This week, PR Week reported on the public’s falling level of trust in the UK media. According to a new report, the level of trust is currently at just 28%, and only 19% of people say that they trust newspapers.
Explanations for the declining trends range from being merely a symptom in an economic climate where trust has fallen across all sectors, to people blaming the media messenger for delivering constantly depressing news.
At first glance, this might be vaguely worrying for PROs. After all, numerous acres of coverage for a client are academic if no one’s changing their behaviour.
But the adage ‘don’t believe everything you read’ isn’t a new one. People have been sneering at things they’ve seen in print for far longer than any journalist would probably care to remember.
And yet, opinions formed on the basis of stories they’ve seen, even – and maybe especially – in the tabloid media, seem to hold firm. Personal details about the lives of celebrities are ingested unquestioned, despite the lack of any hard evidence; reputations of brands can be made and broken on the basis of some interestingly interpreted statistics.
Maybe the apparent declining trend in the media can actually be interpreted thus: people are choosing to be more analytical when they’re presented with information. If people’s realities don’t tally with their reading matter, questions are raised.
So perhaps the real challenge for PROs isn’t to battle against the trend by churning out the same old stuff and hoping for the best. Rather, we need to match people’s more analytical expectations. More than ever, any stories sold in to the press need to be strong, something that people can relate to, and beyond question.
A more cynical, questioning public is going to hold the media – and us – to a higher standard. It’s a question of raising our game.
