NGOs more trusted than media to deliver accurate information, says report

NGOs are seen as more likely than media, government and business to be reliable sources of information, a new report shows.

The 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer, produced by global PR firm Edelman, surveyed 32,000 people in 28 countries in November 2022.

Globally, 51% said they thought of NGOs as a reliable source of trustworthy information, while 29% said they were likely to provide false or misleading information.

Businesses were also seen as good sources of information, with 48% considering them reliable. More people thought governments were a source of false or misleading information than thought them reliable (46% vs. 39%) while for media it was equal at 42% on both sides.

Whereas in 2022, trust in NGOs rose in 16 of the 27 countries included in the Barometer, this year gains were seen in just six, declining in 17. The overall level of trust in NGOs dropped slightly, from 60% in the 2022 report to 59% this year. This compares to 62% global trust in business, a figure which has not changed in the past year, while 51% trusted governments, and 50% trusted media.

The Barometer also shows that two of the three countries with least confidence in NGOs are in Europe: the least trusting is Japan where only 38% think they are trustworthy, followed by Germany (41%) and Sweden (44%).

Among the European countries monitored, trust in NGOs was highest in France at 55%, followed by Spain (53%), Ireland (51%), Italy (49%), the Netherlands and the UK (both 47%). Italy was the country with the biggest change in attitude year-on-year; in 2022, its figure was 54%, while Ireland dropped from 55%.

Globally, the countries with the highest NGO trust scores were China (78%), Kenya (76%) and India (74%).

Edelman’s report, launched annually at the World Economic Forum’s meeting in Davos, has become a regular source of media comment since it launched 23 years ago. Some 31,000 people are surveyed globally: around 1,150 people in each market.

This year, it received fierce criticism in the UK’s Guardian, which argued hypocrisy on the grounds that the PR agency’s clients have several fossil fuel producers, and the Saudi Arabian government. The Guardian also quoted criticism of the report by US academic Alison Taylor, who said: “What is being called ‘trust’ here is not ‘trust’ in any kind of academic understanding. This is reputation.”