Here’s the good news about trust

According to survey, trust in journalists has risen significantly in Canada

There is some good news about the bad news about global trust in journalism: In Canada, trust in journalists has risen significantly, as has trust in traditional media overall.

According to the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer released this week, 61 per cent of Canadians trust journalism — defined as traditional and online-only media. That’s a substantial increase of 10 percentage points over last year’s barometer of media trust.

The annual online survey of global trust in media and other institutions also found a significant distinction between levels of trust for traditional and newer forms of media — only 28 per cent of Canadians trust social media as a source of news and information.

The 2018 trust barometer is the global communications firm’s 18th annual trust and credibility survey. The online survey, conducted last fall, included 1,500 Canadian respondents over the age of 18, with 200 of them considered to be “informed public respondents” who pay attention to news and public affairs.

The survey also found that trust in journalists themselves as credible sources of information or “figures of authority for truth” has rebounded significantly, up 17 points over last year.

While the percentage who report trust in journalists is sadly still less than half — 43 per cent — that 17-point jump is some measure of encouragement for the many journalists across Canada I know who work diligently to deliver trustworthy news: news that is accurate, accountable and gathered in line with best ethical practices.

This encouraging “only-in-Canada” data regarding trust in traditional journalism stands in contrast to Edelman’s global findings, which found that throughout the world media is now the least-trusted institution, falling below business, government and NGOs. I don’t know why trust is greater in Canada, but these findings are consistent with several other media trust studies done over the past year. A recent Pew Research Center study into global attitudes toward media placed Canada in the top 10 of 38 countries on all measures of media satisfaction, including trust.

According to the Edelman data, in 22 of 28 world markets surveyed media is now largely distrusted. Notably, given the past year’s focus on “fake news” and the role of platforms in amplifying misinformation, much of that distrust is driven by a significant lack of trust in social media and search engines.

Let me say here that I wish we could dispense with the term “fake news” altogether. Like many other journalists and those who study journalism, I believe this has become a meaningless term and that its weaponization by the current president of the United States does harm to the mission and work of serious journalism.

But the Edelman Barometer indicates that twothirds of you are indeed worried about “fake news”: 65 per cent in Canada worry about false information or fake news being used as a weapon.

That fact matters much to news organizations committed to ethical journalism that stands against false news and misinformation, particularly in this year ahead when Canadians go to the polls in Ontario and in municipalities across Canada and the need for trusted real news that serves democracy matters much.

“Fears about fake news are pervasive, and we are seeing Canadians turn back to credentialed experts in their efforts to dispel them,” Lisa Kimmel, president and CEO of Edelman Canada, said in a news release this week. But no journalist or news organization in Canada can afford to rest on these laurels of trust these days. The trust barometer also makes clear a significant measure of skepticism in Canada too about news organizations and distressingly low levels of engagement with the news.

Most troubling to me were the low levels of news engagement reported by Canadians. More than half — 54 per cent — reported that they consume news less than weekly. About one third consume news weekly or more.

On the credibility front, the survey found that 63 per cent of Canadians believe news organizations sacrifice accuracy to be first to break a story; the same percentage believe they are more concerned with attracting a big audience than reporting; and 54 per cent believe that when it comes to reporting on politics, they are more interested in supporting an ideology than informing the public.

None of this feedback surprises me. These concerns echo what I sometimes hear in the public editor’s office and what some readers have told those of us involved in the Star’s current trust initiative, which aims to foster greater reader trust.

Indeed, these are all serious concerns about journalism that bear greater examination by journalists and news organizations even at a time when Canadians seem more inclined to trust our work.

As always, that trust must be earned.