PressEthic

What about the scores of children nationwide needing expensive medical care whose parents don't have access to the media, business owners or potential contributors? Or teenagers who aren't as photogenic as Sophia? Or adults with no one to plead their case?

So what do the experts have to say?

According to the article, Deni Elliott, media ethics professor at the University of South Florida and a documentarian who made a film about the dilemma called "A Case of Need," says the newsworthiness of a story is an important factor.

Poynter's Kelly McBride "says it might be more fair for a newspaper to run every story and limit each to the same short length, say 8 inches. She doesn't, however, know of any newspaper that has such a policy." And her colleague Bob Steele says fundraising shouldn't be the first priority for journalists.

Although these experts point out that charity journalism is problematic, it also has its rewards and does, in some form, serve a larger purpose.

A story such as Sophia's hints at, but often doesn't highlight, larger questions about the health care system in the United States.

"When stories about the little kid in need run," Elliott says, "very rarely do you see the same minutes or number of inches on what we are doing with the health care system."

There is an obligation, McBride says, "to hold the system accountable. ... What should a family be expected to sacrifice? What costs should the system pick up? ... Why are there so many holes in the system? That is a big, messy story."

Margaret Hogan, who teaches applied ethics at the University of Portland, says she worries about how the public responds to what are, she says, compelling stories.

"There can be a huge outpouring of resources," she says, "but where is the concern for long-term preventive or everyday care?

"We need to plug in our reason," she says. "Life is finite, and medical resources are limited. We need to face up to that."

Well said.

In Haught's case, she found Sophia's story online and decided to write about it, along with the ethical dilemmas faced by journalists. The good news is that Sophia's parents have several charity events lined up to help raise money for the transplant and they're hopeful about the outcome. But I wonder how many other little children will go without while Sophia has a rock concert in her honor.