EP#40: A matter of trust: Rebuilding citizen trust

Caroline Fisher is the Assistant Professor in Journalism at the University of Canberra. In 2014, she completed her PhD, which examined the career transition between journalism and parliamentary media advising. Prior to perusing further studies at the university, Caroline was a producer, reporter and presenter for ABC News and Radio National. She has also acted as a ministerial media advisor to Anna Bligh, the former Premier of Queensland

Caroline is an expert in journalism and political communication. In 2018, she received the Anne Dunn Scholar Award for her research work in communications. She also received the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in teaching in 2014 and again in 2017. Caroline is the co-author of the annual Digital News Report-Australia, and has published several peer-reviewed articles on her research into politics, media, trust and communications.

Discussed in this episode:

• Why it’s harder than ever to earn trust
• Journalism suffering the trust deficit
• Defining trust: the many pieces of the puzzle
• Why we will continue to consume news we don’t trust
• Addressing the negative bias in media
• The importance of authenticity
• Caroline’s advice for government communicators
• Back to old methods: putting relationships at the heart of trust