The 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals that trust in the U.S. has suffered a record-breaking drop in the survey’s 18-year history.
No country saw steeper declines than the U.S., with a 37-point drop in trust across all institutions. While the survey provides deep insight into the polarization of trust in business, government, NGOs and media throughout 28 countries, what is most applicable to our industry is the dramatic shifts within the institution of media.
The survey reports that globally, nearly seven in 10 respondents among the general population worry about fake news or false information being used as a weapon, and nearly 60 percent indicate it is getting harder to tell if a piece of news was produced by a respected media organization. 
Given this data, it’s no surprise media has become the least-trusted institution for the first time in the history of the Trust Barometer. Putting pressure on trust in media is declining trust in search engines and social media. The irony is that at the same time, the credibility of journalists rose significantly.
Edelman cites the broad definition of media as a contributing factor to the paradox. Some survey respondents consider platforms to be part of “the media” – including social media (48 percent) and search engines (25 percent) – alongside journalism (89 percent), which includes publishers and news organizations.
In 2018, trust in journalism increased five points while trust in platforms dipped two points. In addition, peers are no longer the most-believed source of information as the credibility of “a person like yourself” dipped to an all-time low in the study’s history.
All this to say, it’s likely the decline of trust in social and search, and the credibility of peer communication, are contributing to the overall deterioration of trust in media.
At the same time, there is renewed confidence in experts. Technical experts, academics, financial industry analysts and entrepreneurs with a successful track record are gaining credibility levels of 50 percent or higher. Whereas credibility among journalists rose a mere 12 percentage points and CEOs recorded a seven-point gain.
People’s concern about fake news and their willingness to listen to experts show their desire for knowledge. The media cannot solve this alone. Every institution must play its part in the battle for truth by educating its constituents and joining the public debate, going direct to the end-users of information.
“The United States is enduring an unprecedented crisis of trust,” said Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman. “This is the first time that a massive drop in trust has not been linked to a pressing economic issue or catastrophe like the Fukushima nuclear disaster. In fact, it’s the ultimate irony that it’s happening at a time of prosperity, with the stock market and employment rates in the U.S. at record highs.
The root cause of this fall is the lack of objective facts and rational discourse.” The agency highlighted the following key takeaways when announcing results from the 2018 survey:
- Technology (75 percent) remains the most trusted industry sector followed by education (70 percent), professional services (68 percent) and transportation (67 percent). The financial services industry (54 percent) was once again the least trusted sector along with consumer-packaged goods (60 percent) and automotive (62 percent).
- Companies headquartered in Canada (68 percent), Switzerland (66 percent), Sweden (65 percent) and Australia (63 percent) are most trusted. The least trusted country brands are Mexico (32 percent), India (32 percent), Brazil (34 percent) and China (36 percent). Trust in brand U.S. (50 percent) dropped five points, the biggest decline of the countries surveyed.
- Exactly half of those surveyed indicate that they interact with mainstream media less than once a week, while 25 percent said they read no media at all because it is too upsetting. And the majority of respondents believe that news organizations are overly focused on attracting large audiences (66 percent), breaking news (65 percent) and politics (59 percent).
Read the full report, watch videos and explore trust levels by country and demographic here.