We need to start thinking of trust as a marketing problem. According to the latest report from the Reuters Institute, almost three quarters of publishers are concerned about the emergence of selective news avoidance.
“There is no one central reason why audiences have become so distrusting of the news,” says Jakub Parusinski, CFO and co-founder of the Kyiv Independent and editor at The Fix.
“Some worry about news organisations having an ‘agenda’. Others are so wary of propaganda and clickbait, that a blanket layer of distrust is easier to maintain.
Trust can simply come down to the value audiences derive from the news or how it makes them feel.
A single trust strategy is unlikely to work.”
Kyiv Independent has a powerful origin story: 30 journalists stood up to media capture and launched their own truly independent news outlet to report from the frontlines of the Ukraine war. Despite all this, it still feels that audience trust needs to be earned. How? A targeted and tailored marketing strategy. It is not just up to editorial to build public image.
Jakub Parusinski will deliver a keynote about trust as a marketing problem at our upcoming Newsrewired conference, taking place on 23 May 2023 at NewsUK, London. You can check out the agenda here and book your ticket here.