The media we deserve
Dr. Phil is here in Fort Worth, whether I like it or not.
On April 2, Phil McGraw — better known to television audiences as Dr. Phil — will launch his brand-new media company, a wide-ranging broadcast network that the Dallas Morning News has described as “a television empire.” Normally, I wouldn’t give a single damn about this; I might sigh deeply and wish McGraw, who ended his long-running daytime talk show last year, had just stayed gone, and that’s probably all the effort I would’ve spent thinking about him.
But McGraw’s company, Merit Street Media, is regrettably based in Fort Worth, where the network set up a five-acre studio to accommodate taping of a dozen different shows, including true crime content, live news, and a primetime version of Dr. Phil’s signature talk show.
So here I am, thinking about Dr. Phil and lamenting that this man and his programming, which has drifted increasingly rightward and platformed more and more vile far-right trolls in recent years, is now a North Texas institution. I know mayor Mattie Parker and others want to make Fort Worth a prime destination for film production, and each big-name Hollywood personality who relocates here probably seems like a win. (It’s the only kind of California-to-Texas migration this town will sanction.) But seeing the Fort Worth Film Commission promote Merit Street on social media is still depressing.
All the same, there’s a certain logic to McGraw moving here that has nothing to do with Texas’s incentive programs for filmmaking. North Texas as a whole bears some responsibility for inflicting Dr. Phil on the world in the first place. He graduated with a doctorate from the University of North Texas and has spent his entire media career cashing in on that credential, even though he hasn’t actually practiced clinical psychology in decades. (You can still read his dissertation — “Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Psychological Intervention” — courtesy of UNT’s library, if you want.) McGraw also told the Dallas Morning News back in January that he felt connected to the area:
“I thought it was crucial to come back to middle America to talk about things that I think are really important to the core of this country,” McGraw said. “I love this place. I’ve got great friends out here, we have a beautiful home here, and we’ll keep it. So being here feels right to me.”
McGraw didn’t elaborate further on what, precisely, “feels right” about North Texas. But I fear that our reactionary political culture provides the perfect climate for the kind of content Merit Street Media has planned. McGraw, who is partnering with the Trinity Broadcasting Network, a Christian television network, is signaling that his shows will elevate many of the religious right’s favorite talking points.
During a recent episode of The View, McGraw promoted his network’s upcoming launch by talking about his recent trip to the U.S-Mexico border (thus joining the ranks of local media figures who cosplay as knowledgeable immigration reporters) and claimed we are “using American tax dollars to ship children into known prostitution [rings] and sweatshops.” (The only evidence he offered is that a border patrol agent told him this.) McGraw’s new book, We've Got Issues, opens with an extended rant about “woke” activists who “are pushing toxic ideologies in areas critical to both your personal life and our national life in every way they can.” For anyone who doesn’t immediately grasp what this means, he’s talking about things like inclusive language, compassion in the criminal justice system, diversity programs in the workplace, gender-affirming health care for trans kids, and pretty much anything to do with trans people in general. We've Got Issues was published earlier this year, and unfortunately I suspect it will prove a reliable guide to what Dr. Phil Primetime will spend its time on.
Merit Street Media is, according to a press release, “named for Dr. Phil’s respect for the meritocracy on which this country was built.” That’s a debatable statement with a dubious historical foundation, to be sure. But in this specific instance, I do think the Metroplex is reaping what it has sown.