The Edelman Trust Barometer last year (2024) conducted an online survey of 32,000 adults in 28 countries, and found that 64% believe journalists “are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations”
This is a very worrying development for what we would regard as established or reliable media sources.
1. Trusted Media Sources.
We searched the Mettacomms platform, in the Public Opinion filter to see what more we could learn. A number of interesting facts emerged:
The most trusted media sources in the EU were public television and radio stations (48%), followed by the written press, including printed and online versions (38%). In the USA those figures were much higher with radio 70%, TV 66% and print media 63%.
In the United States, however, trust in television and written press has declined from approx. 40% to approx. 12%. The exception to the decline in written press is local media. 71% of all US adults believe that local press reports the news accurately. 68% believe they cover the most important stories. 63% believe they are transparent about their reporting and 61% (all US Adults) believe they keep an eye on local political leaders.
There is a change developing in what readers expect of their media, however. While 69% believe that media should remain neutral on issues in the community, a growing cohort of 29%, mainly younger people, believe that local media should advocate for change in their communities.
2. Growth of Social Media.
It will come as no surprise at all to know that this decline in trust in established media, coincides with a growth in trust in social media. This might be partly due to the fact that a growing number of Americans use social media as their primary source of information. In fact, almost 50% access news on social media either sometimes or regularly. Possibly the use of social media news sources becomes conflated with the channel – the social media platform – being seen as the reliable source and not the news publisher featured on that channel.
3. Future of Media
Only an oracle could foretell the future of media, but here are some things to look out for:
On the media side:
- Project 2025 includes a proposal to strip public broadcasting of its funding and legal status, endangering access to reliable news for American citizens.
- Social media platforms are removing fact-checking from their sites
- Misinformation is growing
- Established media is declining
- Artificial intelligence can be used for good or evil
On the media side:
- 83% of respondents to a recent Eurobarometer survey said that fake news was a threat to democracy but readership is declining
- As citizens of a democracy, we have a duty to ourselves to seek out the truth, to be active and not passive consumers of media, to question the sources of the information we receive.
The Mettacomms platform allows users to research from verified sources of information, for data to help them make decisions, from a range of filters – media, public opinion, political debate, economic insights and academic research. This breadth of information allows the user to take a 360 degree view of a subject and make an informed decision.
Note: This research was first presented at an online global Masterclass given by Ellen Gunning, CEO of Mettacomms, on January 23, 2025.
Mettacomms is a communications intelligence platform which accesses global, verified sources of information from five filters: Politics, Public Opinion, Economic Insights, Academic Research and Media.
The Public Opinion filter on the Mettacomms platform were used in the preparation of this presentation. Mettacomms filters surfaced information from: Brookings Institute, Eurobarometer & Pew Research.
