Public trust in traditional journalism on the rise as fears of 'fake news' increase
Irish people's trust in traditional journalism is now at 53% - an increase of five percentage points on last year - according to a new survey.
The Edelman Trust Barometer also shows that our trust in search engines and social media has dropped by eight percentage points to just 33%.
The annual study shows that almost two-thirds of people (64%) are concerned about fake news, while trust in journalists as voices of authority rose by 20 percentage points to 43%.
According to the study, a strong majority of Irish people believe that journalists are meeting expectations in terms of investigating corruption (56%), guarding information quality (54%) and educating on issues (61%).
This year’s study also shows a revival of faith in experts. Academic (68%) and technical (66%) experts are seen as the most credible spokespeople for a company, while trust in ‘a person like yourself’ dropped two points to 52%.
Trust in CEOs as a voice of authority increased by 14 points to 41%.
Business is now expected to be an agent of change, according to the study. Some 63% say that CEOs should take the lead on change rather than wait for Government to impose it.
A total of 75% of respondents believe that producing high-quality products and services is the most important job for CEOs, followed by ensuring that the company is trusted (73%) and has high ethical standards (66%).
In Ireland trust in US headquartered companies fell by six points.
“At a time when people are struggling with who and what to believe there is a notable rise in trust in journalism,” said Joe Carmody, MD, Edelman Ireland.
“People’s trust in social media as a source of news is collapsing, leaving an opportunity for journalists and bona fide experts to inform society.
Trust in Government is also increasing year on year, and now stands at 35%.
Over the past five years trust in Government has increased by 15%, the largest increase of each of the four institutions during that period.
Manufacturing (61%) and education (70%) are the most trusted sectors, according to the Irish study, with financial services (29%) and automotive (44%) the least.
