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    Thirty Years as CEO Marking 30 years as CEO of Edelman, Richard Edelman looks back on the bold decisions, industry shifts and commitment to independence that shaped the firm’s growth. He also shares his vision for the future, with trust, innovation and AI at the center of Edelman’s next chapter. KEEP READING
    Corporate Affairs has a seat at the table. Now it has to deliver. Corporate Affairs and communications leaders have spent years turning expertise in reputation and storytelling into a larger role in business decisions. Many have gotten there. What was once a function brought in to communicate decisions after they were made is now helping shape them, with a stronger voice in business strategy. KEEP READING
    Two Things Every AI Agent Needs Before It Goes Live Enterprises are moving quickly to put AI agents to work. But building agents that can perform specific tasks is only part of the challenge. The harder question is whether the organization is prepared for those agents to act together on longer, multi-step workflows. KEEP READING
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    Thirty Years as CEO

    Richard Edelman /

    Yesterday, I sat down with Jess Ruderman, associate news editor at PRWeek, at the PRWeek Conference in Chicago to reflect on my 30 years as CEO of Edelman. I took over from my father, Dan, in 1996 in the wake of his bout with prostate cancer. We stood seventh in the rankings with $85 million in revenue, well behind market leaders Burson and Hill & Knowlton, also trailing such well-known agencies as Ketchum, Porter, MSL and Fleishman. I wanted to reinforce the founding principles of the firm: relentless commitment to clients, entrepreneurial behavior and family ownership. But I knew we could not stand still as a marketing PR firm. We had to anticipate the future and make some big bets. I had big shoes to fill given that my father was not only the founder but the inventor of the media tour and founder of modern marketing PR.

    Over the past 30 years, we have navigated four major crises: the dot-com crash, 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis and COVID. The four-part strategy my father and I established early on helped position us to weather those challenges and emerge stronger. We set out to build our global network, expanding into China, Korea, Brussels, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Russia, Poland, Indonesia, Vietnam and Colombia. We wanted to become a bigger player in corporate communications, pioneering litigation PR, winning major clients such as Walmart and GE, and establishing ourselves as leaders in managing high-profile crises. We recognized the opportunity in digital as early as 1996, with the launch of the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line online. Most importantly, we were determined to remain independent, rejecting offers from several holding companies to preserve the flexibility to expand into areas traditionally dominated by advertising agencies.

    The competitive landscape has changed dramatically. Of the top 10 PR firms a decade ago, only five remain, while private equity-backed financial communications and public affairs firms now account for half of the top 10. More than a decade ago, Edelman made the strategic decision to become a broader communications firm, investing in creative, strategy, research, experiential and creator capabilities, recognizing that the future of communications would increasingly be shaped by employee and news creators. Today, 25 percent of our employees work outside traditional PR, and we compete directly with advertising agencies, digital firms and consultancies for client budgets. Our relationships now extend across the C-suite, from the CCO and CMO to the CEO.

    The Edelman Trust Barometer, launched in 2000, is my proudest accomplishment as CEO. We set out to create intellectual property that could stand alongside the research of leading management consultancies such as McKinsey, grounded in our belief that trust is a driving force in society. Events from Enron and the Iraq War to the global financial crisis, the rise of populism and COVID have reinforced that conviction. I am particularly proud of our work during COVID, when we regularly briefed clients and employees on trust in employers, public health systems and experts. It is surreal to see the Barometer regularly cited in publications such as TIME, The Economist, and Financial Times, referenced CEO shareholder letters, sited in more than 1,600 peer reviewed scholarly articles, and now informing a December forum at the Obama Presidential Center.

    I am proud that during my tenure as CEO, we have helped move public relations from publicity to action. From CVS removing cigarettes from its shelves and rebuilding Lower Manhattan after 9/11 to REI’s #OptOutside, Ajinomoto’s campaign to restore MSG’s reputation, DP World’s Move to -15° to reduce shipping emissions, and AstraZeneca’s Up the Antibodies campaign with Jeff Bridges to protect immunocompromised patients from COVID, our work has driven meaningful business and societal change.

    Jess Ruderman asked me about succession. I told her the next CEO must be globally minded, equally strong in brand and reputation, and understand our family tradition of being the underdog against larger, better-financed competitors. I also said that I would like my daughters to succeed me, just as I succeeded my father.

    What I didn't get to say is what's truly in my heart: I have one more mountain to climb. Our next chapter will be built on the Chicago Principles, positioning Edelman as the Trust Company at a time when disinformation and AI-generated content make trust more valuable than ever. We will be both global and local, recognizing that culture, creators and influence increasingly reside in local markets, and that rising nationalism requires companies to adopt a more poly-national approach. We will work from the bottom up, reaching people directly as authority becomes more dispersed and relationships become increasingly important. And we will use AI to drive effectiveness, not simply efficiency. Through our Earned Growth Engine and proprietary capabilities, including Archie AI, Culture Engine and GEOsight, we intend to make earned and owned media more measurable and predictable, influencing AI search results and ultimately driving sales.

    There was nothing inevitable about Edelman’s success. We have defied industry logic by remaining independent, refusing private equity financing and continually innovating for long-standing clients such as Microsoft, Starbucks, J&J, AstraZeneca, Mars, PepsiCo, Unilever, and Samsung. I am deeply grateful for the loyalty and commitment of longtime colleagues including Matt Harrington, Lisa Sepulveda, Tristan Roy, Rakesh Thukral, Justin Blake, and Vic Malanga. Other senior leaders have been instrumental in our success over the past 30 years, including David Brain, Alan VanderMolen, Ed Williams, Russell Dubner, Nancy Ruschienski, and the incomparable Pam Talbot. I am equally fortunate to have the unwavering support of my siblings, John and Renee, and the next generation of our family, my talented, hardworking daughters Margot, Tory and Amanda, whom I count on to carry forward our tradition of hustle and excellence and my father’s belief that “it is great to be the largest firm, but we must always strive to be the best firm.”

    The adventure continues!

    Photo credit: Merz Photography

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    WEF 2002: When the World Came to New York

    Richard Edelman /

    New York City was crushed by the 9/11 attacks, its Twin Towers in rubble, its tourism industry paralyzed, its sense of security imperiled. Posters of the missing were on lampposts, reminding us daily of the human toll. There was an eerie silence in restaurants and on Broadway as we all tried to regain our confidence.

    Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, was in New York City with his wife and son on the day of the attacks. In the days following, he decided to move the annual meeting to New York City, the first time in 30 years that it would relocate from Davos. As a soon-to-be released biography of Schwab says, “A city accustomed to being one of the crossroads of the world had suddenly experienced what it meant for the world to stop coming…What if the Forum went to New York. The question became, would the world come?”

    The WEF team secured the Waldorf Astoria Hotel as the hub for the meeting, then surrounding hotels for the delegates. Tom Ridge, newly appointed director of the Department of Homeland Security, was the next stop in Washington, followed by the FBI. Both promised agents to guarantee security for the participants.

    Schwab then proceeded to New York City just as Mayor Rudy Guiliani was completing his term in favor of incoming Mayor Mike Bloomberg. He said that he was Giuliani’s last visitor at Gracie Mansion and Bloomberg’s first. He went on to the New York Stock Exchange to announce the Forum’s decision to convene in Manhattan.

    On January 31, 2002, only four and a half months after the attacks, over 2,700 participants from 102 nations came to Davos in New York City. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bono, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, former President Bill Clinton, Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan and music producer and composer Quincy Jones were among the delegates. Mayor Bloomberg said in his speech, “By coming here, you have done something unprecedented…I have come today to give the thanks of the people of New York City to Klaus Schwab. The decision to come is a profound statement.”

    Schwab’s decision to bring the World Economic Forum to New York City was a powerful vote of confidence in the city at a moment when it was badly needed. In doing so, he took to heart the admonition of English Methodist minister William Lonsdale Watkinson in 1907: “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” It gave New Yorkers a much needed shot of optimism, that we could build back the City’s reputation as the global center of commerce. We would face down the terrorists who sought to intimidate us and change our way of life.

    Richard Edelman is CEO.

     

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    Twenty-Five Years After 9/11

    Richard Edelman /

    We are now on the cusp of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, which took the lives of nearly 3,000 innocent people from 80 nations. In prior years, I have written about Edelman’s extraordinary response to the tragedy: Edelman colleagues volunteering at a New York City hotel to support grieving families of client Cantor Fitzgerald; a three-month sprint to build a website for the City of New York providing updates on air quality, local businesses and mass transit in Lower Manhattan; a three-year program for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation supporting the rebuilding process; our work with Swiss Re on insurance litigation; and, ultimately, the opening of the 9/11 Museum in 2011.

    On this anniversary, we also pay tribute to Suria Clarke, a brilliant 30-year-old corporate affairs specialist who, after five years at Edelman, joined client Cantor Fitzgerald just two weeks before the attacks. Edelman, and its people, established a scholarship fund in her memory at her university.

    This is my story of 9/11. I left LaGuardia at 6 a.m., flying through Chicago to Omaha for a CEO golf and tennis event hosted by Warren Buffett. When I arrived, I was stunned to see the Twin Towers in flames on the airport monitors, then collapsing into a massive cloud of dust. I was unable to reach my family in Manhattan. The next morning, I rented a car and drove back to Chicago with three others. Along the way, I wrote a note to our staff about how to counsel clients: focus first on internal audiences; extend help to the community; don’t seek attention for good deeds; and reconsider all media activity, because there was only one story that mattered.

    I met with the team in Chicago to reassure them about the safety protocols for the Aon Center, an 80-story structure clad in the same marble as the World Trade Center.

    I got back to New York on Friday by taking a flight to Philadelphia, then taking a train. As we approached the tunnel connecting New Jersey and Manhattan I was overwhelmed by the smoke and haze over Lower Manhattan. I hugged my family close; my middle child Tory asked, “Daddy, why do terrorists do something like this to innocent people.” I then visited the Edelman team at the Cantor grieving center to thank them for their work, particularly Larry Koffler and Barbara Taylor, who were leading our efforts there.

    Our senior management team decided that we would come back to the office on Monday, September 17. In the words of Matt Harrington, then manager of the New York office, “Come Monday we must all show our resolve and take up our work again. There is much to do; not only will our clients need us more than ever but after the workday, there will be significant opportunities for us to contribute to the local community.” In the same spirit, I flew to Berlin to make a keynote address at the end of the week to the International PR Association about trust and resilience, echoing President Kennedy forty years before, saying that everybody is now a New Yorker.

    A few weeks later, Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, decided to hold its Annual Meeting in New York City. I spent considerable time working with hotels and Forum staff to create a safe environment for the January meeting. In March, we were selected to work with newly elected New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his administration on a website providing daily updates on recovery efforts, air quality, mass transit and rebuilding plans. Russell Dubner, Justin Blake and I spent much of that summer on the project, which launched a week before the first anniversary of 9/11. That work led to our being hired by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to communicate the long-term redevelopment plan, including a major transit hub, two museums and five office towers. On the first anniversary of the attacks, and for a decade thereafter, I attended a memorial service for the 67 employees of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods who lost their lives that day. The firm had been my ex-wife’s employer from 1979 to 1995.

    The 9/11 Memorial and Museum has been a passion project for nearly two decades; I sit on the Board of Directors. I helped the Museum raise money. AB InBev donated funds for the damaged fire engine that sits on the ground floor. ScottsMiracle-Gro made possible the Memorial Glade, including the miraculous Survivor Tree, the only one to make it through the conflagration. PepsiCo was among the first donors for the construction of the Museum. We have done pro-bono PR for the Museum for the 9/11 remembrance ceremony for two decades.

    I have always found it easier to talk about Edelman’s actions in the wake of the attack than to discuss myself. As a leader, you project strength for your team, even when you carry the emotions privately. I knew six people who died in the towers. I saw the political infighting and business wrangling over the rebuilding. I appreciated Mayor Bloomberg’s single-minded determination to make the area a living, breathing community again. And I have witnessed the reactions of hundreds of visitors to the Memorial and Museum as they take in the courage of the police, firefighters and other first responders, the loss of loved ones and the origins of the War on Terror.

    I wasn’t going to join the military, but I could contribute in the way I knew best: using communications to help bring people back to New York and embrace Lower Manhattan. I also experienced the best of America during that time. Driving back from Omaha, I stopped at a gas station, and when people learned I was from New York, they hugged me and asked me to send their best to the people of Manhattan. I feel that I have done and will continue to do my part in this epic story; it is a source of pride and a daily inspiration to keep the story alive for the next generation.

    Richard Edelman is CEO.

     

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    My Summer Reading List

    Richard Edelman /

    I have read extensively this summer. I break my books into four categories: German history; America 250; Russian novels; Middle East. Here we go:

    German History 

    1. Weimar by Katja Hoyer. This is a tale of life in Weimar, the capital of Germany from 1919 to 1931. This small town was transformed into a political center. The tragedy is slowly unveiled, from bright hopes in the mid 1920s to disaster in the wake of the Great Depression leading to the rise of Hitler.
       
    2. Germany Memories of a Nation by Neil MacGregor. This was a gift from my colleague Niels Giese who runs Edelman GERMANY. It is a welcome antidote to Weimar. There are wonderful stories of Luther, Goethe, and the Rothschild family. The chapter on Money in Crisis details the descent into hyper-inflation and destruction of savings of the middle class in the 20s.

    American History

    1. Yankee From Olympus; Oliver Wendell Holmes by Catherine Bowen—This book has been on my shelf for decades. It is the story of the Great Dissenter on the Supreme Court, a Boston Brahmin who went to Harvard, served with distinction in the Civil War, was chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, then served on the US Supreme Court for thirty years. He stood up for free speech in the post WWI years of anti-immigrant and anti-foreign fever. He also stood up for the working man in opposing a Court decision allowing a 60 hour work week.
       
    2. The Zealot and the Emancipator by H.W. Brands—In the two decades prior to the Civil War, two of the pivotal figures were John Brown and Abraham Lincoln. Brands catalogues Brown’s journey from Bleeding Kansas to seizure of a Federal arms depot in Harpers Ferry, VA. Brown refuses to take the easy defense of mental illness or physical incapacity from wounds incurred in the shoot-out. He insists on a full airing of his rationale for the uprising, which is emancipation. After Brown was convicted and hung, Lincoln follows with his famous Cooper Union speech in 1860, in which he asserts that a nation cannot survive half slave and half free, a House Divided cannot stand.
       
    3. The Soul of America; The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham—The long time journalist Meacham recalls several of the most challenging moments of US history, stating that “Progress is possible. Hope is sustaining. Fears can be overcome….we have endured moments of madness and of injustice, giving the better angels a chance to prevail.” How to process the post WWI period in which women are finally given the right to vote but immigration is choked off as part of a fear campaign against Communism and thousands of Ku Klux Klan marched down Pennsylvania Ave. Among Meacham’s points: Fight Tribalism, Respect Facts and Deploy Reason; Enter the Arena.

    Russian Novels

    1. Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol—Chichikov is an aspiring landowner. He invents a marvelous ruse, the purchase of dead peasant souls, which have not yet been removed from the official registry in Moscow. He plans to mortgage the peasants to finance his land purchase. He travels from farm to farm asking the owners to buy the deal souls. This is a tale worthy of Dickens as a picture of Russia in the mid 1800s, with its decrepit farmhouses, the dowagers seeking attention, the gossips spreading the word of Chichikov’s hidden millions.
       
    2. Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev—The hero of the novel is Bazarov, the Modern Man, a young nihilist who eschews religion and love. He and best friend Arkady are at once intimate and competitive to such an extent that they engage in a duel over alleged flirtation and betrayal. The relationship between fathers and sons is reminiscent of the 1960s in the US, blending unconditional parental affection with utter incomprehension of values.
       
    3. Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin—This is a sad story of unrequited love. The hero Onegin is unable to love the young Tatyana, whose heartbreaking letter to her lover is worth frequent reading. “You filled my dreams and sweetest trances as yet unseen and yet so dear, you stirred me with your wondrous glances….When you came in, I seemed to Waken, I turned to flame, I felt all shaken.” He walks away from her only to realize when he sees her at a ball a decade later that he has made a huge mistake; she is now married to a prince. She writes, “Now I beg you go. I love you but I am now another’s wife and I’ll be faithful all my life.”

    Middle East

    1. Israel on Trial by Roy Altman—I met the author at an event on Sunday. He is a judge on the Federal bench in Florida. His book examines the charges against Israel from a legal standpoint. He moves systematically through the idea of Israel as a colonial project, Israel has prevented the establishment of the Palestinian state, Israel is an apartheid state and Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. The most important part of the book is the historical reality of Jews in Israel for over 3,000 years, with historical recognition on steles in Egypt and Jordan of conquests by pharaohs in 1200 BC and a local ruler in 800 BC against the Jews.

    I hope that you find this helpful. Back to vacation now…

    Richard Edelman is CEO.

     

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    News Creators: Trusted Sources, Not Distribution Channel

    Richard Edelman /

    News creators are filling a void left by mainstream media that has left the younger generation unconvinced and unmoored. So that we can better advise our clients on how to engage and work with this increasingly influential group, Edelman has developed a list of the 100 top news creators, including Mosheh Oinounou of the Instagram feed and podcast Mo News, which we regularly update. We also do this because we see most of our competitors doing paid relationships with “influencers” who become part of their Paid flywheel distribution strategy, exactly contrary to the spirit of the creator in giving an unvarnished interpretation of facts that establishes personal connection and credibility of the content. And we know from the Edelman Trust Barometer that 70 percent of respondents identify as insular, unwilling to trust anyone with different media sources, solutions to societal issues or backgrounds.

    Kenny Gold has been in his role as Edelman’s Global Chief Creator Officer for ten weeks. He was attracted to Edelman because of our 26 years of research in trust. He wants to forge a new compact between PR and creator based on three fundamental concepts. First, influence no longer flows top-down; in fact, it is built from the bottom up, with creators as a critical part of fact-finding and truth-telling. Second, the image of a brand or company is built in the public square, argued and settled in the continuing dialogue between interested parties. Third, the creator can be an employee, a CEO, a public official or a journalist (Kyla Scanlon has just signed on at CNN; she has one million followers across TikTok, Instagram and Substack, also a bestselling author).

    Here are some of the key characteristics of the top 100 U.S. news creators:

    1. Frequency of Posting—Just over half publish at least once a day (52 percent).
    2. Platforms—71 percent are newsletter, 60 percent podcast, 61 percent Instagram, 60 percent X , 55 percent YouTube, 37 percent TikTok.
    3. Focus Areas—Politics and Government 32 percent, Technology 14 percent, Business and Markets 11 percent, Marketing/Advertising 7 percent, Social Issues 6 percent, Health and Medicine 5 percent, Entertainment 4 percent and Fashion 3 percent.
    4. Political Stance—For the one third who are in politics, the ideological break is quite even, with slightly more on the left than the right or middle.
    5. Age—Three quarters are 25-44 years old, only 4 percent under 25.
    6. Length of Post—Just over half are long form (53 percent) meaning over five minutes, 18 percent are short form under three minutes, the other 30 percent mixed.
    7. Use of Third-Party Experts—Just over half use guests or outside experts.
    8. Location—The largest concentration is in NY (34 percent), followed by California (30 percent), Washington, D.C. (12 percent)
    9. Relationship with Brands—75 percent have a brand connection but largely outside of traditional ad formats. Trust is their key asset, so creators monetize through podcast ads, newsletter sponsorships or speaking fees.
    10. Modern News Consumption—According to the recent Reuters Institute Digital News Report, 27 percent of respondents said that they get their news from creators.

    Edelman will be compiling a global list of news creators for September from key markets including India and the UK. We do this because we observe the “deglobalization of culture” to quote a recent article in The Economist. The magazine asserts, “New technology is pushing the globalization of entertainment in reverse…nine of ten most streamed tracks in Denmark in 2025 were by Danes….96 of the top 100 songs on YouTube Brazil were Brazilian…as streamers push deeper into foreign markets, local subscribers beyond the elites who might have been happy with American fare...nine of ten of the top shows in Japan and Korea are local fare.”

    We believe the same holds true for news creators, hence our strategy of local and global. This creator push at Edelman is consistent with our earned-first strategy that differentiates us from the holding companies, with earning trust as the core proposition for brands and corporations alike.

    Richard Edelman is CEO.

     

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    My Summer Internships

    Richard Edelman /

    I met with the Edelman interns a week ago for an hour long Q&A session. It reminded me of my own internships in the 70s, a walk down memory lane. I worked at the Adlai Stevenson Institute of International Affairs at the University of Chicago, Paschen Construction, Noonmark Magazine, Adlai Stevenson for U.S. Senate, Standard Oil of Indiana, First National Bank of Chicago, Bell & Howell and Swift & Company during high school, college, and business school summers. Here are a few lessons that I learned from those internships:

    1. Take on the Tough Work—I was low man on the totem pole on the construction crew at the Federal Building project in downtown Chicago. In my first week, I was sent into the elevator shaft with a shovel to clean up the waste that had been collecting, before the Porta-Potties reached the site. It was eight hours of shoveling and tossing detritus, but I was not going to be intimidated into quitting. I kept at it, and eventually, I gained the foreman’s respect and got better tasks for the rest of the summer. If you're willing to do the difficult, unglamorous work well, people notice and trust you with bigger opportunities.
       

    2. Phone Skills—I was a trip planner for the Amoco Motor Club, which meant that I took phone calls from drivers planning cross-country trips. I became familiar with the important routes, the motels, even the gas stations. I was Google Maps before such existed, with my yellow marker and big folding map of the country. I learned to manage the happy and hysterical with a measured tone. Technical knowledge matters, but people remember how you make them feel: Learn small talk; ask about the kids or school; find a way to satisfy the customer.
       

    3. Find a Mentor—My favorite mentor was Doug Grey, a rising executive at Swift & Company, the legendary meat-packing company. I would show up to work at 7am and have a half hour with him, asking questions about pricing, new products, and connections with retailers. He entrusted me with a divestiture analysis of a kill-floor blood collection technology that took me to packing plants for on-site understanding of the process. The biggest career accelerators are often the people willing to invest in you. Ask questions, show up early, and earn opportunities that are well beyond your job description.
       

    4. Assess the Future Competitors—I worked at a technology company that was facing Japanese competition for the first time. Bell & Howell made projectors, cameras and other electronic units. These were being challenged by foreign products offering similar quality and lower prices. The same thing was happening to U.S.-based television manufacturers Magnavox and Zenith. The question for management was to out-source manufacturing to Mexico or Asia versus continuing their production in the U.S. All these companies are now gone. No company is immune to disruption. Leaders have to honestly assess competitive threats and adapt before the market forces the decision for them.
       

    5. Retail Politics—I was assigned to canvassing duties on the weekend, trying to register voters who could tip the balance for Democratic Senate candidate Adlai Stevenson of Illinois. I dutifully went with my clipboard and registration information from house to house. I learned the value of quick reactions at one house, where I was met by a German Shepard barreling through the screen door, targeting my rear end. Regaining my composure, I completed my neighborhood and even registered three new voters. This was far preferable to the interminable licking of stamps and envelopes for mailers. Campaigning also taught me resilience. Not every interaction will go as planned, but perseverance and showing up consistently are often what produce results.
       

    6. Manage the Personalities—My boss at the First National Bank was into meditation and would have “alone time” in his office for an hour a day, while my bosses at Bell & Howell mostly conversed with me on the basketball court at the YMCA after work. Understanding what motivates people and meeting them where they are is part of becoming an effective colleague and leader yourself: Go where they go, eat what they eat, listen, and learn.
       

    7. Fearless Salesman—I was the publisher of a prep school literary magazine. In short, my job was to sell ads. I learned how to pitch, define my audience, the art of the first contact via letter, the in-person visit to close the deal, the thank-you note that may lead to further opportunities. Selling isn't just about products; it's about preparation, relationships and understanding the person across the table. Those skills have served me throughout my career, regardless of the role.

    I hope that this year's Edelman interns have had a great summer and that many of them choose to build rewarding careers helping shape the future of our industry. 

    Richard Edelman is CEO.

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    The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026

    Richard Edelman /

    The Reuters Institute Digital News Report, which surveyed nearly 100,000 people across 48 countries including Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, concludes that the media environment has splintered, with attention, trust and influence no longer sitting in the same place. Reach has moved to platforms, trust has fragmented, video is ascending, creators are interpreting and AI chatbots are a new force. Here are the important findings:

    1. Social Media and Video Networks Pass News Organizations — 54 percent of respondents said that they use social media and video networks to access online news compared to 51 percent who use the news organizations’ own websites and apps. This is the first time that third-party intermediated news access is higher than direct use of sites owned by the media, effectively the “platformization” of news consumption according to Reuters Institute Director Mitali Mukherjee.
    2. Video Now the Dominant News Format — 77 percent of respondents consume online news videos each week. More people now watch online news videos than broadcast TV news in 45 of the 48 markets. Growth in use of third-party platforms for video news is concentrated among Facebook at 43 percent, YouTube at 34 percent, TikTok at 20 percent and Instagram at 26 percent.
    3. Trust in Media Continues to Ebb — Trust declined in half of the countries surveyed, leaving trust in news overall at 37 percent, the lowest level since Reuters began its study. The largest declines in trust occurred in the Philippines, Thailand, Peru and Poland. The common thread is political instability, divisive elections and a fragmented information environment. Only 32 percent trust news in search engines, 22 percent trust news in social media and 20 percent trust news in AI chatbots.
    4. Decline in Interest in News — One quarter of respondents describe themselves as passive news users, consuming news only once a week, down ten points from a decade ago. The proportion of those describing themselves as very or extremely interested in news has declined significantly, with the UK showing a 33-point decline in the past five years from 70 percent to 37 percent. Forty-two percent of respondents say that they often or sometimes avoid the news.
    5. Big Jump in Fears of Misinformation — Deep fakes, AI slop and politically motivated fake news are of special concern (more than 75 percent of respondents) in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, plus major developed markets such as the U.S., UK and Australia. The fear levels are highly correlated to the use of social media and video networks for news.
    6. Creators Now Part of the News Ecosystem — 27 percent of respondents said that they get their news from creators. Forty-seven percent of those relying on creators say that they feel satisfied with this as their sole news source (the equivalent of 13 percent of the total population). But the Reuters study contends that only 3 percent of respondents rely solely on creators for news, making this a complementary aspect of the news ecosystem. Creators rank very high for ease of understanding, entertaining and relatable content, but much lower on trustworthiness and impartiality.
    7. Rising Use of AI Chatbots — Use of AI chatbots increased from 7 percent to 10 percent over the past year, driven largely by adoption in developing markets across Asia and Africa. Predictably this is driven by youth using chatbots for news (17 percent), three times the level of the oldest age group, though the biggest growth in the past year is among 25–44-year-olds. Almost a third of those using chatbots report using them several or 10+ times daily. The primary uses include interpretation of a story, summary of a story and making stories easier to understand. Reuters also notes a significant trend for mainstream media: chatbot users are much less likely to click through to original news sources than traditional Google Search users.

    Edelman is committed to winning communications strategies that combine trusted earned media, platform-native storytelling, deep involvement with news creators, AI visibility through strong proof points on owned channels and the use of paid amplification. We know that trust is earned through truth well told, thoroughly sourced, fact-checked and updated with the latest developments.

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    Edelman Trust Institute Trust Summit

    Richard Edelman /

    I will give the opening address at the Edelman Trust Institute’s Trust Summit tomorrow. My remarks are a summary of our studies on trust over the past year, noting the progression from Polarization (a political division) to Grievance (an emotional divide including hostile activism) to Insularity. Insularity is the next crisis of trust. It describes a society in which people increasingly retreat into communities that reinforce their own values, information sources and views of the world, making trust across differences far more difficult. This is a global phenomenon, evident not only in lower-trust developed markets but also across many of the higher-trust developing markets.

    I will describe five divides that have prompted Insularity.

    The first is the Mass-Class divide, in which the top quartile of income earners have a much greater average trust level across institutions than those in the bottom quartile. The divide began in 2012 in countries such as the U.S., UK and France, then has grown over the last decade to over twenty points in nations such as Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. The bottom quartile has flat-lined while the top quartile has accelerated, coincident with greater income divides, stock market and real estate gains.

    The second divide is the Geopolitical chasm, the rise of Nationalism. There is a huge difference in consumer trust between companies headquartered in their home market and foreign companies competing in that market. The domestic trust advantage is 31 points in Canada, 29 points in Germany and Japan, 25 points in the UK and nearly 20 points in the U.S. and China. Two thirds of respondents told us that it’s important, or even a critical deal breaker, that when buying or using brands, they are made by companies headquartered in their market.

    The third divide is around Information. Insularity has prompted a deliberate narrowing of the world view. Only 39 percent of respondents told us that they get news from sources with a different political leaning at least weekly. There has been a massive decline in consumption of alternative views, down double digits in markets as diverse as the Netherlands, Spain, Indonesia and South Korea in the past year. The battle for truth is being won by those outlets that provoke and combine opinion with news.

    The fourth divide is in the Workplace, which has been the refuge for respondents seeking rules-based discussion of difficult topics. Now we find that 42 percent of employed respondents say that they would rather switch departments than work for a supervisor with different political opinions and one third say they would put in less effort if they disagreed with the boss on political beliefs. This is tragic given that My Employer is the most trusted institution, well ahead of business overall.

    The fifth divide is the Social Divide. The Mass-Class divide, Geopolitical chasm, Information divide and Workplace divide all point to the same conclusion: people are becoming less willing to engage with those who see the world differently. Seven in ten global respondents now identify themselves as insular, meaning they are unwilling or hesitant to trust people with different values, backgrounds, approaches to solving societal problems or sources of information. This mindset cuts across income, gender and age, and is evident in both developed and developing markets. Polarization divided us politically. Grievance divided us emotionally. Insularity now divides us socially, making it the defining trust challenge of our time.

    There are significant consequences from the descent to insularity. We observe problems for the technology and health sectors. We also find that insularity has penetrated the consumer consciousness with important implications for marketers.

    The first consequence is resistance to innovation. AI is viewed as Globalization 2.0, with major risks of downward economic mobility and job loss. Nearly half of respondents in the U.S., UK and Germany are against implementation of AI, with more than half of those in the bottom income quartile believing they’ll be left behind by AI. In fact, resistance to AI is comparable to the fear of genetically modified food.

    The second consequence is the devaluation of expertise. This is most evident in the food and health sectors. Only around forty percent of respondents believe that such canards as raw milk being healthier than pasteurized (43 percent) or fluoride in water being a public health risk (36 percent) are false. It is stunning to see that those who believe in at least one of six presented health myths have higher rates of news consumption on a monthly basis than those who believe all six are false, and that there is no difference in rate of belief between those with college degrees and those without college degrees. We believe that this muddying of truth and fiction is a legacy of COVID.

    The third consequence of insularity is for brands. Insular consumers are over twice as likely to say they are unwilling to buy from brands that are used by people who are different from them. Consumers exact a trust penalty from brands that sell to people with different core values compared to brands in general, with a trust gap of 23 points in markets as diverse as France, Germany and South Africa, which matters now more than ever as trust is in an equal position as a purchase criterion with price and quality. This penalty is a self-limiting proposition for brands seeking to move beyond their core consumer base. Brands also have a particular relevance problem with insular consumers when it comes to providing identity reflection and community connection (26- and 21-point gaps between insular consumers saying these are important for brands to be relevant vs brands are doing these well).

    The purpose of our Trust Summit is to gather corporations, media, academics, NGOs and government leaders for an open discussion of the way forward. We see an increased likelihood of institutions needing to function in a time of prolonged uncertainty. The worst option for leaders is to mimic the turtle and withdraw into a shell until the storm passes. We will push our theory of Trust Brokering, which is bringing together parties with very different views for a constructive debate which aims to Disagree Better. This is my favorite day of the year, full of passionate expressions of views. To the participants, bring your best game. We must find a better way forward.

    Richard Edelman is CEO.

     

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    The Lion in Winter

    Richard Edelman /

    I had lunch this past weekend with long-time friend Lord Michael Heseltine, former deputy prime minister of the UK. He is indeed the Lion in Winter, now 93 years old, but sharp and passionate. I know Heseltine through Haymarket, his publishing company, which owns PRWeek. We met in 1996 when he was considering whether to launch an American edition of PRWeek. Edelman became the first advertiser (whether Michael or his son Rupert sold that ad I will leave to them).

    Heseltine is a member of the House of Lords, having served as a Conservative member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001. He founded Haymarket in 1957; his proudest achievement is CAMPAIGN, the bible of the marketing sector, now in 18 countries. He would stand down from work in the private sector when he held important positions in Government, including Deputy PM, Secretary of State for Environment, then Aerospace, then Defense. He is famously known for his challenge to then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1990 for leadership of the party because of her Euro-skeptic view, prompting her resignation from office in favor of John Major.

    Here are a few of the important points from our luncheon:

    1. The UK Must Come Back into Europe—Heseltine was very much part of the push to get the UK into the European Union in 1973 as part of the Edward Heath government. He contends that the UK is much better off with trading privileges, labor and capital mobility. He believes that the last decade in Britain has been one of economic underperformance.
    2. Devolution Works—He led the push for more powerful mayors in key cities such as Liverpool and Manchester, taking powers away from the central government, enabling local supervision of critical services. He knows Andy Burnham, former Mayor of Manchester, very well and rates him highly as a possible successor to Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.
    3. EU Needs Independent Defense Capabilities—He told me about a visit from an American general in the mid-80s, seeking UK technology for the development of the Star Wars defense shield against Russian nuclear arms. He recognized that the U.S. was cherry-picking technologies from key countries. It would enable the U.S. to leapfrog its European competitors not just in defense, but in the broader technology sector. He turned down the $100 million offer and instead worked with other defense ministers to create the Typhoon fighter jet as an EU project.
    4. The Hong Kong Turnover—He was deputy PM when Hong Kong was turned over by the UK to China on July 1, 1997. He negotiated a respectable departure for the UK military with the help of the Chinese deputy PM. Both sides recognized the magnitude of the moment and the necessity of dignity for all involved. Heseltine was in Hong Kong for the handover, remembering the words of the British commander to his troops. “Company, depart Hong Kong.”
    5. The Power of Entrepreneurs—Heseltine proudly showed me the Saatchi & Saatchi ad “Labour Isn’t Working” that propelled Margaret Thatcher to electoral victory in the early 80s. He also showed an ad from the Labour party from the 1920s in the wake of the post WWI recession with a worker asking for help to get a job. His view is reflective of his own experience as an entrepreneur now employing 3,000 people across the world. Give small business owners the chance and they will build something big. He is deeply concerned about the departure of the wealthy from the UK.
    6. Business/Government Cooperation Imperative—Heseltine is a believer in a constructive partnership between the two sectors. He cited the defense industry as one example of pioneering technology developed by government with business for the space program that later led to semiconductor prowess of the U.S. He also led the right to buy for public housing in the UK...privatization of the council houses in the 90s.

    Heseltine and I spoke for more than three hours as he led me on a tour of the grounds of his home, including a giant statue of Vladimir Lenin that he acquired from a newly freed state (Latvia) after the fall of the Soviet Union. We talked about the Omnicom Interpublic merger, the travails of WPP, the end of so many creative agencies (Burnett, FCB, Y&R, Grey, DDB) and the use of AI in communications. I had the same kind of relationship with my father, Daniel, founder of Edelman, who passed in 2013, talking for hours about business, politics and family. It was a day to remember forever.

    Richard Edelman is CEO.

     

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    Obama Presidential Center

    Richard Edelman /

    I went to the opening of the Obama Presidential Center yesterday with my brother John. It was a star-studded event, with former Presidents Clinton, Bush and Biden along with their first ladies, local politicians including Senator Dick Durbin, Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson, dozens of CEOs from the Chicago area including Tom Wilson of Allstate, Jennifer Scanlon of UL and Michael O’Grady of Northern Trust, plus media notables David Letterman, Michael Wilbon, and Stephen Colbert.

    This was a sweet walk down memory lane for both Barack and Michelle Obama. The President said that he came to Chicago after law school in a “janky old car that had all of my belongings in the trunk and back seat.” He said that his entire adult life was spent on the South Side of Chicago. He talked about his experience as a community organizer going door-to-door to register voters. He pointed north toward the Ramada Inn where he announced his candidacy for the State Senate. He spoke tenderly about his daughters who went to nearby University of Chicago Lab School. Then he extolled his wife; “marrying her was the best thing I did in my life.” He was careful in his remarks about the present political situation in the U.S. but did assert that every American is due life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that democracy relies on hope and that the world is better with America as a selfless agent of progress.

    Michelle Obama was far less restrained in her speech. She decried the lack of honesty and constant disinformation from the political class. She said that the present pursuit of personal financial gain by those in government is unseemly and unacceptable. She encouraged all citizens to vote, to participate in the political process, to work for change. She was full of admiration for her husband, who “never lost his temper and never felt overwhelmed by any challenge…the values my husband has exemplified for his entire life; equality, empathy, honesty, inclusion and fairness.”

    The artistic community came in full force. Common and John Legend performed together. Bono delivered a lovely musical tribute to Michelle Obama, even crooning “Michelle my belle,” before going over for a hug. Marc Anthony delighted the crowd with his “Vivir Mi Vida” (To Live My Life). Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Hudson performed solos of the President’s favorite Broadway hits.

    The OPC is not a traditional Presidential library. It is intended to be more of a university, educating future public servants in a non-partisan way, giving them the tools to compete in elections or to be effective administrators. There have already been ten classes of Obama Scholars who have gone on to serve in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America. The OPC will also be a vital community center, with a world-class basketball court, garden for growing healthy foods, children’s recreation park and conference facility. The former President said, “There is a new generation out there ready to write the next chapter of our story. We intend to help them to do it, and we ask that you join us.”

    As I walked out of the event today, I had President Obama's words in my head. "There is unfinished business. The work must go on." Amen to that for all of us in the communications world, dedicated not only to educating the public on the issues of the day, but also to building trust, creating understanding, and inspiring people to engage in the work of strengthening their communities and institutions.

    Richard Edelman is CEO.

     

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