THE DAVOS DIVIDE

Eight things we learned in Davos about trust, leadership and money.

Donald Trump and his fellow plutocrats likely had a jolly old time this week in Davos, Switzerland, as the planet’s business and political elites got together once again at the annual World Economic Forum. But there was no escaping the brutal realities of what life in this 21st century is becoming.

Thanks to comprehensive global surveys that have just been released, we have a revealing snapshot of the world that Trump and his friends are creating for us.

Here are eight headlines from these studies that are not fake: 1. Trust in U.S. institutions is plunging

The annual Edelman Trust Barometer, produced for the past 18 years to coincide with Davos, indicates a record-setting drop in the trust that Americans have in their institutions, particularly government. After a year with Trump as U.S. president, only a third of Americans now trust their government “to do what is right” — a decline of 14 percentage points from last year. A similar decline was not evident in Canada’s results. 2. ‘Informed’ Americans are desperate

The part of the American population that is defined as most “informed” — those aged 25-64, with college degrees and who regularly consume news — feel particularly desperate. Their trust in government has dropped a staggering 30 percentage points since a year ago. The U.S. now has the least-trusting “informed” public of the 28 countries surveyed. 3. Trust in China is booming

In contrast, the country with the largest gains in trust among its own citizens was China. Trust in the Chinese government increased eight points to 84 per cent. Even the Chinese media received high marks from its citizens (71 per cent) compared with other countries. China led the Trust index, followed by India, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates. 4. Trust in social media is low

The study reports that the “media” is the leasttrusted institution in many countries. But the definition of media is a broad one, and most of the distrust comes from a loss of confidence in search engines and social media, such as Google and Facebook. The Edelman reports state that “fake news is a deep cause of concern.” 5. Confidence in ‘mainstream’ journalism is strong

If there is a decline in the trust of social media, the same trend is not evident with what people define as “journalism.” Trust in traditional journalistic institutions rose from 54 per cent to 59 per cent. But the survey still indicated that as many as 59 per cent said it was becoming harder to tell if a piece of news was produced by a respected media outlet. 6. A hunger for information and expertise

Overall, the study provided a portrait of a media universe that is becoming increasingly confusing to people. As a response, the study suggested that “voices of authority are regaining credibility.” They include experts, CEOs and journalists, who have risen 12 points in terms of trust in the past year. In contrast, relying for information on a “person like yourself” — a practice popular on social media — has dipped to an all-time low in the study’s history. 7. Americans divided over their media

A Pew Research Center survey of 38 countries, also just released, reveals that there are widespread differences globally about whether people are “satisfied” with their news media. Not unlike the Edelman study, this survey shows that many Americans are dissatisfied with how their media treats political issues, with sharp divisions between Republicans (who are most critical of the media) and Democrats. 8. Canadians trust their news media

But this same Pew study shows that Canadians are generally satisfied with their news media. While only 47 per cent of Americans say that journalists report “political issues fairly,” the figure in Canada is 73 per cent. Another similar survey — by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism — indicates that Canadians are far more likely to trust their news sources than Americans (55 per cent vs. 33 per cent).

There was another report released this week in conjunction with the Davos forum that, in its starkness, helped remind us of the wider issues at play.

Oxfam, the global development organization, published a new study on income inequality that revealed that 42 people now hold as much wealth as the 3.7 billion who make up the poorest half of the world’s population. One wonders how many of them were with Trump in Davos. Tony Burman is former head of Al Jazeera English and CBC News. Reach him @TonyBurman or at tony.burman@gmail.com.