Three Village Locals: Rolling Stone Crossed the Line

The cover of the latest Rolling Stone features Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. It's not a grainy image from a surveillance camera or a mug shot but it shows a hip-looking young man, his mussy hair and goatee making him seem more like one of the rock stars the music magazine frequently covers rather than possibly the most hated man in the United States right now. A suspected terrorist. The cover photo supports the investigative piece inside outlining what made the boy turn into a killer.

But since the cover was announced to the public there has been a backlash. Several stores, including Stop & Shop, CVS and Walgreen's, have refused to carry the latest issue of Rolling Stone Magazine because of its decision to put Tsarnaev on the cover.

We posed the question on our Facebook page and asked readers if they agreed with the retailers' decision. Here is what a few of your neighbors are saying:

Heidi Green: yes!!!

Monica M Hughes: TOTALLY AGREE!!!

Matt Bonvento: The focus should have been on the survivors, their families and the first responders who were involved. This story could have covered the investigation and the chase.

Tom Farrell: Perhaps the Patch should not be recirculating the cover of that magazine either? All it is doing is glorifying a terrorist. This is exactly what the cowards wanted.

Lauren Gitelson: It's disgraceful and disrespectful that they did this. As a society we have lost all sense of morality and goodness. We need to start treating each other a little better. We need to get back to bring kind to each other. There is too much hate and sadness

Brett Mauser: Forget about the ethics of it. Strictly from a business perspective, I could see someone seeing that on the shelves, walking out the door, and never thinking about coming back. Overdramatic? Maybe. But definitely possible.

Alice Hudson: I certainly don't want to be shopping and have to see the face of a killer staring back at me. Lets continue to focus on the victims. Kudos to those retailers.

James Saccardi: Completely justified.

Meredith C. Kurz: Rolling Stones' circulation numbers were probably down and this "opportunity" was used perhaps to shock them up. Both Hitler and Khomeini made the cover of Time as "Man of the Year", so this is nothing new. Publishers have the right to put it on the cover: we have the right not to buy it: stores have the right not to sell it. I wouldn't want to be the one who made this corporate decision that's creating negative chatter in the horrendously declining market of magazine sales.

Kathleen Vize Schoendorf: Yes, I agree with the decision to not carry this issue. As many Baby Boomers realize, the cover of the Rolling Stone was a coveted place for many performers -- so much so that Dr. Hook even wrote a song about it. Please explain to me how placing a sympathetic-looking photo of the surviving suspected Boston Marathon bomber deserves such a venerated spot in an entertainment magazine? Many of us have friends and family in and around Boston; my twin nieces live there. One was posting pictures from her spot along the Marathon route. Imagine the horror our family felt not knowing if she was OK when the bombs went off? There were so many other images which could have graced this cover and served as a counterpoint to the article on this troubled person. Instead, Rolling Stone sought to cash in on the atrocity of that day and this terrorist's notoriety.

Mary Scott: If it gets people to read the story, it's great! The cover does break the stereotype of who is a terrorist and what they look like. It certainly got the conversation going, and will continue to do so for at least a day or two.

Continue the conversation. Tell us what you think. Do you agree that stores should ban the issue on their shelves?