The world has made significant shifts in the past 100 years, with trust increasingly placed in the hands of third-party institutions, the Internet and even social media. With the rise of disruptive technologies, we are facing challenges, from hacking to the proliferation of fake news sites. As a result, our very trust fabric is being unravelled and compromised. A classic example that made the news at the end of 2017 involved a journalist who tricked the review site TripAdvisor into nominating his garden shed as London’s hottest new restaurant. With the help of friends, the phony restaurateur used multiple fake positive reviews to climb the ranks. This deliberate attempt at fooling the public exploited society’s misguided belief in any information presented at face value. Social media is shaping audience perception in a significant way and even dictating the political Zeitgeist. This presents a huge problem for communicators. With clear communication underpinned by trust, communicato...
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