Minneapolis/St. Paul’s The Y2K Citizen’s Action Guide,
released by Utne Reader December 29, 1998, has gone into a second
printing after an overwhelming response from the public. A half
million copies are now in print.
The Y2K Citizen”s Action Guide is the national magazine’s
response to the growing concern that individuals and communities
are not prepared for the potentially enormous and unknown global
challenge that may begin to play out later this year from the year
2000 computer problem.
The consumer demand for the guide has been extraordinary, with
orders from hundreds of schools, libraries, banks, hospices,
construction companies, and Boy Scout troops. ?I planned to spend
five minutes glancing through this book and for the next two hours
I was glued to its pages,? said one reader who requested 50 copies
of the guide. ?It showed me what I can do to prepare myself, my
family and my neighborhood.?
The Guide has been the subject of articles in Time, the New
York Post, the Detroit Free Press, the San Diego Tribune, the
Seattle Times, the Charlotte (NC) Observer, and the Star
Tribune (Minneapolis/St. Paul) and other leading newspapers
across the country. Several radio stations, including the Jay
Diamond Show (WEBD, New York) and Street Science (KKBT,
Los Angeles) have also featured the Guide..
Internet coverage has included ABCNews.com, Time Digital, Salon
Magazine, Wired.Com, CNET, Pacific Radio’s Democracy Now and
many other websites. Over 638,000 visitors logged onto the Utne
Reader’s online version of the Guide (www.utne.com/y2k) in the
first weeks of the launch.
Y2K has moved beyond being a technical problem because all the
Y2K-affected systems can not be fixed in time to avoid some sort of
disruption. The upside is that as we prepare for Y2K, something
surprising and quite wonderful is going to happen, we’re going to
get to know our neighbors.
Utne Reader is the nation’s leading digest of alternative
ideas. Launched in 1984, the bimonthly magazine has a paid
circulation of 260,000 and has been nominated three times for the
National Magazine Award for General Excellence. Cafe Utne
(www.utne.com) was named the nation’s most active online discussion
community by the Forum One Report in May 1998.
TheY2K Citizen’s Action Guide is available wherever
magazines are sold and is also available to download at no charge
online at www.utne.com. To find out more about the Guide please
contact Mitra Milani at Utne Reader at 612-338-5040 ext.
47.
