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Importers seek MDA advice over controversial Rolling Stone issue

SINGAPORE — At least two magazine importers here have indicated their intent to submit next month’s issue of Rolling Stone magazine, featuring Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover, to the Media Development Authority (MDA) for consultation on its suitability for circulation.

SINGAPORE — At least two magazine importers here have indicated their intent to submit next month’s issue of Rolling Stone magazine, featuring Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover, to the Media Development Authority (MDA) for consultation on its suitability for circulation.

The magazine cover, showing Tsarnaev with tousled hair and smoky eyes, ignited a heated debate when the American magazine published it online on June 16.

Boston Mayor Tom Menino wrote a letter to Rolling Stone’s publisher last Wednesday, saying the cover “rewards a terrorist with celebrity treatment” and “reaffirms a terrible message that destruction gains fame for killers and their ‘causes’”.

Worried about the controversy surrounding this issue, magazine importer Carkit (Far East) sent a copy to the MDA on Monday to seek advice.

Carkit Business Director Doreen Tan said the magazine shipment had arrived via air freight, but they have held back on distributing it to stores as “there were news reports on this controversial issue, so (it is) better to seek clarification with the MDA”.

Similarly, another distributor, Pansing, is understood to be seeking advice from the authority. A third, Allscript, could not be reached for comment.

Bookstores TODAY visited have yet to receive their shipment of the magazine’s latest issue despite Rolling Stone usually hitting Kinokuniya and Thambi Magazine Store shelves in the third week of each month.

The imported publications industry here is largely self-regulated. “Registered importers are trained by the MDA to use content guidelines to assess the suitability of publications and audio materials that they wish to bring into Singapore for circulation,” the authority’s website states, adding that importers may consult the agency if they are unsure about controversial materials.

Mainly, importers must ensure that publications brought in for distribution do not feature content which could be considered objectionable on moral, racial or religious grounds, or deemed detrimental to national interests.

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