Public Relations in the Age of Insularity

Trust used to flow upward. To experts, institutions, and authority. Then it shifted to “people like me.” Now even that circle is tightening. The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals a growing insularity: smaller tribes, hardened perspectives, and a widening mass-class divide driven by whether people believe the system works for them. Persuasion is shifting to trust brokerage, and what communicators, leaders, and businesses can do when trust itself has become the battle...