Addiction Website The Fix Closes Amid Leadership Void

Decent Traffic

There appears to have possibly been significant failure at The Fix to take advantage of revenue opportunities that should have been fairly widespread given the site’s relative decent and growing traffic, although the audience did not appear to be all that loyal. The key Alexa ranking service puts The Fix as ranked 13,650 out of many millions of websites in the country, implying the site had at least tens of thousands of “unique” visitors each month. The Fix also ranked addiction treatment centers in much the same way as restaurants and hospitals are ranked – five stars being the top ranking – and The Fix apparently received income from that treatment center rating business which appears to perhaps have been linked to a body broking call center operation, although that is sheer speculation on Treatment Magazine’s part and could not be confirmed. Sources say The Fix was able to achieve its relatively decent traffic despite low Internet marketing spends, which is borne out by various checks that confirm the assertion, with Fix marketing spends likely averaging substantially less than $1K a day. (Some big South Florida treatment centers, for example, are currently spending between 50 and 100 times that much to maintain traffic levels.)The “natural” traffic gathering ability on The Fix’s part is thus to be seen as a highly significant digital publishing editorial achievement.

Wealthy Entrepreneur

Roshan, a bi-coastal editorial figure plugged into the media glitterati scene whose editorial guidance brought substantial traffic to a gossip and entertainment site called Radar.com, where Roshan made his name, is seeking a full accounting of The Fix finances from majority owner Paul McCulley, a wealthy entrepreneur who acquired 2/3 control relatively recently. Roshan, who is in recovery himself, was forced out as editor in a bitter parting full of mutual recriminations. The management turmoil and void is clearly a major reason for the failure of the site, though at whose doorstep that blame is to be lain seems to have been a matter of debate, debates that are common in bankruptcy situations which are full of finger pointing by their nature.

Split Personality Content

While The Fix contained many well written, researched and serious pieces on the futility of the Drug War and prison vs treatment as well as many other cutting edge addictions issues oriented articles, these often contrasted with sensationalistic celebrity oriented traffic boosting tripe, in addition to downright offensive pieces on subjects like where in the world were the easiest cities in which to score dope. It is this split personality approach toward direct-to-consumer recovery content that, frankly, was very likely the major driver behind whatever traffic success the site had. The site’s irreverence, often superficial and lacking in substance though it was, gave Fix editorial a independent, credible hip patina that dovetailed perfectly with a crisp, modern and absolutely first class site design.

No Reorganization

According to published reports, The Fix is in Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which unlike the more common Chapter 11 of the code, isn’t designed to allow an entity to reorganize and re-emerge as a going concern. Chapter 7 typically means straight-up asset liquidation with proceeds going to creditors, which in The Fix’s case is likely mostly to be salaries and myriad freelance writer reimbursement.

POST YOUR COMMENTS BELOW… start a debate!

Got Addiction News? …TELL US!