I always find the yearly Edelman Trust Barometer interesting. This is the first year that NGOs are not the most trusted institution.
Some highlights:
"In the Spring, business, government and NGOs all saw a spike in trust, moving them into the trusted category among the Canadian general population. Since then, the trust bubble has burst, with all institutions giving back most (if not all) of the gains they saw and returning to the neutral zone. Government saw the biggest increase in the Spring with a 20-point increase; however, despite declining 11 points in the past six months, government remains the most trusted institution in Canada."
Equally important: "Amid urgent problems and a year of crisis, leadership is failing. Government leaders, CEOs and religious leaders are not trusted to do what is right. Instead, we’re seeing Canadians look to experts and those that are local – like people in their community – to help tackle the issues that matter most to them. In fact, 50% of respondents worry that business leaders are purposely trying to mislead them, and 46% believe the same about government leaders – this is a wake-up call for leaders, who need to take action to build trust amongst their stakeholders, or risk falling behind."
However, and perhaps most importantly for our work in the sector: "Only 1 in 5 Canadians practice good information hygiene - 46% of Canadians report that they share or forward news items that they find to be interesting, but only 23% of this group—less than 1 in 4—practice good information hygiene, meaning a significant amount of unvetted information is being consumed and disseminated, leading to widespread misinformation."
