This month, Acast, the world’s largest independent podcast company, released findings of listener opinions about trust and trustworthy podcasts. Acast reports that half  of all U.S. podcast listeners consider podcasters the most trustworthy  sources of information. YouTube comes in second. Mainstream journalism seems to have lost its credibility.

In past professional roles, I consulted, communicated and made decisions premised on the public trust. On the global level, one of the largest PR firms, Edelman, reports an annual Trust Barometer. I find it fascinating and have used it frequently with my clients and in presentations. 

When I started producing Advanced TV Herstory, I felt strongly that it should be a trustworthy podcast. To that end, it is free of influence and selling, and supported by credible sources. There was a time when readers and listeners trusted their local news outlets because it felt everyone shared the same values and concern about the community’s well-being.

Now, the conglomerate that owns your local news station or newspaper is headquartered in another state. It is likely a subsidiary of a company that also owns some of the very corporations or politicians we expect journalists to investigate and report on. So it is that trust finds a home with the highly decentralized and mom-and-pop set up of podcasting. Please know I do my best to retain your trust with the quality content we provide, with no advertisers or sponsors looking over my shoulder. We value your time and decision to listen to Advanced TV Herstory.