Most Canadians think mainstream media, government officials are lying to them: survey
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In the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer Canada Report, 55% of respondents said that they felt legacy media lie to them by misleading or falsely reporting the truth.
(LifeSiteNews) — According to a recently released global “trust” index, the majority of Canadians believe that legacy media journalists and government officials are not trustworthy and are “lying to them” regularly.
The findings come from the “2024 Edelman Trust Barometer Canada Report,” which is a yearly report from the Edelman Trust Institute, which is a research initiative by global communications firm Edelman.
Respondents were asked if they felt that “establishment leaders were lying to them.” A total of 55 percent of Canadians replied that yes, they felt that legacy media, and by extension journalists, were lying to them by misleading or falsely reporting the truth.
In 2023, 50 percent of Canadians felt distrust in legacy media, which is heavily subsidized by the Canadian government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
About 1,500 Canadians from coast to coast were interviewed about their views on a host of issues relating to trust in the media as well as people’s thoughts about politicians.
When it comes to government leaders, such as Trudeau and his cabinet, approximately 60 percent of Canadians believe that officials are misleading the citizens whom they are supposed to represent.
“In a year marked by natural events and geopolitical crises, Canadians maintained neutral trust towards institutions in general,” the researchers wrote. “However, significant increases in the belief that business and government leaders are purposely trying to mislead people could degrade our neutral position.”
“When it comes to innovation, concerns about governments’ inability to effectively regulate innovations as well as the fear that science has become politicized is putting innovation at risk.”
Job losses and inflation were cited as being attributed to the decline in trust of media and government.
The study found that Canadians trust their peers most (77 percent), with scientists getting a 74 percent trust rating and journalists coming in at 50 percent.