This year, by common consent, they have a fuller and more urgent agenda than ever. Yet they have never been less trusted to provide the answer to the financial and social troubles they are supposed to be addressing.
That is the stark conclusion of the 10th edition of the Edelman Trust Barometer, a survey of almost 4,500 “opinion leaders” across 20 countries that aims to measure the credibility of groups ranging from non-governmental organisations to stock market analysts.
Each of these groups has taken its reputational hits in the recent past, notes Richard Edelman, chief executive of the communications consultancy that has commissioned the survey since the start of the decade.