The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer makes for bleak reading. Trust in business, government, media, and NGOs is in decline across the board — and the UK finds itself among the worst performers globally. But there’s one uncomfortable truth many in PR have yet to reckon with: our own industry is part of the problem.
We talk a lot about rebuilding trust on behalf of clients. But rarely do we pause to ask: do people still trust us? Do they believe in the stories we help shape, the campaigns we amplify, the press releases we craft, or the ‘authenticity’ we claim to create?
Trust is cracking — and PR can’t sit on the sidelines
PR has long had to contend with the image of being little more than spin doctors, but trust in the fundamentals of what we do has never been at such an all-time low. According to Edelman, 61% of people globally now feel a moderate or high sense of grievance. And those with high grievance scores distrust all four institutions — including business and media, the bread and butter of most corporate PR strategies.
Worse still, 40% of respondents say they approve of hostile activism, including disinformation and online attacks, as a legitimate way to force change. This isn’t just a fringe minority. It’s a sign of deep, widespread disillusionment — and a red flag for any communicator still clinging to the idea that trust can be ‘messaged’ into existence.
If people no longer believe what institutions say, and no longer believe the media is telling the truth, why would they believe a PR professional trying to bridge the gap between the two?
The rise of misinformation — and PR’s uneasy role
One of the most sobering stats in this year’s report is that six in ten respondents regret a health decision they made based on misinformation. It’s no longer just a case of “fake news” muddying the waters — misinformation has real-life, sometimes irreversible consequences.
And while we often frame misinformation as a tech or media problem, PR isn’t always innocent here either. When brands exaggerate claims, bury negative news, inflate ESG wins, or “spin” performance with selective data, it contributes to the erosion of credibility. And with the term ‘astroturfing’ (the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, etc. that appear to come from ordinary members of the public but actually come from a particular company or political group) going viral earlier this year as a result of the Lively v Baldoni case, it’s fair to say PR has been pushed into the limelight for all the wrong reasons of late.
Even when we are not the ones writing disinformation — if we’re not actively combating it with clarity, nuance and transparency, then we’re tacitly allowing the public’s confusion to grow.
Where PR must go next
This isn’t a call to burn the playbook. It’s a call to evolve it.
If PR wants to be seen as part of the solution — not just another extension of corporate messaging — we need to embrace three uncomfortable but necessary shifts:
- Honesty over gloss
People can smell spin a mile off. They’re not looking for perfection; they’re looking for realism. The best PR now embraces complexity. That means fronting up to risk, acknowledging trade-offs, and saying “we don’t have all the answers yet.”
- Audience-first thinking
The gap between what institutions say and what the public hears is growing. PR teams need to stop writing for boardrooms and start listening more closely to the people actually reading the message. If you’re not building in audience insight and sentiment tracking, you’re talking into the void.
- Courage over consensus
The instinct for firms may be to play it safe. But vanilla, vague, or overly sanitised messaging won’t cut through anymore — especially when trust is already low. The brands that will earn the most credibility in 2025 and beyond are those willing to say something real — even if it risks polarising some audiences.
PR is not just a messenger. It’s a trust architect.
In a world where only 36% of people believe things will get better for the next generation, PR must treat trust as the defining metric.
We’re operating in a communications climate where distrust is the default, and credibility has to be earned inch by inch. If we want to rebuild trust — in brands, in institutions, and in our own profession — we need to start with honesty, humility, and a clear-eyed look at our role in the system.
Because make no mistake: PR is having a trust crisis too. And the first step to fixing it is admitting it’s real.
Read our next blog on: Forgetful? Struggling to focus? It could be digital amnesia