As PRISA’s PRISMS Summit & Awards takes place from 22 to 24 October, The Media Online profiles this year’s Top 10 Young Voices, emerging talent shaping the future of public relations and communications in South Africa.
Selected from a competitive pool of youth entries, each brings a distinct perspective to this year’s theme, Kaleidoscope, Patterns of Impact Across Past, Present and Future’, reflecting on the ideas, experiences and ambitions that will influence the profession’s next chapter.
We asked them:
- What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the South African PR and communications industry today, and what role can young professionals play in addressing it?
- South Africa’s communications landscape is shaped by issues such as inequality, social change, political polarisation and declining trust. How should the next generation of communicators navigate these complexities while protecting credibility and reputation?
- AI is rapidly changing how communications work is researched, created and distributed. What do you see as the biggest opportunity – and the biggest ethical risk – AI presents for young South African communicators?
- Young professionals are entering an industry where traditional PR, social media, content creation, marketing and journalism increasingly overlap. What skills do you believe communicators need to remain relevant and influential over the next five years?
- The PRISMS theme, Kaleidoscope: Patterns of Impact Across Past, Present and Future, asks us to think about how the profession is evolving. What is one thing you would change about the communications industry in South Africa to make it more inclusive, innovative or meaningful for the next generation?
PRISM YOUNG VOICE: GOODNESS FAITH MTSHALI
1. The biggest challenge facing South Africa’s PR and communications industry today is rebuilding public trust while proving that communication is a strategic function, not just a tactical support role, in a noisy, low-trust environment.
Young professionals can help address this by practicing ethically, insisting on accuracy and transparency in all content, linking their work to clear stakeholder outcomes, and continuously upskilling in areas like crisis communication, digital tools and basic measurement so that communication is seen as essential to managing reputation and risk
Ethical, audience-centred communication
2. To negotiate decreasing trust, political polarisation, societal change and profound inequality in South Africa, the next generation of communicators must emphasise ethical, audience-centred communication that is open, consistent and connected to actual action.
This involves developing communications that reflect the facts of various areas, utilising a variety of languages and channels, and collaborating with reputable intermediaries like community leaders, civil society and credible groups rather than depending solely on official sources.
Since trust is rebuilt through obvious fairness, inclusion and delivery rather than through rhetoric, young communicators should stress fact-checking, avoid spin and half-truths (particularly during crises) and be prepared to acknowledge issues and corrections openly in order to safeguard their credibility and reputation.
Fact from fiction
3. The greatest opportunity AI provides for young South African communicators is the capacity to research, produce and distribute material more quickly, affordably and on a wider scale by utilising technologies for data analysis, audience segmentation, multilingual translation and quick drafting to reach underserved and diverse populations.
The biggest ethical risk is the normalisation of AI-generated misinformation, deepfakes and synthetic content that can deceive audiences, damage reputations and deepen political and social polarisation, especially in a context where many people already struggle to distinguish fact from fiction online.
Young communicators face pressure to use AI for speed and volume, but without strong human oversight, fact-checking and transparency, they can unintentionally spread bias, ‘hallucinated’ facts.
Clear narratives
4. Communicators must have a healthy blend of strategic thinking, digital and data literacy, strong storytelling skills and sound ethical judgement in order to remain pertinent and impactful during the next five years. Future communicators must have strategic and business abilities at their core in order to connect communication to organisational objectives, manage projects and budgets, and anticipate and respond to crises.
Digital, AI, and data literacy are equally important; practitioners need to know how to interpret audience and performance data, utilise AI tools responsibly and adapt messages for various platforms and algorithms. Multimedia production, a clear narrative and brand voice, and journalistic basics like fact-checking and ethical writing are still at the core of content and storytelling skills.
‘Patterns of impact’
5. The South African communications industry’s one change I would advocate is the establishment of planned, compensated routes for young, diverse talent into strategic roles rather than simply entry-level execution work, in keeping with the PRISMS 2026 topic of ‘Kaleidoscope: Patterns of Impact Across Past, Present, and Future’.
Many young professionals today, particularly those from under-represented groups and rural areas, enter the business through unpaid or low-paid internships that concentrate on content creation, media monitoring, and administrative responsibilities, with little exposure to strategy, measurement and client or board-level discussions.
This perpetuates existing disparities and implies that a small group of voices will continue to influence the ‘patterns of impact’ in the past, present and future.
