The Edelman Trust Barometer [REPORT]

The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer landed this week, and the shift it highlights feels important for anyone working in communications.

• Trust hasn’t disappeared.
• But it has narrowed.

This year’s report talks about “trust amid insularity” – a world where people are increasingly hesitant to trust anyone who feels different from them. Different values. Different beliefs. Different sources of information.

What stood out for us isn’t just the data, but what it means for how organisations communicate:

• Trust is strongest locally – in employers, colleagues and leaders people actually know
• Loud positioning can deepen division rather than build confidence
• Encouraging cooperation often builds more trust than “taking a side”

One of the most interesting ideas in the report is trust brokering; shifting from persuasion to understanding, and from statements to translation.

For communicators, that raises some uncomfortable (but necessary) questions:

• Are we helping people understand decisions… or just announcing them?
• Are we listening as much as we’re broadcasting?
• Are we building trust – or assuming it?

To download report, CLICK HERE.