The 2018 Edelman TRUST BAROMETER reveals a world of seemingly stagnant distrust. People’s trust in business, government, NGOs and media remained largely unchanged from 2017 — 20 of 28 countries surveyed now lie in distruster territory, up one from last year. Yet dramatic shifts are taking place at the country level and within the institution of media.
- Trust in companies headquartered in the U.S. has dropped five points from 55 to 50% just in the last year, after having already fallen from 61% in 2014.
- Sixty-four percent of respondents agree that CEOs should take the lead on (social) change rather than waiting for government to impose it.
- 79% of U.S. employees trust their employers to do what is right.
- Globally, nearly seven in 10 respondents among the general population worry about fake news or false information being used as a weapon. Sixty-three percent agree that the average person does not know how to distinguish good journalism from rumor, and 59% say that it is getting harder to tell if a piece of news was produced by a respected media organization.
- Sixty-four percent agree that CEOs should take the lead on change rather than waiting for government to impose it. Moreover, the believability of a business’ analysis of an important social issue (46 percent) is nearly on par with that of a major news organization (54 percent).
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