The power of radio lies in its ability to affect how the listener feels.

Smile 90.4FM was created with the deliberate intention of putting smiles on the faces of the people of the Mother City.

The notion of highlighting news that is overtly positive and delivering it with empathy, remains alien in mainstream radio circles. And tampering with the definition of what is news, is tantamount to letting your freak flag fly high.

We are supposed to believe that keeping up with the news is important and of value, yet there is no evidence to support the rationale that placing the worst of humanity as item number one in a news bulletin, has changed the world for the better.

On the contrary, it is becoming widely accepted these days that the news contributes significantly to increased levels of anxiety and depression. Presenting information that generates fear and worry without balancing context, or suggesting solutions, cannot be morally justified. Yet, focusing on news that comes from the more admirable side of humanity is considered soft news or not news at all.

Convincing news people that they might be clinging to a relic of a dead era is not an easy job, but it is a necessary one. A decision to do just that was taken at Smile 90.4FM and the news product was changed. The positioning line ‘Amplifying the good news in the Mother City’ was introduced to clearly convey the core message of the Smile news philosophy.

The decision to innovate was not taken lightly. A great deal of thought went into understanding the psychology of audio messaging and the effects excessive negative information has on evolving multi-cultural communities in transforming markets.

Headlines that create anxiety diminish capacity for transformation. Stories that inspire and create a feeling of awe, gratitude and optimism make people open to sharing, caring and connecting.

Listeners come to Smile 90.4FM specifically for the way it makes them feel. There is no justification for our news not adhering to the same feelgood and inspirational goals as the rest of our programming content – as long as it is factually accurate, topical and relevant.

Today, 12 March The Smile Good News Network comes into being. It will carry the station’s best positive news stories and the latest trending news.

Smile 90.4FM is still a baby in the Cape Town radio market. We turn just five years old on 25 March. We’ve been blessed with steady growth over the years. Our listenership currently stands at 169,000 upper LSM, sandwich generation influencers. Over the last twelve months our listener number has grown by a healthy 36%. (BRC Ram February 2018).

While it cannot be stated with certainty that amplifying the good news in the Mother City has driven our growth, the differentiation of our news product certainly offers our listeners a more optimistic, solutions driven and humane perspective on life.

Please join us on 90.4FM if you are in Cape Town or stream us live on www.smile904.fm. There’s always a reason to SMILE!

“No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, show up, and Never Give Up” are the words with which Elsanne Kamffer heads up her blog.

Inspiring words, considering that just over four months ago Elsanne was shot by her ex-husband before he turned the gun on himself and took his own life. Elsanne was struck by three bullets, of which one passed through her lower spine and left her paralysed from the chest down.

Since the tragic incident took place on 30 October last year, Elsanne has been hospitalised and underwent stringent rehabilitation. She returned home just over a week ago, and true to her “Never Give Up” perspective on her new normal of being in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, she is soaring above this devastating reality.

And her ability to bounce back into life is leaving everyone around her hugely inspired.

On Monday 5 March during the morning show insert ‘Make us Smile’ on Smile 90.4FM, a colleague of Elsanne, who was in the office when the shooting occurred, called the show to say how excited they are that Elsanne is due to be back at work in a week’s time. She elaborated further on Elsanne’s amazing fighting spirit… “Sy’s so ‘n positiewe mens en ons is so lief vir haar … she’s been an inspiration to so many people along the way and she’s already helping others who’ve been through a difficult time”. Lauren also told Smile Breakfast’s Bobby and Lindy about Elsanne’s blog that she started, aptly named ‘My Journey Back’.

The following morning, Bobby and Lindy called Elsanne live on air to get a first-hand account of her traumatic experience and her fighting spirit through recovery. They also spoke to her new partner, Ivan, who she describes as “the rock in her life”. Ivan pointed out that their biggest immediate challenge is to get their home, specifically the kitchen, renovated to be wheelchair friendly so that Elsanne can start cooking again, something she’s passionate about.

True to Smile 90.4FM’s solutions based approach, Bobby and Lindy couldn’t leave the story there and immediately started working on finding a way to help Elsanne.

On Wednesday morning, ‘Smile to the Rescue with Bobby and Lindy’ was launched, with a plea to all Smile 90.4FM listeners to come together and help out where they can.

Immediately the phones in the studio started ringing. First there was Jano from Woodspeck Designs who offered to design and build the new kitchen from start to finish. Then, Stuart from Timber City Stellenbosch called to say he’ll supply all the wood and new kitchen counter tops, followed by Chris from Fransisco Projects offering to supply the paint and do the paint work himself.

And the generosity of Smile 90.4FM’s listeners didn’t end there. The messages kept streaming in from people wanting to lend a helping hand. Everything, from financial contributions to electrical work, plumbing, decorating, even an offer from food retailer SPAR to stock the new kitchen for Elsanne.

‘Smile to the Rescue with Bobby and Lindy’ was now in full swing. Contractors swarmed around Elsanne and Ivan’s house, working around the clock to rebuild her kitchen.

Unable to contain their excitement, Bobby and Lindy couldn’t stay away and dropped in mid-week to see what progress had been made.

As they reported back on Thursday morning, the phone lines in studio lit up again. This time from listeners generously offering personal contributions to help relieve Elsanne from the stress of the renovation process. Anything from home cooked meals to cleaning up and free consultation from an occupational therapist was offered. Then came the call from a prominent hotel in the Cape Town CBD to put Elsanne and a friend up for the weekend, free of charge, to escape the madness of the building work taking place at home.

With Elsanne away for the weekend, it allowed ‘Smile to the Rescue with Bobby and Lindy’ to complete the project and set up a huge surprise for the big Monday morning reveal.

And that all happened today.

This morning, Smile Breakfast’s Bobby and Lindy presented their show live from Elsanne’s home in Kraaifontein between 6am and 9am.

Make sure to check in again tomorrow, right here on The Smile Good News Network, to see the big reveal and hear all about the next chapter in the Elsanne Kamffer story.

This inspiring, strong woman is yet to move mountains with her attitude of gratitude.

Black Panther is the highest grossing box office film in the world at the moment.  The first African super hero Marvel film ever made, stars Chadwick Boseman and has earned close to $900 million. Parts of the film, were shot in the Free State.

Cape Town can be proud of having a presence in the production. Jonathan O’Connell is one of the cinematographers who worked his magic in Black Panther. O’Connell owns a cinematography company called Timeslice – operating from Hout Bay. They are one of the only official drone operating companies in South Africa.

‘There are far more international films being produced in our country and specifically Cape Town, than what people might know’ – he explains. Being part of this particular trail-blazing movie, is a professional highlight.

In the film, Wakanda is the fictional African nation at the centre of the story, where most of the footage was shot outside Bloemfontein.

Since shattering box office records, O’Connell has had the opportunity to share many red carpet moments with well-known stars, including Lupita Nyong’o. Drones were used in filming the mountainous area, and on completion the footage was sent to Marvel for the adding of visual effects.

O’Connell believes this is one of many filming firsts for his company, and wishes to continue working hard in producing cutting-edge footage for the international film arena – in an interview with Smile90.4FM, he promised that his company Timeslice Media, will give people of the Mother City many reasons to be very proud in future. He added that the pool of gifted videographers in our city continues to surprise him, and encouraged youngsters to consider film editing as a career.

O’Connell said he didn’t think it was a big deal at first when he was asked to film landscapes for Black Panther. In terms of the regular shoots he does, he found it very easy to accomplish, without a single car chase or explosion required.

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