The PR Trust Deficit

In this months issue of PRSA Tactics there is a thought provoking article on what is called the "Trust Deficit" in the media today. I was happy to see that PRSA decided to post this article online. Here is a flavor of what the article has to offer:

Addressing the trust deficit:
A profound and unsettling trend

By Alan Pell Crawford

For a few days in early summer, it looked as if you couldn’t trust anybody, in the government, the media or anywhere else.
For instance:

• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control were backing off their claims that obesity kills 400,000 Americans each year. (The real figure, CDC decided was 26,000 — or maybe 120,000.)
• A U.S. District Court found that Gillette’s claim that its M3Power razor raises hair up and away from the skin was “literally false.”
• The Federal Trade Commission told Tropicana to stop saying orange juice lowers blood pressure and cholesterol.
• United Airlines reneged on its pension promises.
• Newsweek had to admit it didn’t know whether its own reporting was true.

For a while there, the only person with any credibility left was a 91-year-old ex-FBI agent admittedly suffering from dementia who, 25 years ago, broke his oath to rat out the President for lying.

Get the rest of this article here.