Pluralism, Creativity, and Leadership in an AI-Driven Media World

Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant prospect—it is the reality shaping newsrooms, content, and audiences today. This was the message from Taahir Hoorzook, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of The Digital Afrikan (Pty) Ltd, who delivered the keynote at the July edition of the fraymedia Foundation’s Rise & Shine Women in Media Breakfast Series in Johannesburg.

Speaking to 20 invited women leaders in media and business—including editors, journalists, media owners, producers, and advocacy leaders—Hoorzook unpacked the themes of “Pluralism, creativity, and leadership in an AI-driven media world.”

A business growth leader, entrepreneur, and digital strategist, Hoorzook described journalism as “one of the hardest professions today,” warning that while AI offers efficiency and scale, it also risks eroding diversity, authenticity, and jobs if not managed with care.

AI is not the future—it is the present

Hoorzook stressed that, for media professionals, AI is no longer a futuristic concept: “Digital media and AI is not the future for the people in this room. It is the future for other professions. It's the future for, you know, some manufacturing and robotics. It's a future for teaching. It's a future for doctors. It is our present,” he said.

Drawing on his own company’s experiments with building AI-powered newsrooms, Hoorzook explained how lean teams can now produce at scale, but cautioned against over-reliance on generative tools. “We can run a small newsroom literally on two or three people,” he said, “but the challenge is ensuring we use AI responsibly and intentionally”.

Risks: echo chambers, fake content, and shrinking diversity Hoorzook identified three urgent risks in the AI-driven media space:

• The flood of generative content – from AI-produced streaming series to automated text and images, overwhelming audiences with volume rather than value.

• Algorithm-driven echo chambers – where platforms reinforce biases, narrowing exposure to diverse perspectives.

• Widening inequality between big media and independents – as global platforms and large organisations invest in bespoke AI systems, while smaller outlets rely on generic tools, deepening the resource gap.

Safeguarding pluralism and ethical leadership

At the core of his keynote was a framework urging media practitioners to:

• Intentionally seek out diverse data, voices, and stories, especially in training AI models.

• Create internal review boards and AI committees to set standards and ensure accountability.

• Treat AI as a tool in content creation, but ensure human judgment, cultural nuance, and editorial oversight remain central.

Hoorzook emphasised transparency as a non-negotiable principle: “Let's be transparent about the fact that if an algorithm is designed to do X, let's tell people this is what it's designed to do. So when you consuming it, you know what you're getting,” he added.

A call to be brave

Despite the challenges, Hoorzook called on journalists, editors, and media leaders to embrace disruption with courage:

“Nothing we know today is relevant for tomorrow,” he said, urging women in media to be proactive, ethical, accountable—and, above all, “be brave”.

He urged South African media organisations, particularly public broadcasters, to invest not in outdated broadcast infrastructure but in AI teams and data centres to preserve archives, train localised models, and keep pace with global innovation.

The Rise & Shine Women in Media Breakfast Series is a monthly event convened by the fraymedia Foundation. It gathers a select group of 20 women in media—including editors, journalists, managers, producers, advocacy leaders, media owners, and women frequently quoted in the news—for reflective and strategic conversations on current geopolitical shifts, industry trends, and their impacts on media and entrepreneurship. See Taahir Hoorzook's full presentation here.