Dear UPLINK,
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Slighting the Mercury News the way the (March) issue of UPLINK did. Well, the best we can do now is try to set the record straight. It's so dissappointing when the press screws up, no? Just kidding. Anyhow, (enclosed) are the copies of the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News for the two days following the release of the California census tape. You make the call, as they say, but here are several things we modestly point out:
- We think our statistical material was more detailed and better presented. - It took the Chron until the second day to find out San Francisco had lost an ethnic white majority. We reported the first day that four of five California's largest cities had lost majority. - The Chron's first-day statistics were 1990 based. We had a 1980-1990 comparison the first day.
As my editor suggested, we're willing to let this slight pass.
Best Regards, Christopher H. Schmitt, San Jose Mercury News
Imagine that. A Californian computer-assisted reporting war fought here in the meek pages of UPLINK. As for making "the call" on the Census packages produced by The Chronicle and the Mercury News, UPLINK has decided to take a flimsy but conveniently diplomatic position. They were both great. The editor