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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: flatsville who wrote (3746)	2/7/1999 5:47:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

'TV celebrities accused of Y2K scaremongering Action 2000 has accused Granada TV's 'This Morning' show of sending UK pensioners into a panic over the millennium bug. Yesterday's programme with husband and wife presenters, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan, included a ten-minute feature on the bug. It depicted Madeley at home, showing off his stockpile of millennium emergency supplies: water, food and batteries. Finnegan made a comment about the bug resulting in "centuries without water and light". Action 2000 says the show resulted in hundreds of phone calls from worried viewers, mostly older people. "It was a lousy and misinforming piece, and an under-researched piece as well," said a spokeswoman. for the Y2K watchdog. But a spokesman for This Morning said some people missed the irony: "This item was a light-hearted piece& Judy remained sceptical throughout, reflecting the opinion of many members of the public. We are very surprised that this piece could have been misinterpreted." Action 2000 retorted that it was all too easy to miss the irony: "Even for someone who knows about the issue, I thought it was real scare tactics," insisted the Action 2000 spokeswoman. "They were telling people what to put in a millennium storage cupboard, telling them to store up ten weeks worth of food. They told people that one chip failure will bring down all the utilities." The television show didn't give out the Action 2000 hotline number, so those who called were worried enough to do some research, added the spokeswoman. This Morning's spokesman said the show had received a number of calls about the piece, but none were complaints. Action 2000 has offered the show Y2K experts as interviewees, so that a more informed follow-up can be screened. Granada has not yet taken up the offer. silicon.com