SEC Country/Land of 10 shutting down June 30

I thought too many of the sites read like glorified PR press releases about the teams. They knew their bread was buttered by the schools they covered. Not much investigative work. Mostly just puff pieces and gamers.

 

Between this and the Athletic, you really are a turd in a punch bowl. Is there anything you like?

 

I think part of the idea was that the sites would provide content to Cox's four newspapers and many TV and radio websites. But the company just sold two of its four remaining newspapers, and the web traffic on all four is/was terrible.

 

The launch of DawgNation.com by the AJC a few years back was very successful, which spawned SEC Country. At first it was mostly aggressive aggregation and trying to beat the next outlet in breaking news, and it never really progressed to much more. It became click baitish, so to speak. But they never moved forward. I think they were running it like a news room instead of a forward-thinking website. Their was no audience building, no newsletters to grab subscribers, no adjusting to Facebook's algorithm and seemingly no one in charge with impeccable SEO and traffic analytics skill to keep the ship moving at a good pace.

I wish the workers well and good luck jumping back into the job hunting pool.

 

Wouldn't be surprised to see Dayton and Atlanta sold soon, likely to GateHouse. The destruction of some really good newspapers would be complete.

 

Those are all good points. And beyond that, if you did read the stories, they often weren't very good. I think a fan could have found better material elsewhere without working too hard.

 

When the former Cox-owned Palm Beach Post had a choice of AP or SEC Country for Florida Gators coverage, it more often than not went with AP.

 

Every corporate media owner lies about what's really going on.

 

The site was free. How in the hell was it ever going to be a winning proposition when it was free? Everyone knows the ad sales don't add up over the long haul. It would have burned through Cox money for years until it shuttered whenever that happened.

It's *not about clicks and hits*. It's about what people will pay for. Which is why The Athletic might work. Because you have to pay for it.

 

I posted it elsewhere on here, but word is Dayton is for sale.