Here in Dallas, the local NBC affiliate had a little 2-3 min segment on being ready for Y2K. The three areas covered and what they said were: Your Money:

they advised having copies of records and they did advise pulling out extra cash

Your PC:

WHO THE HELL CARES? Oh, sorry, that was *my( commentary...they said if it is less than 2 yrs old it should be compliant....*yawn*

Your Health:

get refills of prescriptions NOW--one thing they said that was kinda weird (for mainstream media) was go see your dr. now--do not wait until December! Hubby and I looked at each other and hoped not TOO many people heard that--it is already hard enough to get into our drs office

NOTHING about food or water. NOTHING. They mentioned how they have teamed up with the Red Cross to give information on being prepared on their website: www.nbc5dfw.com

Short and simple. Any other cities have something more interesting?

BTW, no disclaimers during the movie here in Dallas.

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), November 21, 1999

Answers

Here in Frederick, Md. the local news reported that only 1 in 5 were preparing and did a man-on-the-street interview and all but one said, NO PROBLEM>>>NOT GETTING READY<<<<

-- Greg (skipy1@prodigy.net), November 21, 1999.

My station had a little spin spill from the governor. We are in perfect shape, no problem, and don't create a problem by not believing the governor.

-- Carol (glear@usa.net), November 21, 1999.

its the same thing here in Maryland , they spoke about how people need to prep for a winter storm , and of corse they did the live shot from a food store, where they were speaking to people about there preps, and everyong that they shoed were not doing any thing , and they thought y2k was just a big push by companys to sell more of there stuff...

i feel for these poor people who cant see past the nose on there face.

sad but in a way better , the sooner we thin this heard the better the gene pool , its about time we skimmed that end of the pool .

MONGO

-- mongo (mongo2@prodigy.net), November 21, 1999.

WDIV announced HOW much cash the Mich. Fed Reserve will have here (60X normal need), and that if that ran out, chicago and philly can supply... [NOT!].

Y2oKay!

No worries!

...oops...

(unless you're actually a thinking individual)

-- here I am (lost@detroit.org), November 21, 1999.

New York City.

Lame movie, no disclaimers. Even lamer local news follow-up, 15 minutes into the newscast. The focus was on contingency plans, basic platitudes that things were ready. Recommendations: Stagger phone calls, don't test 911, prepare for a winter storm, yadda, yadda, yadda...

-- (pshannon@inch.com), November 21, 1999.

We had a little 3 or 4 minute segment on our affiliate after the movie as well. It showed the Y2k Command Center in Austin. The one they use for hurricane and other major disasters. It's underground. They said it could take care of any emergency that should occur in the state! Little desks for WATER, POWER, SECURITY, etc.

The announcer actually said that no one knows what will happen at Y2K, but that the STate of Texas will handle any emergency.

Interesting angle...

-- LindaO. (InTexas@austin.com), November 21, 1999.

WDIV also stated that the FBI fears problems from militia groups and fanatical religious groups. They tried to show that pharmacies, utilities and hospitals were ready. Yeah, right!

-- Ruth Edwards (REath29646@aol.com), November 21, 1999.

New York had no disclaimers, Philly had them often. New York local news after had electric and phone spokespeople say all is fine, prep for unlikely three day storm. Bell tel guy did mention interconnectedness...we're okay, but we rely on them stuff. Showed one on the street interview w/ woman concerned about money in the bank. Very uninformative IMHO.

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), November 21, 1999.

WESH Orlando

Ran what looked to be network disclaimers following each commercial.

Follow up story: everything is AOK for Y2K. Uh... just don't pick up the phone at midnight. (ie don't hoard the phone lines)

-- the Virginian (1@1.com), November 21, 1999.

WDIV Detroit

They said that they wanted to get us back to reality.

Reporters at the airport, bank, hospital, pharmacy. Spoke to the Federal Reserve PR flak out of Chicago. Clip of Paul Revere Bennett. You guessed it. All is well. Just oral PR statements.

However, they did open with a reporter with the "confidential" Project Meggido report (sp?) in hand speaking about terrorism. Interviewed a woman from the local F.B.I. office and, of course, spoke with a MI militia member.

They have, what, 21 minutes? Just more disinformation. That's the way it's gonna be til rollover. The media is totally incapable of doing this issue justice.

-- PJC (paulchri@msn.com), November 21, 1999.

Missouri (local as I'll get):

Disclaimer ran across bottom of screen though most of the movie (awful, wasn't it?). Top of the local news was the movie's premise being "outdated" - complete with interviews (short, well-edited snips) with Israel & Olin on how they started it a year & a half ago when there was some cause for worry, but of course there is not now. Then presentation of local power company's assurance they fixed it all. Gee, I feel lots better.

-- Scat (sgcatique@webtv.net), November 21, 1999.

In Miami...visiting.

No disclaimers on the telecast, and the 11:00 news seemed to ignore Y2K altogether until they ran a don't get bit by the "y2k scam" segment.

I guess they are downplaying BIG TIME down here.

-- Duke1983 (Duke1983@aol.com), November 21, 1999.

Cincinnati totally ignored the whole thing. No disclaimers, no news stories...nada. I guess the feeling is, if we ignore it maybe it will go away.

Kroger parking lot empty after the movie...no one rushing for cans of tuna.

-- Barney Fife (whereisandy@mayberry.net), November 21, 1999.

Let me surmise the local affilite's 4-1/2 minute schpiel on Y2K Worries:

Banking: Just fine. Been tested, remediated and fixed. Keep your money in the bank, DO NOT TAKE IT OUT.

Power: Absolutely okey-dokey. No possible failures are anticipated. They ran the clocks forward at all their substations and : WALA! Juice was Y2K-OK! But the power folks can't guarantee anything. There may be "localized" outages. No guarantees in life you know, but fear not the Y2K Hype.

Food: Local grocers say FOOD"s APLENTY! There will be NO PROBLEMS! DO NOT STOCKPILE FOOD. REPEAT: DO NOT STOCKPILE FOOD. There is no need. Restaurants and grocers say they have plenty of food on hand for the holiday.

Back to banking: KEEP YOUR MONEY IN THE BANK. Don't take out any cash that you normally wouldn't take out on any given weekend. Did we say KEEP YOUR MONEY IN THE BANK?

Fuel: DO NOT STOCKPILE FUEL. It is illegal! It is dangerous! You can be arrested for it! Only small and approved containers for your lawnmower are approved (Yeah-right. Tell that to the farmer's out here).

Have a happy new year, but don't become a whacko paranoid geek!

BTW, "most Americans have little concern about Y2K, but most plan on spending the holiday at home rather than galavant out at parties this year".

Yeah, right. Like THAT's NORMAL. Sure they're not worried about Y2K. No partying, just staying home to enjoy the countdown of the millenium.

The most ridiculous newsbit I've ever seen.

-- INVAR (gundark@sw.net), November 21, 1999.

Don't pick up the phone but everything's okay. Florida Central East coast.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), November 21, 1999.

Houston --

A 3 minute bit with a Reliant Energy Co. representative saying it'll be "just another day", and reassurance that the banks will have plenty of money. They did mention that you should be sure to have food and supplies to get you through the holiday weekend (but no explanation as to why they felt this was necessary for just another day...)

-- Tex (just@houston.com), November 21, 1999.

Interesting news followup here.

Stock up. NO MENTION of for how long. No snickers about doomers or wackos.

NO mention of everything being OK, no mention of banks.

Just prepare by storing food, as they showed on lady who is doing that.

And how to fix your personal PC.......

No spin. That was odd

-- mushroom (mushroom_bs_too_long@yahoo.com), November 21, 1999.

Washington - WRC-TV

Pretty straight. Two or three notices during the showing that the "truth" would be presented during the following local news. However during the local news it was stated that the truth could only be gleaned from the Internet, and from these sites, listed in order.

(1) de Jaeger

(2) Yardeni

(3) Gary North (believe it or not)

(4) y2k Newswire

And that was all!

dave

-- dave (wootendave@hotmail.com), November 21, 1999.

Washington DC NBC had a short segment on the news following the movie. A couple of websites were mentioned, Y@K Newswire, Gary North and The Red Cross.

There was no fluff. The information is out there. The last comment-"Make up your own mind"

-- Mike Lang (webflier@erols.com), November 22, 1999.

Dave, are you serious??????

WRC-TV referred people to those four websites? If people really go to those sites, the shelves will be empty tomorrow.

I find it hard to believe, but if true, a hopeful sign!

-- Duke1983 (Duke1983@aol.com), November 22, 1999.

KY3TV (SW,Missouri)

Had a statement from the irs commissioner: "Y2K is a very very serious problem.If we don't fix the century-date problem, we will have a situation scarier then the average disaster movie on a Sunday night". April 22,1998

Springfield utilities said they have quad tested and will continue to test.If the lights go out at midnight,New Years Eve,it will be because of an ice storm, not because of the city utility computers.

Exec. producer David Israel said "If it inspires people to prepare a little bit for a potential emergency,thats a good thing,not a bad thing".The star of the movie Ken Olin said he "may take some precautionary measures".

It wasn't just a fluff piece.The station plans to have special on y2k sometime later in the month.

-- Maggie (aaa@aaa.com), November 22, 1999.

Yeah, Duke, I am serious. But I did forget the Red Cross as Mike mentioned above, and they also listed a few local county and state web sites. Actually the didn't list any sites, but referred watchers to the WRC site where links would be available.

dave

-- dave (wootendave@hotmail.com), November 22, 1999.

Atlanta -

The city of Atlanta manned its y2k hotline for the movie (will not be manned again until Dec 26). Said if you call after 12:00 tonight you will get voice mail, but someone will call you back.

No disclaimers during the movie, but clips about news stories about real y2k concerns to follow the movie during commercials.

After movie, showed the hotline center, interviewed a couple of the people manning the lines. Interviewed a couple of people on the street (this was prior to the movie). No one seemed concerned, one elderly woman said she was tired of hearing about it.

Suggested preparing for 5 days, not to wait, talked to a camping/ survival store owner about basic preps for water, food, cooking and staying warm. (Better than I expected.) Said you should prepare for running water and lights to be out for up to 5 days, just in case.

-- Dian (bdp@accessunited.com), November 22, 1999.

Montana,

Ticker-like disclaimer ran at the bottom of the screen 6 times during the movie, usually just after station break.

Best part was local news afterward. Statements from reps from Montana Power, banking, and emergency services. Only got to hear the the bank and emergency services guys. The sound went out during the power guy's statement.

-- hunter (way@up.north), November 22, 1999.

Des Moines, Iowa (TV13 NBC).

Didn't catch the first few minutes, did not see any disclaimers. There was a McDonalds commercial showing a guy who had stocked up an entire room of french fries, and had a large bottle of ketsup, no other Y2K related commercials. No disclaimers, and no information was provided on preparing or stocking up. Nothing running accross the bottom of the screen. They really played it "low key".

-- suzy (suzy@nowhere.com), November 22, 1999.

Power Ok phone OK....but there might be a problem with trains....so you might need a day's worth of canned food.....uh....make that 3 days worth...LOL...

-- Incredulous (sideshow333@hotmail.com), November 22, 1999.

the above silliness was KRON-TV san francisco

-- Incredulous (sideshow333@hotmail.com), November 22, 1999.

....and oh yeah, if the spreadsheet shows a bad first quarter, the boss might fire 20 people....hmmm....(kron)

-- Incredulous (sideshow333@hotmail.com), November 22, 1999.

Milwaukee: Station ran a disclaimer twice after every commercial break, and two more times before cutting away again. Amazing. Local news led with the Packer victory, then did a Y2k piece. Shots from a Preparedness Expo which showed the movie on a big screen, some interviews with Expo organizers, speakers, and attendees. Mixed reviews of the movie, makes sense to prepare, etc. Then they opened up their phone banks (normally used for telethons and the like) for people who had Y2k questions.

Immediately upon showing the number, the lines jammed up. Interviewed Dr. Virginia Hirsch on the air (she is with the Milwaukee Public Schools, and has given numerous seminars on preparedness, one of which I attended last March). Dr. Hirsch gave a brief list of items to have on hand for any emergency.

I tried to call in, and got repeated busy signals. Eventually got through, and asked what kinds of questions they had been getting. Most asked about power and banking, and what they should do to prepare. I offered my services to them in the future.

One note about the local station's disclaimer: they stressed that it was purely a work of fiction, and that none of it was based in fact. Exaggerated, yes. Not likely, perhaps. But not based in fact?! How arrogant and condescending can they get?

-- Steve (hartsman@ticon.net), November 22, 1999.

Shasta County,Calif Disclaimer before movie started...Interesting commercials, Concerning the titanic and y2k going into banking -food /HA it was a food storage company Saying you better be prepared yada yada call us. They did say to tune into msnbc after the movie to find out truth from rummor. I agree the movie was horrable and totally unrealistic,I quess I had my hopes up. Nothing on our local news afterwards a complete- ignore.

-- me (y2kme1@hotmail.com), November 22, 1999.

Our showing was followed by a news blurb on airplane compliance. Of course everyone is worried about planes falling from the sky as the "number one y2k concern" - this news station gave us the good news that we no longer have to worry. Reporters and dignitaries just flew in Korean and Chinese airplanes that had the dates set forward and all was ok.

Woa boy - someone was reaching in southern oregon.......

-- anon (anon@anon.calm), November 22, 1999.

LA Channel - featured an expert from a credit union (I think - it went by pretty fast) who said there would be no problems. Then a man on the street saying he thought a higher power would help us out. (Would that be the same higher power that gave him a brain?) It was a very short segment to make way for the real news = a power outage near USC due to high winds and a hostage situation in Arcadia, which is an upscale suburb near Pasadena. Just a normal day of disasters in LA.

-- kermit (colourmegreen@hotmail.com), November 22, 1999.

Hawai'i. They did a brief statement about how Hawai'i is ready (self- reported government, utility status). They also reitereated that this was only fiction...several times. I'm teaching a small business Y2K remediation seminar tomorrow on Molokai...we'll see how many were watching!

And I loved the very end...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), November 22, 1999.

Nebraska: Disclaimers running bout every 15 minuites that the movie was fictional and not based on fact. The movie was followed immediately by the local news with Y@K news. The news showed the local powers clocks already rolled forward, statement that we would have power, followed by a bank statement that there would be lots of cash as the Feds have printed lots more. NO advice to prepare at all or any mention of preparing. Came off as "we will have no problems at all".

-- Stacia (ClassyCwgl@aol.com), November 22, 1999.

California on the Chico/Redding Station: No disclaimers whatsoever, regular commercials, McDonalds, Burger King, Snickers. However, there were 3 commercials for survival food from the J. Michael Stevens Company. Maybe I'm in an area where they are REALLY trying to get folks prepared. I have a feeling that power from this area will be diverted. Albertson/Lucky's handing out Red Cross Y2K Ready Paks just before the movie makes me very suspicious.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), November 22, 1999.

Portland/Vancouver. Small print screen disclaimer before movie, @ 4 seconds. No disclaimers during movie, some pertinent prep commercials. Movie was sorta dull. And went beyond belief when all that water was gushing in and ya knew there was nothing to stop it ... ahem. Anyway, after the movie, the news had a little pooh-pooh, not first up though, with the head of Y2K project in Oregon showing himself to be a butthead DGI :-) That much was enlightening ;^)

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), November 22, 1999.

Minneapolis:

Ran a banner under the movie about every 20 minutes...

"This movie is a work of fiction, and is intended for entertainment only..."

I nearly stroked out when I saw that. NEVER in the history of modern TV (to the best of my recollection) has such a thing been done. While the MOVIE was vapid and insipid enough to keep the local sheeple asleep, I'm not so sure about that banner....

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), November 22, 1999.