Trust has hit the bottom

What did I say? Shutting up's better? You bet.

Web reactions to Barkha's bluster on TV show most are unimpressed. This is what a viewer had to say (WSJ Blog), Barkha Dutt’s response was not convincing at all. I will have serious doubts about her judgment calls in all her programs from here on. Also, you can’t shout down a point against you as Barkha tried to do. Moreover I did not see any evidence of a smear campaign against Barkha. Behaving as if you have been injured in an unfair battle would not get Barkha out of this.”

The larger fallout to Barkha and Vir on the tapes? A further breeding of distrust that I had talked about in my earlier post. A Mail Today Trust survey reveals that journos have hit the barrel bottom when it comes to trust perceptions. Here are the results -

The 'lowly' scribes

•Two- thirds of the 375 respondents believe journalists linked to scams must quit and submit themselves to an inquiry.
•Only 25 per cent say they will trust the journalists named in the controversy.
•With 41 per cent approval, teachers come up as the most trusted professionals, followed by doctors (26 per cent).
•Journalists are trusted by only 3 per cent of the respondents.
•Lawyers and vegetable vendors share the dubious honour with journalists.
•Bureaucrats and delivery boys rank higher than them.
•Of the Delhi respondents, 80 per cent say the media organisations that have not reported the conversations are protecting their own tribe.
•86 per cent of all respondents feel let down when they hear of senior journalists being fixers.


Surprising? Not at all! Best way way out for those scraping the bottom of the barrel?

Stay mum and sweat it out. If you really wanna shoot off, apologise in the sweetest manner possible and offer no defence. Sure, you may feel vulnerable in doing so, but its possibly the only way out. Know what, Brands too can learn from such episodes. When there's bad PR, either shut up, or own up and say we'll do a much better job next time. That's the only way to go and that'll to a certain extent keep both viewer and consumer trust intact.

Comments

Popular Posts