Combating information bankruptcy

Sunlight bursts through a forest of trees - seeking some rays of truth…

After my recent blog on participatory disinformation, I was encouraged to read in Edelman’s 2021 Trust Barometer, that the general population they surveyed globally ranks ‘increasing my media and information literacy’ above ‘being politically aware’ and just below ‘spending more time with my family’. Just as well, as currently only one in four of us have what Edelman describes as ‘good information hygiene’ – that is being actively engaged with the news, avoiding information echo chambers, verifying the source and not amplifying unvetted information (i.e. actually reading an article our friend posted before sharing it).

Trust in all media information sources has dropped to record lows, notes Edelman. Search engines and traditional media are still slightly more trusted than owned media and particularly social media. Yet, 59% (globally) believe journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations. And 59% believe most news organisations are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than with informing the public. No wonder US President Joe Biden called on Americans to “reject a culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured” in his inauguration speech.

Remarkably, despite the overall decline in trusting the media globally, in some countries – like Australia – trust in the media has increased; up a whopping 12 points to 51 (just neutral rather than distrusted). Perhaps getting daily insights into the situation in America and the UK has made us more appreciative of what we have here?

Indeed, no doubt due to our government’s handling of the pandemic, trust in ‘Australia’ has also jumped 12 points this year, from 47 (distrust) to 59 (neutral). Trust in government in Australia has jumped 17 points to positive trust territory of 63, the highest increase globally. However, the trust gap between the informed public (77) and mass population (55) at 22 points, is also one of the highest in the world. For comparison, the US gap is 18 (62 for informed, 44 for mass). And before our government leaders get too pleased with themselves, they should take note that 57% of those surveyed globally believe government leaders are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations – a comparative level of mistrust as levelled at the media.

Combating the collapse in trust

So, beyond practicing good information hygiene, what else can we do to combat the collapse in trust and champion our search for the truth?

Edelman observes that business is now the only institution that is seen as both competent and ethical and points to expectations that business fill the trust void left by government. It must be noted that on the 2 by 2 chart on page 7 of the Trust Barometer, business is at the bottom left of the ethical and competent square, not top right, and has only moved from competent and unethical this year. Yet the social expectation is that business takes the lead: 68% of those surveyed globally say CEOs should step in when the government does not fix societal problems; 66% say CEOs should take the lead on change, rather than waiting for government to impose change on them.

I’m particularly interested in the finding that ‘guarding information quality’ increases the likelihood of business being trusted by 5.8%; higher than ‘driving economic prosperity’ (4.7%). Which points to the tangible role business can play in addressing misinformation.

On a personal level, building trust and reputation is as simple (and as hard) as it has always been: consistently act in accordance with your values and do what you say you will do. Of course, for large institutions from business to government, this is much harder than it is for an individual, hence the breakdown in trust Edelman records year on year.

Our search for the truth is another matter entirely and we can only hope that America and the world listens to President Biden’s appeal for unity and mutual respect if we are to return to a place where we agree on facts, not shout ‘fake news’ every time we don’t like those facts.

This was first published on my LinkedIn page on 22 January, 2021, with the title of 'What do President Biden’s inauguration speech and Edelman’s Trust Barometer have in common?’