‘After honeymooners crash in a helicopter, tourist choppers give us pause’
Chicago Tribune editorial board
Helicopters are often “vital tools,” and “there are many diligent, safety-conscious operators of helicopters that serve tourists,” says the Chicago Tribune editorial board. But recent crashes are “enough to give us pause about getting on one, especially if there is another choice of transportation to a popular destination.” It’s a “timely reminder there are lots of ways in these final weeks of summer of making it to a secluded vacation place: by boat, car, minibus, train or even a sturdier plane.”
‘Death stalks the Irish pub’
Jude Webber at the Financial Times
Death is “revered in Ireland more than it is feared — unless it’s the pub that’s dying,” says Jude Webber. From a “peak of more than 8,600 in 2005, the number of public houses has shrunk by a quarter in two decades,” and some fear a “terminal decline of one of Ireland’s best-loved institutions, especially in rural areas.” The “slow extinction of the Irish pub itself, with its cosy snugs, live music and warm welcome, is cause for increasing alarm.”
‘Humanitarianism is not collapsing. It is being traded and compromised.’
Amitabh Behar at Al Jazeera
As we “mark World Humanitarian Day, we must reflect on the state of humanitarianism,” says Amitabh Behar. Humanitarianism “has always been framed upon the collective assumption that there are lines that should never be crossed.” For a “generation, we had binding international agreements that treated the act of protecting a child in need of food or a medic treating the sick and wounded as a fundamental legal right,” but “today, the consensus and meaning behind these laws are gone.”
‘A fake poll made real news. What does that say about political polling?’
Ren LaForme, Angela Fu, Amaris Castillo and Phoenix Chapital at the Poynter Institute
Polling “has always presented journalists with a tricky proposition,” say Ren LaForme, Angela Fu, Amaris Castillo and Phoenix Chapital. There is “something irresistible about them,” but “polls are estimates, not predictions.” Their “usefulness depends heavily on who conducted them, who they surveyed and how.” As a fake poll by “Median Strategies demonstrated, the appearance of a methodology, a sample size and a margin of error can make invented numbers look a lot like real ones.”