3 important findings from this year’s Edelman Trust Barometer

If you read this year’s report, though, you might think the world is coming to an end.

Don’t worry. It isn’t. In fact, I would argue that it should make you feel pretty darn good about your work.

In a few spots, at least:

1. Trust in executives is at an all-time low, but trust in “people like me” is at an all-time high.

Sure, it’s not great news that the masses no longer trust executives, but that’s been a long time coming. What’s more striking is the fact that “people like me” are trusted, which is good news for corporate communicators. Think about it-what is one audience that communicators frequently use to reach the employee masses? Managers, who are “people like me.” We’ve been communicating via mid-level managers for years, and they are frequently one of the most effective communications channels.

2. Media are trusted less and less.

So, the news media are trusted by fewer people than at any time in recorded history? Actually, this statistic is only down three percentage points since 2012.