Background. content articles focused on Melnyk but were largely absent when discussing the Wagner family. The fairness of Melnyk’s solicitation was the most prominent ethical issue raised. Laws and policies surrounding public solicitation also featured in the Melnyk story but not in articles focused on the Wagners. Public solicitation was portrayed more negatively in the Melnyk articles, but overall, was portrayed positively in relation to both Melnyk and the Wagner family. Conclusions. Public solicitation was portrayed as a positive phenomenon in Canadian printing press generally, l-Atabrine dihydrochloride however there have been stark variations in how these whole instances were presented. The Wagner tale was mainly portrayed like a human-interest piece in regards to a grouped family members in dire conditions, whereas Melnyk’s prosperity, status, and impact raised questions from the fairness of his transplant. In 2015, 2 high-profile press tales surfaced in Canada describing individuals looking for liver organ transplants: the 1st was of Binh and Phuoc Wagner, 3-year-old used twins from Vietnam, and the next was of Eugene Melnyk, owner from the Country wide Hockey League’s Ottawa Senators. Both tales generated significant press interest and advanced their particular looks for donors among the general l-Atabrine dihydrochloride public (discover Supplemental Components [SDC, http://links.lww.com/TXD/A228] for full context). These tales are area of the developing tendency of general public solicitation, whereby patients in need of a transplant (or their representatives) request members of the public to donate. These requests are on the rise and can now be made through a variety of mediums, including billboards,1 vehicles,1 newspaper advertisements,2 t-shirts,3 YouTube,4 Facebook,5 and other social media platforms.6 Patients can also purchase memberships on MatchingDonors.com, where people interested in donating can peruse the profiles of those in need of an organ and contact potential recipients.7 Public solicitation is l-Atabrine dihydrochloride controversial.8 Concerns include potential compromises to donor/recipient anonymity and privacy, commercial exchange and exploitation, strain on the healthcare system, and questions of fairness.9,10 There is a perception that public solicitation allows recipients to jump the queue and a concern that it privileges those with a large public profile, access to the media, or those with the most heart-wrenching story.11,12 There are also concerns that minority or underprivileged groups may be discriminated against either in terms of lacking access to media platforms or in being chosen as potential recipients on websites such as MatchingDonors.com.5,7,10,12 Given the considerable media attention to the Wagner and Melnyk stories, the Canadian donation and transplantation communities convened to provide some policy direction. The Canadian Society of Transplantation (CST) developed a position paper as a result, acknowledging some ethical issues but overall viewing the phenomenon as acceptable with some social benefits.13 The position paper explains that general public solicitation generates fresh donors, and subsequently, helps alleviate the pressure on waitlisted individuals. Other stated benefits include an elevated public recognition around donation and leveling the playing field for all those with limited familial and social networking options for locating potential donors.9,14 Although open public solicitation isn’t a new trend, the Wagner Melnyk and twins stories received unprecedented media coverage in Canada. Press representations can impact people’s behaviour and values about body organ donation and transplantation, when the messaging approximately donation is negative especially.15,16 You can find concerns that negative publicity connected with public solicitation may lead to a public backlash toward the donation program more broadly which public solicitations, online such as for example MatchinDonors particularly.com,17 could erode open public trust.8,18 The Mouse monoclonal to TDT Melnyk and Wagner tales, therefore, offer an important possibility to look at the provided information the general public receives on these concerns. Print mass media is certainly a prominent way to obtain information by which the general public receives information regarding donation.19,20 Analysis on organ donation tales in US newspapers shows that tales that are deviant (uncommon or sensational), significant (highly relevant to the current interpersonal, economic, or l-Atabrine dihydrochloride political climate), and unfavorable stories were more likely to receive prominence in news coverage.21 However, this particular study focused on all donation-related stories and did so specifically through the analytic lens of newsworthiness.21 In contrast, our study around the Canadian media coverage of the Wagner and Melnyk stories is specific to public solicitation and, placing both cases on a relatively equal level of significance, hypothesized that this media portrayal of each public solicitation would be significantly different. If there was l-Atabrine dihydrochloride a significant difference observed in the coverage, the task was then to elucidate the specific discursive differences at.