I would venture to guess that the complainers are part of the BWMA. The BWMA scouts out metric and then actively tries to contact the "offending" organisation. With enough of them complaining, it gives the impression that a vast majority of viewers are upset. Also, if I'm not mistaken, the Telegraph is an anti-metric, anti-EU publication, so no surprise the article is printed in that paper.
If metric had been taught in the schools since the 1970s, then anyone who is at least 50 or younger, should know the metric system and not have any reason to complain. This is the point I tried to make yesterday. We spend much time chatting about nothing and the enemies of metric are generating the publicity we see below. One thing though, the article did not say whether the BBC is going to rethink its policy of more metric and revert to imperial. Anyone on this list from the UK should contact the BBC and congratulate them for their use of metric. Any one outside the UK who also views BBC programs should do the same. If they get enough correspondences, they keep metric. If not, it will be a victory for imperial. Euric P.S. Your link to the website was corrupted. For some reason it split and the 2-nd half was disconnected from the first half. Something must be wrong with the program you use to send e-mails. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nat Hager III" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, 2003-11-01 21:15 Subject: [USMA:27393] Even in Rome, BBC turns its back on the imperial http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/11/02/nbeeb02. xml&sSheet=/news/2003/11/02/ixhome.html Even in Rome, BBC turns its back on the imperial By Chris Hastings and Lucy Tobin (Filed: 02/11/2003) Give the BBC an inch and it will take a kilometre. The corporation has angered viewers by abandoning the use of imperial weights and measures in some of its most popular programmes. Dozens of the BBC's history, science and wildlife programmes have already starting using metric instead of the traditional British measurements of pounds, ounces, feet and miles. The switch to metric is also taking place in entertainment programmes, such as Radio 4's The Archers, Robot Wars on BBC2 and Changing Rooms, the BBC1 home improvement programme. The trend has prompted complaints from viewers, who say that they are unable to understand metric measurements, and also campaigners keen to retain imperial weights and measures. Among the critics is Antony Worrall Thompson, the television chef, who last night called on the corporation to think more about its older viewers. "I say to viewers: 'It's 25 grammes, but if you speak English it is an ounce.' Retailers provide information using both systems and that is what the BBC should do in all of its programmes," he said. "As us oldies die off there will be a natural erosion of the imperial system and metric will take its place. I have no problem with that, but the BBC should let it die out gradually on its own." Metric measurements are now the standard for weather forecasts, which give temperatures in celsius rather than Fahrenheit and for children's programmes, such as Blue Peter, whose audience has never known any other system. Yet an increasing number of programmes aimed at an adult audience are also using metric. Oliver Heath, a presenter on Changing Rooms, said: "I have tended to use metric on the programme as I was born in 1970, so I have never used imperial measurements." Natural history programmes, including The Blue Planet, Ultimate Killers, Walking with Dinosaurs and The Life of Mammals have opted for the metric system. History programmes are also abandoning the imperial system, even though its origins date to the Roman Empire. The documentary Pompeii: The Last Day, which attracted 10 million viewers last month, also used metric measurements, even though they were meaningless to many of those watching. Two more history programmes, The Landscaped Mysteries and What the Industrial Revolution Did for Us, both of which will be broadcast this week, will also rely on metric measurements. Dr Adam Hart-Davis, who has presented a number of BBC history programmes, admitted: "It is a real problem and I do not see a simple solution. If I talk only in metres and centimetres, anyone over the age of 50 will not know what I am speaking about. Similarly, if I only talk in the imperial system no one under 20 can understand me." "What I try to do is reflect the period I am looking at. If I am talking about the industrial revolution, I will use imperial weights and measures; if I am talking about the modern world, I will tend to rely on metric." Cookery programmes such as Delia Smith's How to Cook, are among the few television shows that offer automatic conversions of metric. A handful of other programmes will offer one conversion early in the programme, but then leave it to viewers to work out the rest. The underwater exploration programme The Abyss, for instance, which begins tonight on BBC1, uses metric measurements and gives only one conversion from imperial to explain the water depth being explored. A spokesman for the BBC's natural history unit, which is responsible for the programme, said: "We try to use metric in all our materials and programmes. We will, on occasion, give an example of a conversion to help people who can't take that on board." Neil Herron, a spokesman for the Metric Martyrs Defence Fund, which campaigns for the retention of imperial measures, insisted that the programme-makers' strategy was mistaken. "The vast majority of people in this country think imperially and the BBC has no right to try to force another system on people. As a public sector broadcaster it should speak to people in a language they can understand." Britain moved towards a metric system in 1969 when the then Labour government set up a Metrication Board. Over the following 11 years the board tried to encourage greater use of the system. Schools also began to teach it. The BBC insisted that it allowed producers to make up their own minds. "The policy is simply to reflect common usage," said a spokesman. "The metric system is becoming increasingly widespread and has been taught in schools for years. We try to use judgment on what most people will find easiest to understand." Next story: Warning: he'll knock �500 off the value of your home Related reports Christopher Booker's notebook External links BBCi Metric Martyrs Defence Fund � Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003. Terms & Conditions of reading. Commercial information. Privacy Policy.
