MEDIAWATCH: The Platform in doom loop – dead by end of year?

Wealthy Wright family ends operational funding for Sean Plunket’s The Platform

The wealthy family which provided startup investment for The Platform has ceased providing operational funding to the digital media site.

Founding editor Sean Plunket said on Monday the Wright family made the move in March.

The change was in line with intentions “that we would get established, we would work out our systems, and transition to be a standalone financial entity,” Plunket said.

He confirmed Wayne Leslie Wright was still a director of The Platform, but said the wider family was not involved.

I wrote some columns for The Platform when it first started, because I thought it was important to have a contrarian opinion space, but stopped as it increasingly became more toxic.

The mother who recently died was the big supporter from the Wright Family alongside the Son.

The Father wasn’t as big a supporter.

I understand the continued support has generated tensions inside the Wright Compound.

The Son wants to prove himself to his Father, the Father wants to test his son.

The problem with The Platform is that the revenue stream is built mostly on video views and social media traction, Sean’s latest tweet mocking Palestinians during a genocide highlights the issues going forward.

Sean needs to become increasingly radioactive for attention but that shuns mainstream advertisers who run a mile from this level of toxicity.

I think the huge number of Subscribers is due to The Platform leaning into global culture war trends rather than domestic support so it’s harder to translate foreign traffic into loyal paying domestic subscribers.

My guess would be it dies before the end of the year if they can’t cut a deal with Jim Grenon over at NZME.

 

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