Chris, Your message came through, but I write all messages off line and then they are sent off automatically as soon as I connect to the Internet. This means that your first message was loaded while the letter went out. In that letter I clearly referred to the printed newspaper, not the site. Its printed *European* edition remains as devoid of metric as the NGL magazine was until recently. If it had used Imperial for British and USA news and metric for mainland European and world news I would not have sent that message. It is even printed in mainland Europe! This edition has been in our city library for some years, I was slowly getting fed up with it and now I had had enough. Then I decided to send a message through their website. It is the same company and if my message ended up in a wrong place, it can still be forwarded to the editor of the printed paper. I also indicated that I would agree with Imperial where Imperial and metric where metric is appropriate.
Han ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2002 7:31 PM Subject: [USMA:17169] Re: Use of Imperial units in European news coverings > On Thu, 3 Jan 2002 00:22:53 +0100, you wrote: > > >Dear Mrs Bell, > > > >I am surprised that a progressive newspaper like the Guardian, even its European edition, uses nothing but British Imperial units in its covering of mainland European news. I know, for instance, that until a few years ago the weather forecasts in the European edition were in degrees Fahrenheit, although that scale is not used in mainland Europe. Maps of metric nations have scales in miles only; the covering of the Tour de France is in Imperial units every year.Tour de France and Imperial units are a totally inappropriate combination. Han: Unfortunately a message I sent earlier does not appear to have got through. I was an avid Guardian reader from my school days up until a few years ago. I had been thinking of switching to the Independent for some time, and was finally persuaded by the Independent's use of metric: not thorough by any means, but alone among the UK press. The Guardian was not an Establishment paper, but conservative in its own way. However, the Guardian has moved very far in recent months, and has now overtaken the Independent in its metric usage. You should have searched their Web site more before sending off your letter. I recommend today's front-page story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,626946,00.html Also, Ms Bell is the editor in chief of Guardian Unlimited, which is the Web site, not the main paper. Chris
