Public trust in government, business and the media has plummeted to new lows. Some urge PR to take a leading role in restoring trust.
The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer shows the largest-ever drop in trust across the institutions of government, business, media and nongovernment organizations (NGOs). Trust in media (43 percent) fell precipitously and is at all-time lows in 17 countries, while trust levels in government (41 percent) dropped in 14 markets. Government is the least trusted institution in half of the 28 countries surveyed. The credibility of leaders also is in peril: CEO credibility dropped 12 percentage points globally to an all-time low of 37 percent, plummeting in every country studied. Government leaders (29 percent) remain least credible.
Deeply Troubling for Business
The results should be deeply troubling for business executives, since Americans have traditionally viewed “business” relatively favorably, writes Matthew Harrington, global chief operating officer of Edelman, in the Harvard Business Review.
Perhaps most concerning, business is adding to people’s fears and fueling distrust. People worry about losing their jobs due to globalization (60 percent), lack of training or skills (60 percent), immigrants who work for less (58 percent), jobs moving to cheaper markets (55 percent) and automation (54 percent).
Of the four institutions, business is viewed as the only one that can make a difference. Three out of four respondents agree a company can take actions to both increase profits and improve economic and social conditions in the community where it operates. Moreover, among those who are uncertain about whether the system is working for them, it is business (58 percent) that they trust most.
A Call for Action
“All of this is a clarion call to the business community,” Harrington writes. “Will business leaders continue to focus solely on their companies’ financial performance, believing that to be their primary responsibility, or will they look to engage externally in order to strengthen their permission to operate?”
Smart business leaders will embrace new forms of digital and social media communications channels and move from a top-down approach to a flatter, more participatory model. “The best companies are already deeply listening to and strategically acting on insights from their employees, customers and other stakeholders,” he says.
PR’s Central Role in Building Trust
PR is instrumental in building and maintaining trust of business, agrees Jonathan Wilson, president of Spectrum and GLOBALHealthPR. PR is uniquely positioned to make sure an organization’s communications strategy is true to its values and also meets business goals.
“Trust is a long game. It takes years to build and seconds to destroy. The key to building trust is a long-term brand strategy that embraces authenticity, credibility and provability,” Wilson writes in O’Dwyer’s.
Bottom Line: Public trust in government and the media has fallen precipitously. But even more troubling for PR and corporate leaders is that public trust in business has dropped. Corporate PR departments are best positioned to stop that and restore lost trust. The key will be to embrace new forms of communication, improve corporate social responsibility and act positively on insights from employees, customers, and other stakeholders.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
