Everyday Ethics

In two months, give or take or take a week or so, there will be a pack of scolding critics wagging their fingers at "the media," for publishing pictures of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's newborn baby. These scolds will be dismayed at the multi-million-dollar price tag of the first photo. They will be shocked by the number of "respectable" media outlets that run the photo. And they will moan about the lack of privacy in our world, especially if the first photos are snapped by smarmy paparazzi sneaking around dressed like nurses or orderlies.

There are opportunities here to do pop culture stories that don't tread in the waters of predictability. Let me suggest a few:

• The voyeur in all of us - Admit it, you'll go looking for the baby photo as soon as you hear it's out there. Why? Because there is a piece of each of us that can't resist the urge to see what kind of baby two modern-day deities will produce. It's not possible that the baby will be anything other than perfect. But imperfections are exactly what we're looking for. What would a reporter learn by loitering by the checkout line and interviewing a dozen people who pick up the tabloid or magazine that scores the first photo?
• The tabloid continuum - You can learn a lot about your news providers by taking note of how the story is played. There is a bit of tabloid in even the most serious publications. Top of the news hour or kicker? Front page or inside? Home page? Straight story or is there an attempt to make it about more than just beautiful people having a beautiful baby?
• Adoption vs. birth - The obsession over the birth of Angelina's baby outweighs the interest in the babies she has adopted by about two tons. The price of the photo is exhibit No. 1. What's up with that? What if you turn to parents in your own community who've brought children home both ways and ask them to explore the difference? Or what if you sat down with a couple of articulate young adults who could discuss their childhood experience of growing up in a family with adopted and biological children? As common as adoption is these days, many adopted children will tell you there are days when it feels like an asterisk on their status in their family. It will be years before Angelina's kids publish their memoirs. But there are people living the same story in every community.