Society & Culture

The Trust Collapse

Why Public Trust in Media, Science, and Institutions Has Reached Historic Lows — and Why It Matters

Hannah Weber

Media scholar at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford, studying trust in news media and the dynamics of misinformation.

January 25, 2026·10 min read

The Trust Collapse

Trust in media, government, science, and other institutions has been declining for decades in most developed countries. The consequences — the spread of misinformation, political polarization, and the erosion of the shared factual basis for democratic deliberation — are becoming increasingly severe.

TOPICS

media trustmisinformationdemocracyinstitutionsjournalism

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