In January 2021 just over half Australians trusted what they read or heard from the media.
That trust declined rapidly over the last 12 months and now only 43% of Australians trust the media.
That’s one of the fastest confidence collapses in the world – and a marked acceleration of a trend that has been evident for some decades.
PR firm Edelman’s Annual Trust Barometer for 2022 found that faith in the media fell in 15 countries – with the biggest falls in Australia and the US.
Overall 56% of people said the media was a divisive force in society. And just one-third (35%) said the media contributed to making societies more cohesive.
Two-thirds (67%) of people globally said they believe journalists and reporters purposely try to mislead people by saying things they know are false or grossly exaggerated – up 8 percentage points on last year’s report.
Andrew Banks reports on Mumbrella
But wait … Trust in Business Is Stable, In NGOs Increasing!
Trust in the corporate world is stable and is actually increasing for NGOs.
Edelman CEO Richard Edelman said “Government was the most trusted institution as recently as May 2020, when the world sought leadership capable of tackling a global pandemic.”
“Now, after the confused and bungled response, when it comes to basic competence, government is less trusted than businesses and NGOs. People still want government to take on the big challenges, but only four in 10 say government can execute and get results.
The Cycle of Distrust
Edelman has studied trust for more than 20 years and believes that it is the ultimate currency in the relationship that all institutions—business, governments, NGOs and media—build with their stakeholders.
If they are correct, governments and mainstream media are the big losers in the 2020s.
Read more on the Edelman Trust Barometer.
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