North Philly YouTube stars unhappy with PW exposure
Makael Mclendon (left) and Kevin Simmons are The Skorpion Show
There’s a funny thing about this whole “new media” thing that journalists can’t stop talking about. Now, story subjects can answer back.
Such is the case with Joel Mathis’s profile of North Philly-based The Skorpion Show for the publication’s “Queer Issue.” The day after the article ran, Skorpian’s Keven Simmons shared his distaste with 9,000 of the show’s subscribers.
“Now I know how those reality stars feel … this will never happen again,” he said.
The Skorpion Show is a DIY talk show where Kevin Simmons and Makael Mclendon, better known as Skorpion and Makael, chat about everything from celebrities to relationship issues to music reviews. Each video typically features the hosts sitting side-by-side chatting into their Logitech webcam.
Each episode averages around 4,000 views, which when stretched over 185 videos, adds up. Two of the duo’s videos have broken the one-million viewer mark.
After the story was published, The Skorpion Show uploaded two videos pertaining to the PW story. Follow after the jump to hear their beef.
The hosts took issue with PW’s assertion about the show’s supposed emphasis on gay topics. The hosts and their viewers weren’t happy about certain language used in the story, either. The article describes the two as “snap-happy” and “like a pair of sugar-fueled teenage girls.” The story also focuses heavily on the show’s comments on gay topics as well as their personal life, something the two claim they attempt to keep as private as possible. See the first of their responses below:
In their call for reader outrage, the story has received 114 comments, most in support of show. The article’s comment count is only barely trailing behind the alt-weekly’s awesome expose of the state of the city’s animal care that ran last week.
To be fair, no subject of any piece of journalism is going to be completely happy with the way they are portrayed, and some topics the duo takes issue with border on being nitpicky. No writer worth their salt would ever let a story subject read the story before print, something that Simmons suggested he is going to request from now on.
When reached for comment, Simmons stated, “I think we said all we had to about the PW article. Lets just say he painted us as Men On Film from In Living Color, [and] that’s not us!”
[Disclosure: I have worked for the Philadelphia CityPaper.]
AbieRene on May 1st, 2009
Thank you!
It is about time someone was being positive for a change.
onlyoneofme on May 1st, 2009
Not saying every article should be positive because it is the false and gossip bad ones that boost your fame. Even though I like to read positive things thats going on in the world, and with people growing. But this was worth reading, and it is nice to see positive gay male figures in this world that has a purpose and want to make a change in society in some form of way, my congrats goes out to the show for staying strong and moving on to better and more positive things….
- Only
km on May 1st, 2009
muuuccchhh bettr… its funny how this article focuses on the discuss of the other article… and still shines a better light on what the show really is…
Dee on May 1st, 2009
That was a very decent article! Much, much, much better! The stats alone are phenomenal to me! I love watching kevin n makael. They make you feel like you’re listening to a close friend talk n gossip through the computer screen. Who cares about their sexual preference??? Not me!
DaJsetter on May 1st, 2009
Ok This is wat the Skorpions Fans want to see, hear, n feel, we dont want to be upset cause sumone atate negative facts about the people who inspire us,, OMG!!!!! this article is so sweet.. Thanks to whoever wrote it… XoXO
Tia (atiyatia) on May 1st, 2009
This is much better.
SHERRICAM on May 1st, 2009
I LOVE THE SKORPION SHOW THIS IS HOW THE FIRST STORY SHOULD HAVE BEEN POSTED BUT YOU KNOW THERES ALWAYS GOIN TO BE A BAD JOURNALIST IN THE BUNCH SOMEWHERE!KEEP MAKING US SMILE KEVIN N MIKAEL!
Buy acai berry on May 22nd, 2009
Your blog is very interresting for me, i will come back here..