Truth and Lies: Trust, information and the currency of facts

Wednesday 25th September 2019

08:30-09:30

London EC1A 2FD

Trust, information and the currency of facts

“[T]he average American does not think crime is down, does not think they are safer…as a politician, I’ll go with how people feel and I’ll let you [the interviewer] go with the theoreticians.”

– Newt Gingrich, 2016

Trust is a fragile thing. It takes time and care to build and effort to maintain. It exists consciously and unconsciously in virtually everything we do – when eating or drinking, shopping, travelling and or using any public services.

We also trust the information we see in the media – or we used to. Fragmenting social and political orders in the UK and other advanced economies feed trust and distrust: your point of view about Brexit, for example, might not determined by what you read, but what you read is determined by your view of Brexit.

The boundaries between truth and lies are blurring as emotions intrude. Newt Gingrich’s quote from 2016 – an American counterpart to Michael Gove’s ‘we’ve had enough of experts’ – illustrates how politics is reacting to the new landscape.

The future of trust will be different to the past. It will be mediated by data, online information and sophisticated cons, like deepfakes, that challenge our rational assessments and further devalue the currency of evidence. All this creates a new landscape for any business or organisation that communicates with its audience, its customers or its staff.

Do feelings have more weight than facts and evidence? What does this mean for brands, businesses and communications of all kinds in 2019, 2020 and beyond?

Join us for breakfast on Wednesday 25th September as we take a look at the trends to shed some light on this murky issue.

Please email Tom (tom@trajectorypartnership.com) to reserve your complimentary place and join us for breakfast.

Get Smarter Over Breakfast

Our Trends Breakfasts have been running for six years, and each month sees a different topic discussed and debated over coffee and croissants. Taking place on a private floor of a popular city location, an array of figures from different industries hear our thoughts on the chosen topic, drawing on the latest insights housed in our subscription portal, Signal.

To find out more about Signal click here.