Subj : Fringe radio station says donation drive not a stunt
To   : All
From : News
Date : Sun Apr 14 2024 11:11 am

Just over a year after a nationwide billboard campaign and flying a banner
across Auckland's skies, a fringe online radio station is off the air and
telling listeners it needs donations to resume.


On Tuesday, Reality Check Radio (RCR) stopped programming, citing a financial
crunch as station hosts - including former TVNZ presenter Peter Williams and
former ACT leader Rodney Hide - appeared in a slickly-produced video asking
listeners for money.


Promising to meet the needs of New Zealanders who felt unrepresented, the
station's launch last March was backed by the anti-vaccine group Voices for
Freedom, and the idea for the online broadcaster was born out of the 2022
Parliament occupation.


Rival broadcaster and the founder of The Platform, Sean Plunket, is raising
an eyebrow at the Reality Check donation campaign, questioning whether it
could just be a stunt.


"I find it weird that an organisation would put so much effort into telling
people they'd failed," Plunket told Q+A. "I'm not sure if it isn't some sort
of misguided marketing ploy, but, once again, I haven't lost a wink of sleep
wondering what's happened at 'rabbit hole radio'."


Williams shot back, asking: "Why is he worried about RCR, and the fact it's
off air, at the moment, if he doesn't regard it as a threat to his audience?"


The Platform is backed by the Wright Foundation, founded by rich-lister
childcare mogul Wayne Wright Jr, who fully funded the station's launch and
initial operating costs.


"There was certainly nobody that big, or putting that amount of money into
RCR right from the start, but there were some 'people of means', shall we put
it, who were prepared to support the cause," said Williams about his own
station.


"That was what you'd call the seed capital, the start-up capital - ever since
then it's been just a dribs and drabs feed."


Voices for Freedom agreed to be interviewed by Q+A for this story. The group
typically don't speak to the so-called "legacy media".


When asked if the off-air campaign was just a publicity stunt, the group's
Alia Bland said "people have said that - that's been a strong criticism
that's out there".


Bland is one of the co-founders of Reality Check Radio.


"The truth of the matter though is, because of the way we came out in the
first instance, the situation was dire, we felt what was needed was something
that could come out really strong from the beginning.


"I know our listeners would like us to stick around, and it's just a matter
of vying for the attention that is out there - everything wants your
attention right now, you have to find a way to get your point across to the
people.


"So it's completely genuine, the situation warranted that approach, and I
think it's having a good result," Bland said.


The campaign is taking place at the same time as a wider crisis in media
funding, with TVNZ current affairs shows Fair Go and Sunday soon to be taken
off air, and Newshub being shut down entirely by foreign owners Warner Bros
Discovery.


Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of NZ On Air

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