The COVID-19 pandemic has bolstered trust in government, according to a first-ever Spring update of Edelman's Trust Barometer.
The survey of 11 nations found that government trust jumped 11 percent to 65 percent from the Barometer results that were released in January.
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The UK (+24 percent), Canada (+20 percent), Germany (+19 percent) and South Korea (+16 percent) led the way in government trust.
The poll found that people trust local government officials by five percentage points more than from federal ones.
The US showed the greatest trust gap (20 percentage points) as 66 percent of people trust state/local officials over federal representatives.
That was followed by a 15 percent gap (50 percent to 35 percent) in Japan and 11 percent in France (60 percent to 49 percent).
Edelman found that trust in government leaders jumped 13 points to 61 percent, topping the 58 percent score of CEOs.
Respondents faulted CEOs for putting profits over people (50 percent), not helping smaller businesses survive by extending credit or giving them more time to pay bills (46 percent) and failing to protect workers and customers (41 percent).
The Barometer charted an eight percent trust rise in traditional media to 69 percent.
It found that doctors (80 percent), scientists (79 percent), health officials (71 percent) and local government leaders (61 percent) are the most trusted sources of information about the pandemic.
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A growing sense of fragmentation when it comes to health issues is leading to greater distrust of both the healthcare industry and the media that reports on it, according to the newly released 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer.
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