babies rarely make good news

I'm not trying to be cynical here, but I have a bone to pick with the media's choice of top story for today.

This is the headlining story on the Toronto Star's website: two-month-old Kaylee Wallace is dying and her parents made the decision to take her off life support and offer her heart to one-month-old Lillian O'Connor. Little Kaylee didn't pass on in time, so the operation was called off. Both girls are still alive, barely.

I'll start by offering my sincerest condolences to the families of these little girls. It is a truly terrible situation and there is little that can be said other than that.

Now, let's talk about how this has been on the front page of the Star all day. These reporters have been updating little Kaylee's oxygen intake like death counts after an earthquake (which is still going on in Italy, by the way) since the story hit the web this morning. This is a story of a potential organ transplant that was not a sure thing in the first place.

Is this where the media's baby obsession has led? Is the Canadian media now jealous that Octomom and Angelina are getting all the attention? This is what passes for hard-hitting front-page news on a prominent newspaper? I may be inclined to give the Star a free pass on this one, as the story actually happens in Toronto. But CBC, the Globe and Mail, CTV and the National Post: what's your excuse?

I like babies, and I like reading about babies, but nine times out of ten, stories about babies belong in the living/health section of a newspaper. As neither of these girls was kidnapped or won first prize in an international spelling bee, the story doesn't warrant more than a blip on the front page.