December 1999, late in the month, what is the media coverage of y2k to be like?

well, rest assured, by late december, we'll know what john koskinen looks like, how old he is, where he was born, what he drives, etc etc, and the same for yourdon, yardeni, north, etc etc etc. we'll hear about nerc and fema and white vans and troops, and woodstock 99, and champagne shortages, etc etc. we'll see people in bunkers, people with a years supply of food, people with 3-6 days worth, people with no preps, and the homeless, and the amish, etc etc.

And all the media will be able to do in the end is say "wait and see", "nobody knows".

Now, the question is, is that kind of coverage likely to make people try to do last minute preps, or sit there. keep in mind they will explore the possibility of Nothing happening, as well as teotwawki.

with the anticipation building, and seeing y2k reports daily, 15 days left , 11 days left, 5 days left, 2 days left....... what human behavior is that likely to evoke? and lets say 1 (just one) place has people panic and empty the shelves. when the news shows the live footage of that, what will happen then?

or, can we count on spin and the government possibly controlling the media to save us? what are your thoughts?

-- SuperLkr (Slfsl@yahoo.com), August 03, 1999

Answers

It will happen before then, and the media will not be able to contol it. My gut says we have very little time left, 60-80 days.

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), August 03, 1999.

Don't forget that people will be busy with the holidays, and shopping that time of year is always really unpleasant anyway. I think the articles will feature the clash of the would-be Time Sq revelers and the stay-at-home preparers, the two faces of Y2K. And Clinton will still be in office, so who knows what scandal he will keep the media busy with. I can only hope that with the holiday spirit, there will be encouragement to help out your neighbors.

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), August 03, 1999.

What will happen is that you will dump in your pants. Because chances are that it will be comming to a store near you. And it won't seem funny then because even if you prepared for what you thought was a goodly amount of time you'll begin to second guess your efforts. You'll see things that will make you stop and catch your breath and you'll wonder what happened to the times when mommy and daddy took care of all your proble

-- still (still@home.com), August 03, 1999.

Flame,

If we have 60 to 80 days more to prep, I'll be delighted. It can turn any second...we really don't know. And that's when I want to stay at home or go to anything but a food store. That's when I'll buy books for the duration. As for the media, I think that we'll want to rent some movies then, or watch anything but the constant rehash of, yes, doomers vs. pollies. Anyway, buy extra food for the end of the year. Don't go shopping once this hits!

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWAyne@aol.com), August 03, 1999.

The Media is doing a great job now of not reporting the news you find on the internet about y2k so why should it be any different in the future. If you look inside the USAToday, there is a page of articles from each state. Now think about how much news you actually get from other states in your daily media propaganda. Think about how the local media(TV) puts its emphasis on "local news". I believe there could be panic in many cities and my local media would not report it. Don't worry, be happy.

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), August 04, 1999.