Politicians and journalists the least trusted leaders
Politicians and journalists are globally the least trusted leaders today with less than half of respondents in a study trusting them. Government leaders at 42% and journalists at 46%, according to PR firm Edelman’s 22d annual trust study. Government and media fuel a cycle of distrust. Nearly one out of every two respondents view government and media as divisive forces in society—48% and 46%, respectively, the study says. The study comprises 28 countries and more than 36.000 respondents.
67% globally said that they believe that journalists and reporters purposely try to mislead people by saying things they know are false or grossly exaggerated – an increase of eight percentage points from 2021. 66% say the same thing for their country’s leaders, up 9% and 63% for business leaders, up 7%.
”Distrust is now society’s default emotion. Nearly 6 in 10 say their default tendency is to distrust something until they see evidence it is trustworthy. Another 64% say it’s now to a point where people are incapable of having constructive and civil debates about issues they disagree on. When distrust is the default – we lack the ability to debate or collaborate.”
Fake news concerns are at an all-time high. Concerns over fake news or false information being used as a weapon is now at an all-time high of 76%
None of the major information sources are trusted as a source of general news and information, with trust in search engines at 59%, followed by traditional media at 57% and social media at only 37%.
”Of the studied institutions, business is once again the most trusted At 61%, business is the most trusted institution, ahead of NGOs at 59%, government at 52% and media at only 50%”, the study says.
”Seventy-seven percent of respondents, however, trust “My Employer,” making the relationship between employer and employee incredibly important.”
”There is a collapse of Trust in democracies In many of the democracies studied, institutions are trusted by less than half of their people, including only 46 pts in Germany, 45 pts in Spain, 44 pts in the UK and 43 pts in the U.S. Moreover, no developed countries believe their families and self will be better o‑ in 5 years time.”
”Business must lead in breaking the cycle of distrust. Across every single issue, by a huge margin, people want more business engagement, not less. For example, on climate change, 52% say business is not doing enough, while only 9% say it is overstepping. The role and expectation for business has never been clearer, and business must recognize that its societal role is here to stay.”
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