The power of radio; CapeTalk delivers big factual news impact

There is no “I” in Team

Tessa van Staden

As South Africa passes the halfway mark of the current lockdown period our Mother City-based station, CapeTalk, has intensified efforts to make sure we are providing you with the most relevant, practical and important information related to Covid-19.

Radio remains to be among the most immediate of mediums. Thanks to the incorporation of digital platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp the communication with you, the audience, is seldom static. Talk radio not only reports what is happening but reflects on the impact of developments by airing calls, WhatsApp’s and emails from audience members describing their circumstances, challenges and views. Interaction on all our platforms has increased noticeably since we started reporting on Covid-19. Our audiences want to know more and, at the same time, seem to need to share more. The station is their trusted source of information as well as their confidante. That’s a powerful combination.

Our committed team of well-read hosts and dogged producers, not to mention the intrepid Eyewitness News crew, have been diligently following and reporting on the now massive coronavirus story for months. Four months ago, we were agog at the pace at which Chinese officials erected hospitals and deployed resources to flatten the curve. In February the focus changed to dispelling fake news when Covid-19 became more of a reality for South Africans. Our listeners were - and still are - central in enabling us to fulfil this role by calling in when they’ve heard about developments or when they want to query rumours. Often, they are our eyes and ears.

A holistic approach to dissemination of information

Many of the on-air interviews are turned into articles and shared on our website. It is these staggering statistics that show the true power of a trusted brand. One week in March the CapeTalk website received over 480,000 unique users, making it the most popular and most visited website of all radio stations in the country. In the same month over 1.7 million users visited the website which is impressive if you consider that that is more than 16 times the size of our terrestrial audience.

Some of the best performing articles included a profile interview with a Cape Town businesswoman and mom who’d been diagnosed with Covid-19 in early March and was recounting her experience in isolation.

In a world where, as they say, ‘talk is cheap’, we are proud to be a platform that encourages brave, relevant, interesting and insightful conversations involving our audience: they are the real heroes.

#LeadSATogether

To quote the irreverent Bruce Whitfield: “In times of crisis those with the clearest messaging and strongest brand identities emerge in a better position than those that retreat into the shadows when times get tough”.

CapeTalk is here for the long haul; to accompany you and to guide you through this lockdown and beyond. We are committed to using our microphones, website and social media platforms to make a tangible difference.

Tune into CapeTalk on 567AM or via DSTV Channel 885 Monday - visit: www.capetalk.co.za for the latest COVID 19 news and updates.