Tom Robinson on trust's decline and the rise of grievance
As we’ve discussed extensively on the podcast, trust in public institutions is declining. But how do we know this, and how do we measure how much things have changed? The international communications firm Edelman has been tracking this issue for 25 years, and its Edelman Trust Barometer has become one of the most authoritative global sources on trust in society. This year, their study has found that that globally, there has been what they term a profound shift to acceptance of aggressive action, with increased polarisation, deepening fears, and a widespread sense of grievance. The 2025 version of the Edelman Trust Barometer was released a few weeks ago, and the CEO of Edelman Australia, Tom Robinson, joins us to explore its findings in detail. Before joining Edelman, Tom spent more than a decade at MediaCom, working with high-profile brands on their marketing and content strategies. He also has extensive experience with digital media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Dr Heather Ford on how to build AI systems we can trust
As AI continues to make its way into more aspect of life, some interesting trends about how the public feels about these new, increasingly pervasive services have been observed. The developers of AI promise that their systems will produce reliable, comprehensive, and bias-free results. But national surveys consistently show that the public is sceptical towards AI. And yet experimental studies show that in practice, people do trust AI more than one might suspect. Can increasing AI literacy help to overcome this deficit, and teach us what to trust when it comes to AI, and where we’re right to be cautious? And if so, how should literacy initiatives balance goals to learn how AI works in practice, and how AI could or should work in the future? Today’s guest Dr Heather Ford has been thinking extensively about these issues. She’s an ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor in the School of Communications at UTS. She is the Coordinator of the UTS Data and AI Ethics Cluster, Affiliate of the UTS Data Science Institute, and Associate of the UTS Centre for Media Transition. She was appointed to the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) in 2023. Heather Ford is currently conducting research funded by the Australian Research Council and the Wikimedia Foundation on Wikipedia bias, question and answering technologies, digital literacy and the impact of generative AI on our information environment. Previously she has worked for global technology corporations and non-profits in the US, UK, South Africa and Kenya. Her research focuses on the social implications of media technologies and the ways in which they might be better designed to prevent misinformation, social exclusion, and harms as a result of algorithmic bias. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Prof Jörg Matthes on how to combat digital hate
We have a lot of threats to trust around the world. These include misinformation, political polarisation, the spread of hate online, and declining trust in political and social institutions. We also know that much of this has happened as more and more people worldwide have developed social media profiles and engaged with other online. But what, if anything, is the connection between the two? Should we be developing new measures for digital trust, or do the problems lie elsewhere, whether in the failure of governments to adequately deliver to their citizens, growing economic inequalities, or anxieties about cultural change? And how could critical, competent citizens who understand these problems contribute to redressing them? Jörg Matthes is Professor of Communication Science at the University of Vienna and directs the Advertising and Media Psychology Research Group. His research spans digital media effects, advertising, sustainability communication, and empirical methods, with over 200 journal articles and numerous awards from major academic associations. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of Communication Theory and Communication Methods & Measures, both globally top-ranked journals in the field. As Chair of the Department of Communication (2014–2022), he led it to the University of Vienna to be one of the top universities in Europe and the world. He is a European Research Council Advanced Grant recipient, and also advises on academic quality assessments worldwide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Prof James Arvanitakis on why Americans trust Donald Trump
One of the major challenges of our time is political polarisation and the dangers it presents to social cohesion. Recent editions of the Edelman Trust Barometer have identified a weakening of Australia’s social fabric, a decline of trust in key institutions, and a lack of unity behind a shared purpose.Professor James Arvanitakis has addressed these questions at several points across his career, especially through his research in the United States, and his work on finding ways to disagree respectfully which evolved from this experience. In this episode, he explains why he thought Donald Trump would win the 2024 US election, why so many people no longer trust experts and scientific research, and how universities can evolve their mission to respond to this new environment.Currently, James is director of the Forrest Research Foundation, which partners with Western Australia’s five universities and is based at the University of Western Australia. He is a Fulbright alumnus, having spent 12 months at the University of Wyoming as the Milward L Simpson Fellow. In 2021, he was appointed the inaugural Patron of Diversity Arts Australia in recognition of his commitment to a cultural sector that reflects the rich diversity of Australia. In 2022 he founded Respectful Disagreements, a brave spaces project that promotes the lost art of civility in political disagreement as well as the educational power of discomfort. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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43:29
Tom Burton on building trust by making governments deliver
Only 50% of Australians trust our governments, according to the Edelman Trust barometer from March this year. And even fewer of us trust the media – just 40%. Furthermore, 59% of Australian worry that government, business leaders, journalists & reporters are deliberately trying to mislead people. And in a time of rapid change, none of these four institutions is trusted to integrate innovation into society. Clearly, our institutions have much to do if they’re going to rebuild this trust, and take society with them. Today’s guest,Tom Burton, has spent his career across all four of the institutions that Edelman surveys – primarily the media, where he held senior editorial and publishing roles with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Mandarin. He was Canberra bureau chief for The Australian Financial Review, and until recently, served as that newspaper’s government editor, and also worked as a ministerial adviser and for the Australian Media and Communications Authority, as well as a US NGO, the Centre for American Progress.Tom Burton argues that by focusing on delivery and embracing digital transformation, governments across the political spectrum can become highly effective and be perceived as such. But in order to achieve this, government, the media and academia will all need to lift their game. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Governments, the economy and civil society depend on the public’s trust to work effectively – but this trust is declining in an age of polarisation and misinformation. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that this “malady of mistrust” is as damaging as COVID or climate change. We don’t talk much about trust – but we certainly notice when it breaks down, in corporate scandals or political coups. But in a time when many are losing faith in our most vital institutions, how can the bonds of trust be rebuilt?In Time for Trust, Terry Flew will explore these themes with leading experts on trust, from academics and journalists to community leaders, both from Australia and around the world. Professor Flew holds a prestigious Laureate Fellowship from the Australian Research Council. He’s particularly interested in “mediated trust” – that is, forms of trust and mistrust as they are expressed in and through the digital media technologies we use to make sense of the world. From trust in news to trust in digital platforms, from trust in corporations and governments to trust in AI, “Time for Trust” will ask – who, and what, do we trust, have we lost that trust, and can we get it back? And are technologies bringing us together or driving us apart?Join us for a fascinating journey through one of the most important issues facing people and societies everywhere. Because Billy Joel was right – it is a matter of trust.Time for Trust is brought to you by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney, and the Australian Research Council. It's produced by Dominic Knight, and recorded on unceded Gadigal Land. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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