Browse Primary Sources
I-I - Miracle Merchants: "A Year's Schooling Wasted For the Lack of $9" - Mike Dorning - Chicago Tribune
". . .Because child sponsorship had failed him. Despite a sponsorship through the Rhode Island-based agency Childreach, the boy could not pay his school tuition.Pierre Richard is just one of thousands of children sponsored through Childreach, which tells its donors their money will make big differences in the life of their sponsored child. . ."
The Chicago Tribune 1998-03-15
I-H - Miracle Merchants: "Tiny Fractions Bring Big Bucks" - Mike Dorning - Chicago Tribune
". . .Childreach marketing director Stacey Pulner Mihaly acknowledges that the stories of the children's lives were composites drawn "from the histories of many children." The pictures were randomly selected from Childreach's photo archives, Mihaly said, and the children's names were simply made up. . ."
The Chicago Tribune 1998-03-15
I-G - Miracle Merchants: "Many Can Take a Bow in Developing Nations" - Mike Dorning - Chicago Tribune
". . .When the Tribune asked the organizations to support claims of having a global impact on child survival, education and longevity, they offered anecdotal accounts of improving vaccination rates, increasing the use of contraception and improving nutrition at the community level.They could not provide evidence that conditions in countries where the sponsorship groups are working have improved much more than in other countries. . ."
The Chicago Tribune 1998-03-15
II-Miracle Merchants: Precede: "About This Special Report" - Unsigned - Chicago Tribune
"Work on this project began in 1995 when a group of Chicago Tribune reporters and editors initially sponsored 12 children through four of the largest and best-known child sponsorship organizations--Save the Children Federation Inc.; the Christian Children's Fund; Children International; and Childreach."Over the next two years, the individuals sent monthly or annual donations to the children who were randomly selected by the organizations. Tribune reporters and editors didn't request specific children, although some said they preferred children on certain continents in order to research a wide spectrum of charity work. They identified themselves by name but not by their affiliation to the Tribune. The charities didn't ask for information about employment or occupation in donor applications.
The Chicago Tribune 1998-03-22
I-Miracle Merchants: "At Times, I've Wanted to Turn It Off Too" - Graeme Zielinski and David Jackson - Chicago Tribune
"The pitch for sponsors. They are known as "flies-in-the-eyes" commercials. They feature the wrenching images of starving children, their bellies bowed and faces speckled with insects. They tear at your heart . . ."
The Chicago Tribune 1998-03-15