Giant Eagle Refusing To Sell Controversial August Issue Of Rolling Stone
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Giant Eagle is the latest retailer refusing to sell the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine.
The issue is supposed to be on sale in stores Friday, but CVS, Walgreens, Rite-Aid and company-owned 7/11 stores have also decided not to sell the latest magazine.
The new issue features Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover.
Giant Eagle issued this statement: "We are continually mindful of customer feedback we receive on any of the products we carry. Given the controversial nature of the August issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, the decision has been made to discontinue sales of the publication in our stores."
Keith Cross, who is visiting Pittsburgh from Massachusetts, applauds the retailers refusing to sell it.
"Good for them!" said Cross. "They shouldn't carry it. They should put the victims' pictures on the front page of the Rolling Stone, not that scumbag that killed all those people."
But Robert Morris University Journalism Professor Anthony Moretti says he doubted the cover choice until he read the article.
"The story is really seriously written, does not in any way try to glorify this kid, really attempts to ask the question of how did this go wrong," said Moretti.
He says there's controversy because people relate Rolling Stone to what's hip and cool.
"If it had been Time Magazine there wouldn't have been a controversy," said Moretti. "If it had been The New York Times, there wouldn't have been a controversy."
Rolling Stone once featured killer Charles Manson on the cover.
As for Tsarnaev being on the latest cover, the mayor of Boston says it's in very poor taste.
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