Who do we trust?…

 A core tactic of crisis communications enlists the support of an independent, third party expert to endorse and give credibility to a proposed course of action. The following trust rankings gives corporate communicators a reference for choosing or avoiding a professional media alliance during a crisis. (Think twice before using a politician because like a baby's nappy they need to be changed regularly and for exactly the same reason!)

The Australian Reader’s Digest annually surveys almost 1400 Australians to find out the professions that Australians trust and why.  All data is weighted by age, gender and area of residence according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures to ensure a true representation of the population’s attitudes towards trust. Following are the rankings for 2002.

1st Ambulance officers

2nd Fire-fighters

3rd Pilots

4th Nurses

5th Pharmacists

6th Doctors

7th Army, navy, airforce

8th Police

9th Teachers

10th Plumbers

11th Religious minister/the Church

12th Accountants

13th Architects

14th Social workers

15th Auto-mechanics

16th Telecommunications providers

17th Taxi drivers

18th Builders

19th Banks

20th Psychologists

21st Lawyers

22nd Journalists

23rd Trade unions

24th Marketers

25th Car salesmen

26th Politicians