Dr. Phil Show Setting Up a Bias?
By Shawn on Friday, August 17th, 2007 at 3:36 PM PST In Gamer Life, Games
Most everyone who has been catching our coverage of current gaming issues has heard Dr. Phil McGraw will be addressing them on a show next week. At first Dr. Phil was doing a piece on violence in gaming. JT chimed in claiming Dr. Phil’s producer had asked him on the show as an expert on game violence. He also said the show’s topic has been changed to focus on MMO addiction. Dr. Phil’s site seems to confirm this as it is soliciting parents of teens addicted to Second Life.
GamePolitics has been following the whole mess closely. Today GamerDad founder, Andrew Bub weighs in about his contact from Dr. Phil’s staff in preparation for the show.
A few months ago – mid-June I think – I got a phone call from someone claiming to be a Dr. Phil staffer (not producer) and they asked me if I’d like to be on the show to talk about video games.
They asked about my stance and as I described what GamerDad is all about – moderation, games are no worse than any other media, informed parenting equals good parenting – they seemed to lose interest (my perception).
They asked about the VA [Tech] shooting and I said Dr. Phil’s comments were “absurd.†They said they’d get back to me and, well, [Monday’s GP story] was the first I heard of it again.
The topic for next week’s show hasn’t been officially announced yet, but based on the evidence, it seems to me the gaming community is in for a work over. GamerDad would have been a great representative for any issue involving gamers under 18, and yet so far there seems to be no room for a positive perspective. I could be jumping the gun here, but I believe we will see a rather one sided presentation of any issue covered.
I also find it laughable that of all the MMOs out there, Second Life is the one they believe teens are prone to becoming addicted to. They really haven’t checked their demographics.
via GamePolitics
haha yes! Bring Second Life DOWN! What a shit shit shit game(can we call it a game?)
This just shows that people are picking on the gaming industry for no reason and wont even give it a balanced debate. Negativity and something to scare people is all these people want, it helps them to think they are doing lots of good, when in fact they have little brain between their ears as they know nothing about the thing they are attacking.
Dr Phil’s show is nothing more than an outlet for bored housewives who enjoy sound bites and confrontation. It is a glorified reality show with more commercial breaks than the Superbowl, only with crappier commercials for feminine hygiene products and pantene. The only difference between his show and The View is that his wife Robin had a better plastic surgeon than Barbara Walters.
Who watches that jackass
