Are there any other states starting to this type of story??LINK

By STACI HUPP Register Staff Writer 10/25/1999

The first wave of panic over Y2K could hit Iowa next month, when science fiction television meets the present.

That's when NBC-TV will air "Y2K," a disaster movie that gives life to Americans' worst Y2K-related fears, including mass power outages, utility failures and lost bank records.

Some say NBC is joining media that want to cash in on millennium madness. The Y2K watchers are divided over whether the movie could trigger another problem: hysteria among viewers, some of whom already plan to stockpile food, water and fuel before Jan. 1.

Dale Vecchio, an analyst for Gartner Group, which studies worldwide Y2K issues, thinks the potential panic could eclipse technological problems.

"We're concerned that people's actions in anticipation of Y2K could be bigger than the problem itself," Vecchio said. "If the press develops a sense of panic, it causes people at a national level to panic. Certainly, we don't think it's appropriate to be stirring up this action when the reaction could be problematic."

The Year 2000 problem arose because some computer software originally was programmed to read only two digits to represent the year. Those computers could misread 2000 as 1900, which could lead to computer failure.

Officials in Iowa say basic services should be ready for Y2K glitches, although they expect some minor problems. Ellen Gordon, director of the Iowa Emergency Management Agency, said the upcoming NBC flick probably will provoke, at worst, curiosity.

"Any time someone develops a story or movie that is created to send a message of alarm or panic, that causes people to stop and think, 'Could this really happen?' and they get worked up," she said. "But people in Iowa tend to look at things with a realistic approach."

Iowans have come a long way from last year, when Y2K hype was at its starting point, said Tom Shepherd, a Year 2000 project officer for state information technology services.

"I've seen people go from almost panic, thinking they have to stockpile things, to absolute disgust. They don't want to hear any more about it," Shepherd said.

WHO-TV in Des Moines, which will broadcast "Y2K" at 8 p.m. Nov. 21, won't tie in a news story with the movie, said spokesman Tim Gardner. Instead, as the millennium approaches, the station will offer suggestions for Y2K preparation.

Shepherd said it's hard to predict how Iowans will react to the TV movie. While most are prepared for Y2K problems, "there will always be someone who will see the movie as a harbinger of doom and gloom."

Some Iowans think audiences will buy into the hype.

"The movie will be an eye-opener for a lot of people who don't know much about Y2K," said Dusty French, 21, a salesman from Ames. "I think they would be scared mostly of rioting."

How the public reacts to the "Y2K" thriller will hinge on how much cynicism people have developed for the media, said Todd Evans, a Drake University journalism professor.

Evans said American audiences are more sophisticated than in the past, pointing to Orson Welles' famous 1938 radio broadcast of the H.G. Wells novel, "War of the Worlds." The broadcast was interrupted by fake news bulletins that Martians had invaded Earth - a message that panicked many listeners.

NBC's television movie is no "War of the Worlds," Evans said.

"I'd like to think the average consumer is more intelligent now than they were back then, and if not intelligent, then more aware," he said. "The Y2K issue has been out there for a while now, and I can't imagine that a made-for-TV movie can have that kind of widespread panic than it did in the days of 'War of the Worlds.' "

On Television

* "Y2K," an NBC TV movie, will be shown at 8 p.m. Nov. 21.

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), October 25, 1999

Answers

Lord knows those crazy Iowans are so unstable, who knows what will happen!

MFU

-- Man From Uncle 1999 (mfu1999@hotmail.com), October 25, 1999.

They seem to be ratcheting the pressure up to pull the movie. Shaming NBC for promoting hysteria. Funny, nobody had a fit about the volcano or asteroid movies or any of the disaster flicks. Smell a big rotting fish.

-- rotten in Denmark (stinks@everywhere.corrupt), October 25, 1999.

Hmmm, it must have been a real slow news day over at the Des Moines Register. The question I have to ask is: what fear? and where?

The mold has already been cast. Unless and until their is a very significant real Y2K 'event', there just won't be any panic. Certainly not here in Iowa and not in the rest of the nation either. Of course, if something real does happen, the opportunity to prepare in a meaningful way will have been squandered.

But short of that scenario, movie does not represent that kind of real event that would prompt panic or other action. I suspect this movie will pass all but unnoticed - in Iowa and elsewhere.

-- Arnie Rimmer (Arnie_Rimmer@usa.net), October 25, 1999.

I would especially like to puke because of the following quote:

"Iowans have come a long way from last year, when Y2K hype was at its starting point.......I've seen people go from almost panic, thinking they have to stockpile things, to absolute disgust. They don't want to hear any more about it," Shepherd said."

gag me with a spoon! (hehe)

Sounds to me like this guy thinks he can speak for every single Iowan resident. What a llama.

-- Cory Hill (coryh@strategic-services.net), October 25, 1999.

Most people do not have the creative imaginations to consider that this kind of movie is totally made up. Now, the question is, will they believe the ""crisis"" is the made up part or will they believe the "one man saves the world" part? Sadly, there are already a number of people out there who think that Bill G. is going to come up with a majic bullet and save the world so do nothing to help themselves. Or, will they panic because they suddenly believe the ""crisis"" is "real"?

-- Valkyrie (anon@please.xnet), October 25, 1999.