The 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer released Jan. 20 found that trust in government, business, non-governmental organizations and media tanked to the levels of the Great Recession of 2009.

Richard Edelman ticked off a number of reasons why trust has plummeted below the 50 percent mark in two-thirds of the 27 global markets surveyed by the Edelman Berland research outfit.

They included the Ebola outbreak, disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, foreign exchange rigging by big banks, corruption arrest of Chinese government officials and North Korea's hacking of Sony to punish it for "The Interview" flick.

Edelman called the Trust collapse "startling."

The independent firm's poll also found most respondents cast a jaded eye toward technological advances.

More than half (51 percent) say innovation is happening too quickly. Business growth (cited by 66 percent) and greed (54 percent) are what people believe are sparking innovation.

A scant 24 percent say innovation is driven to promote a greater good.

In the view of Edelman's leader, innovation should be a "trust accelerator." He sees the need for a "new compact between company and individual, where companies demonstrate that innovations are safe based on independent research" and benefit society.

The newest Barometer found governments are the least trusted institution for the fourth consecutive year.

Online search engines—for the first time—are more trusted than traditional media by a 64 percent to 62 percent margin, respectively.

CEOs are viewed as credible spokespeople by only 31 percent of those in living in developing countries, which is the third-year of decline.