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IG REVIEWS ACCESS DENIED - For Reasons of THE COPYCAT EFFECT: National Security How the Media and Popular Culture by Cathy O'Brien with Mark Phillips Trigger the Mayhem in Tomorrow's Reality Marketing, USA, 2004 Headlines ISBN 0-9660165-3-X (405pp tpb) by Loren Coleman, MSW Availability: USA—Reality Marketing, PO — Paraview Pocket Books, USA, 2004 Box 868, Guntersville, Alabama 35976, tel ISBN 0-7434-8223-9 (320pp tpb) 1800 656 3597 (toll free in Nth America), —_ Availability: Pocket Books/Simon & http://www.AccessDeniedBook.com Schuster, http:/www.simonsays.com his follow-up to the 1995 Trance _ he "copycat effect" is alive and well and Formation of America (see review in is aided and abetted by a sensationalistic 3/04) also requires some knowledge of US mass media, says US social researcher and government-sanctioned experiments in mind prolific author Loren Coleman. control in order to appreciate it properly. His latest book expands on the territory he And readers ideally should read the eye- covered in his 1987 book, Suicide Clusters. opening first book to get up to speed onthe —_—This was dedicated to UC sociologist David story. To recap, Cathy O'Brien, helped by _P, Phillips, who coined the term "Werther intelligence insider Mark Phillips, woke up effect" (based on a book Goethe published in the early 1990s at the age of 30 to her in 1774 about a melancholic young man) to programming as a CIA MK-Ultra mind con- describe the copycat phenomenon observed trolled slave. Her daughter Kelly, also part in "the cultural contagion of suicidal behav- of the plot, had to be rescued too. Cathy iours" and in the media's witting or unwit- soon provided testimony to US Congress ting promotion of it, especially when "death and courts as well as the UN Commission A ; sells" is their guiding principle. Coleman on Human Rights Abuses. She testified as himself has done much to bring awareness of the phenomenon to academia, health and legal authorities, law enforcement agencies, suicide prevention groups and the media. Now he examines related phenomena in terms of the copycat effect, including sniper killings, suicidal pilots crashing planes into buildings, cult murder-suicides, school shootings, music-linked suicides, celebrity death copycats, and more. Coleman says that in so many (but not all) instances, the media's sensationalistic reporting on a tragic death can cause suicidal or murderous behaviour to spread like a virus—locally, nationally and internationally. He provides many statistics to back up his argument, and they are extremely disturbing. He comes down savagely on media com- plicity, but also touches on research into memes—contagious ideas that replicate like viruses, spread like infections—that may help explain how and why this phenomenon takes shape once the initial event is made public. Admittedly, some media outlets now take this copycat effect seriously and at least don't report on suicides unless there's some overriding public interest involved, but Coleman says there's still a long way to go. He has seven recommendations for the media to follow in order to reduce the nega- tive projections in their reporting of "news- worthy" events. These include using unprovocative words, dropping clichéd depictions, ceasing their graphic, sensation- alised coverage of violent acts and providing contact details for those seeking help. Above all, Coleman says the media should reflect more on their role in creating our increasingly violent society and "spread a little peace rather than mayhem". to the shocking nature of her abuse going back to her childhood and implicating high- level members of the government and intel- ligence agencies as well as the church. She claims that her duties during her time on the inside of this sick power-play included pass- ing on and receiving secret messages between US and foreign leaders while she was programmed as a sex slave. So how did Cathy recover from her torture and survive? This is the story of Access Denied, and it's also one of hope—the kind that comes from spilling the beans in the USA and many countries to open-minded people who deplore the sad state of a crimi- nal justice system that protects the perpetra- tors of heinous crimes. From their tour in Australia, for instance, they concluded that Aussies are too freedom-minded to succumb to mental slavery. Well, we'll see! Cathy O'Brien's journey, however tragic, is an inspiration for all whistleblowers intent on exposing endemic corruption in the system. to the shocking nature of her abuse going back to her childhood and implicating high- level members of the government and intel- ligence agencies as well as the church. She claims that her duties during her time on the inside of this sick power-play included pass- ing on and receiving secret messages between US and foreign leaders while she was programmed as a sex slave. So how did Cathy recover from her torture and survive? This is the story of Access Denied, and it's also one of hope—the kind that comes from spilling the beans in the USA and many countries to open-minded people who deplore the sad state of a crimi- nal justice system that protects the perpetra- tors of heinous crimes. From their tour in Australia, for instance, they concluded that Aussies are too freedom-minded to succumb to mental slavery. Well, we'll see! Cathy O'Brien's journey, however tragic, is an inspiration for all whistleblowers intent on exposing endemic corruption in the system. NEXUS 71 FEBRUARY — MARCH 2005 www.nexusmagazine.com