Rolling Stone Defends Cover

“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.” – Rolling Stone editors, in a preface to their story.