President Clinton's Cabinet met Saturday with the administration's Y2K czar to discuss problems that may stem from the Year 2000 computer glitch, the Associated press reported.
Behind closed doors, leaders from agencies such as the Federal Reserve Board and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission met with the Cabinet to discuss how individual agencies should respond to emergencies. This is the first time the Cabinet gathered strictly for the purpose of discussing Y2K.
"The sense in the room was that certainly there is work left to do, but government has made some real strides in the past year, "said John Koskinen, Clinton's top Y2K adviser. "We're going to be in reasonably good shape."
The weekend meeting was "to make sure everyone is thinking not only what their responses are but thinking how those responses will affect other agencies," Koskinen said. "Part of the goal was to make sure all the Cabinet members were brought up to speed on the range of possible issues we had to deal with."
Koskinen also participated in a panel on media coverage of the Y2K date change, which urged all media to "bear a heavy responsibility to avoid Y2K alarmism and to provide balanced coverage" of the date rollover, writes Newsbytes' David McGuire.
While journalists on the panel agreed with the need for "responsible coverage," they warned that industry leaders must do their part in distributing information on Y2K remediation efforts. It is the journalists responsibility to "insist on disclosure, and if (they) don't get it, make non-disclosure the story," said San Jose Mercury News Assistant Managing Editor Jonathan Krim. Industry leaders requested journalists to report what they say are the positive Y2K developments.