“Beautiful News is a positive reminder that shows us how far we’ve come – sometimes people need that.” – Talysa Rudah
When photojournalist and conservationist, Adrian Steirn decided to partner with Mercedes-Benz South Africa in a bid to recognise the men and women who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of South Africa; 21 Icons was born.
After three successful seasons featuring icons including Nelson Mandela, Ahmed Kathrada and Nadine Gordimer, it became clear that South Africa has many more inspirational, ‘beautiful’ news stores to share, and as a result the Beautiful News venture was formed.
“Beautiful News commenced on 1 November 2016 at 16h14. The project is a daily, reminder of the intrinsic humanity that exists within all of us. It aims to reframe the way that we see the nation by celebrating positive narratives,” shares head of research and ideation at Beautiful News, Talysa Rudah.
The initiative has since published these positive stories daily at 16h14 on the Beautiful News website, which can also be viewed on the News24 platform.
Beautiful News recently partnered with Mango Airlines to provide an in-flight broadcast service to Mango’s local and international flights. From September to December this year, short films from across South Africa will enjoy viewing rights in national airports including Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, George, Johannesburg, Lanseria and Port Elizabeth as well as on international flights to Zanzibar.
The films will range between 60 to 90 seconds and will be viewed by more than 300 000 Mango passengers.
“Due to the nature of the digital era and the rising cost of data, we have limited time to capture the attention of audiences. As a result, we’ve worked to create content that is short and engaging,” informs Rudah.
Mango Airlines, which is known for its competitive flight prices has embarked on several exciting partnership deals with its most recent being the FNB Joburg 10K CITYRUN and the FNB Durban 10K CITYSURFRUN, in which they offer participants discounted rates.
Apart from that, Mango Airlines has offered in-flight entertaining experiences including the 2012 Mango flight between Johannesburg and Cape Town that had local group, Mi Casa performing; Mango has also in 2016 decided to take part in the Running Man Challenge which went viral online. According to the Sunday Times’ Generation Next Survey, Mango Airlines is amongst the coolest low-cost airlines in the country.
Mango Airlines and Beautiful News’ new in-transit entertainment package will highlight a broad range of topics, initiatives and people sharing a common vision of celebrating our nation’s spirit of giving and making a difference within their communities and in the greater society.
“With a vision to reframe the nation, we made representation our priority. Our vision was to ensure that every voice was heard. We wanted to reflect South Africa as a whole. With that in mind, we source and report stories from all nine South African provinces, and within those provinces we unearth the stories that take place in the main cities and at grassroots level,” Rudah shares.
Since the initiative’s inception, there has been an overwhelming support and appreciation for these stories.
A ‘beautiful’ story that stands out for Rudah is about a former model, Mala Bryan, who was made to feel ashamed of the colour of her skin and the texture of her hair but instead of becoming depressed and conforming as a result of the negative perceptions, she went on to create a doll range that includes different shades of brown.
“This story impacted me because I’ve always been fascinated by the power that content has in shaping the way that we see ourselves and the way we see the world. In some ways content creation can be seen as a window of growth. It reflects the conversations that each generation is willing to have,” says Rudah.
The spotlight provided by Beautiful News has also led to more good deeds in the form of service and money to various projects.“The intended impact of the project has been felt. Many of our story subjects have gone on to receive financial backing for their initiatives as well as online crowd-funding donations received through GivenGain, our online crowd-funding partner,” Rudah says.
“Beautiful News is a positive reminder that shows us how far we’ve come – sometimes people need that. We need a sense of hope that will encourage us to work towards a brighter future and inspire generations to come.”
