Truth and Trust in the Era of Fake News

The 20,000 Foot View:  The second half of the 2010s have become a watershed moment for news. The combination of the manipulation of social platforms by political agents, the growing effect of consumers’ personal filter bubbles and the quasi-legitimisation of unscrupulous news outlets have undermined audience trust across the whole political spectrum. Trust has never been at a lower ebb, to the extent that even those news outlets that seek to productise objectivity are simply seen as part of the trust problem by readers on another end of the political divide. News is caught in a prolonged process of existential crisis, unsure whether the future holds a return to long-held values or instead a dystopian crisis of perpetual polarisation, mistrust and audience manipulation.

Key Findings

• The UK            the US presidential election and            Cambridge Analytica scandal changed forever            news works and its relationship            audiences
• These events            polarise views, dilute truth and            people’s worldviews through the lens            filter bubbles
• Trust has            politicised, facts have become devalued            influence democratised
• Trusting a            is the most important consumer            for news but this does            inherently mean a desire for            truth and objective journalism
           of consumers state that trusting a news source is important to them, peaking among German consumers            and falling to            in Japan 
• The legacy            the post-truth era is mistrust            anything that does not conform            a reader’s worldview, whether that            liberal or neo-conservative
           of consumers share news stories on social media and            usually check for accuracy before sharing
• Just            of            think it important to be            of global trends, falling to                       in the Netherlands and rising                       in India
• The BBC            the most valued news source            Canadians and Australians, with The            second in Australia and CNN            in Canada
• Apple Music,            and Deezer users are all            likely to care about keeping            top of global trends than            users
• Filter bubbles            virtual walls around audiences, conditioning            against any message or editorial            that does not align with            worldview
• Post-truth is            in fact the end of            but instead a process of            liberalisation

Companies and brands mentioned in this report:  Amazon, Amazon Prime Video, Apple, The BBC, Cambridge Analytica, CNN, Deezer, The Economist, The European Union, Facebook, The Financial Times, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Google, Infowars, Netflix, News+, The New York Times, Spotify