Social trust in a time of fake news
Much has been written about the climate of “lies, fake news and coverups” (e.g., Joe Camilleri in The Conversation). I could find a dozen examples but will limit myself to Camilleri’s because it provides an excellent overview of the problem.
This is not to dispute or try to correct Camilleri, but simply to add another perspective.
Towards the end of the article, as he is wrapping it up, Camilleri says:
Lies, “fake news” and cover-ups are not, of course, the preserve of politicians. They have become commonplace in so many of our institutions.
He then mentions the Australian Banking Royal Commission and revelations of the cover-up of long-term sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. Having previously run through the gamut of international political tendencies, from Trump to Brexit, the rise of the populist government in Italy, and the revolving door prime ministership of Australia, he says:
These various public and private arenas, where truth is regularly concealed, denied or obscured, have had a profoundly corrosive...