The idea behind our new Cape Times campaign is to ask people to imagine how much better the world would be if we were all better informed. Access to the right information, and the dissemination of this information through trustworthy news sources, is key to helping people understand different points of view and therefore having more empathy. Having empathy can lead to a more caring world, a world in which we care more for things such as people’s basic human rights, political and religious freedom, and the environment and protected species.

The campaign depicts images that people wouldn’t normally associate with a place or a person. For example, imagine if Steve Biko had become State President of South Africa in 1977 instead of dying in police custody. Imagine if the dodo was not extinct. Imagine if the South African government changed its mind about not issuing a visa to the Dalai Lama. Imagine if Guantanamo Bay was simply a holiday resort.

This thought is summed up in the campaign line: Imagine how things could’ve turned out if we’d all been better informed.