Media Beats Out Social in Trust Ratings

We previously reported the Edelman Trust Barometer 2013 which surveys the institutions and individuals people trust.  

Edelman asked 1200 Australians about their confidence levels in media, government, not for profits and business. 

Well ... the latest results for traditional media are surprising and seem to go against prevailing wisdom. For example:

• 83% of the general public trust TV or trust it a great deal
• 78% trust newspapers and radio, with both enjoying exactly the same trust levels
• 75% trust magazines
• 64% trust corporate communications

But levels of trust for social media are way, way below traditional media: 

• 41% of the general public trust Youtube and content sharing or trust it a great deal
• 40%  trust blogs
• 38% trust microblogs like Twitter

 And while crazies of all sorts have invaded the web confidence levels in it as a source of information remain high:

• 78% of the general public trust search engines or trust them a great deal
• 71% trust news/RSS on the web

 So Aussie communicators ....don't trash your media releases just yet.