a good idea for them to select something completely unrelated to the Boston marathon Bombings. In conclusion, it is very interesting to see how a nice young man, like Jahar, could commit such an atrocity.