Controversy over new 'Jon & Kate Plus 8'

The boom in reality TV has raised new ethical questions that have come to a head in the case of Jon and Kate Gosselin and their eight children, whose reality TV programme is also popular in Malta.

U.S. celebrity magazines, blogs and tabloids are in a frenzy about the new season of "Jon & Kate Plus 8," in which the parents of sextuplets and twins appear to be barely speaking to each other and contemplating divorce.

The season premiere on Monday, when both parents brushed off rumours of infidelity, drew in nearly 10 million people worldwide.

The episode was ostensibly about a fifth birthday party for the sextuplets, but that was overshadowed by the drama of the parents' disintegrating marriage.

On Wednesday, Kate's brother and sister-in-law, Kevin and Jodi Kreider, appeared on CBS News' "The Early Show" to appeal to the couple to stop exploiting their children.

"They're being viewed as a commodity," Kevin Kreider said.

Jodi Kreider said the children were aware of the cameras and uncomfortable having them present on every vacation.

"Kids have bad times, bad moments, they cry, and having the camera zoom in on a crying child ... this should not be a form of entertainment," she said.

The show is one of several, such as "Table for 12," about large families on Discovery's cable network TLC, which specializes in reality television, a genre that is famously cheap to make.

TLC did not respond to a request for comment, but a statement quoted in The New York Times said ratings were growing due to "interest in these real-life issues."

"We will continue to air as the interest continues, and the family wants to do it," the TLC statement said.

TRAIN WRECK

Michael Brody, media chairman of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, said the treatment of the Gosselin children may amount to abuse, though he added that he had not met the family.

"Look at what has happened to all these child stars," Brody said. "Most of these people are in rehab or they're involved in child abuse, it's horrendous."

The Gosselins have said they are motivated by the need to feed and educate the children. The New York Times cited reports the parents are paid $25,000 to $50,000 for each episode.

Paul Petersen, a former child star on "The Donna Reed Show," which aired on ABC between 1958 and 1966, said childhood and adolescence were hard enough without fame.

"Where are those 10 million viewers going to be in 10 years when these kids have a train wreck?" Petersen said.

Petersen, founder of "A Minor Consideration," a group that campaigns for children in entertainment, said there was a history of exploiting multiple-birth kids, such as the Dionne quintuplets, who were born in Canada in the 1930s and put on public display.

From Drew Barrymore to Michael Jackson, child stars have struggled to deal with early fame.

The latest babies set for a life on the small screen are the octuplets born in January to California mother Nadya Suleman, who has said she will make a documentary about them.

"The entertainment business is vast and powerful," Petersen said. "Somebody has to stand up to them and say, 'You can't do this to children any more.'"