The question of trust
The question of who each one of us trusts is crucial, as we make decisions constantly.
Do you trust your boss, your colleagues or your financial adviser, if you have one?
Do you trust our politicians, political parties and leaders?
What about your doctor, your family members, your parents?
And then we have the news media. Score out of 10 the SABC, eNCA, ANN7 or, perhaps, the BBC, Sky, CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC and Al Jazeera.
Thank goodness we have the Financial Mail , though the picture of the newish editor is not totally reassuring. Fortunately you have the excellent Marc Hasenfuss, always oozing integrity. He highlights in “Sharing is best” ( Market Watch, August 11-17) that there remain unscrupulous directors who are economical with the truth, and who attempt to bully and intimidate their way through life.
The media is an easy target to blame when all else fails, as any politician will tell you. Thank goodness for the smartphone making it easy to record, and take videos and pictures of events as they unfold. This offers a suitable rebuttal to the many who seek refuge in the “Don’t you know who I am?” brigade. As we have seen in the candidate hearings for the public protector’s role, “brazen” is hardly strong enough a term for these pretenders.
Trust and reputation are never more important in life. They are to be defended at all times, supported by a free, fair and independent media. The Financial Mail has become a trust mark in this.