Startups

North Philly YouTube stars unhappy with PW exposure

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 […]

Makael Mclendon (left) and Kevin Simmons are The Skorpion Show

Makael Mclendon (left) and Kevin Simmons are The Skorpion Show

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:
[tech]j5vmXC2Yz-0[/tech]
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.]

Companies: Philadelphia Weekly / The Skorpion Show

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

EDA officials are ‘hopeful’ Tech Hubs program will live on under Trump

AI is being used in more and more of the hiring process, especially at high-volume companies

The 'person of interest' arrested in the UntedHealthcare CEO shooting had a ton of tech connections

How a laid-off AI enthusiast pivoted to become a founder — while holding down a day job

Technically Media