International Herald Tribune: According to a survey by Edelman public relations in New York, conducted recently in 11 countries, chief executives no longer command the trust they used to among consumers, and generally should not be pressed into service as media spokesmen.
Edelman said the survey findings were consistent with other indications of a democratization of the business and media spheres, as the internet puts powerful information in the hands of ordinary people more quickly, and lets them have their say on matters previously reserved for the mainstream media.
“There’s something of a revolution going on in terms of how people pick up and value sources of information,” Richard Edelman, the firm’s CEO, said. “For business, it means they’ve got to change their game plan.”
The credibility of information on the Internet generally remains suspect, according to the survey, but it has made strong gains in the last few years in some countries. In the United States, for example, 19 percent of the people surveyed said they turned to the Net first as a trusted source of information and news, compared with only 10 percent in 2003. In Britain, the figure tripled to 15 percent from 5 percent.
“Television is increasingly seen as ‘infotainment,’ not a credible source of information,” Edelman said.
