If you’re still treating long form video and audio like a “nice-to-have brand thing,” you’re reading the room wrong. The room has left. It’s at home, door locked, only answering texts from three people.
The core theme for the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer is “Trust Amid Insularity.” Translation: people are retreating into safety and certainty, and trust is getting gated behind shared values, shared “facts,” and shared identity.
That is exactly why long-form matters more in 2026. Trust does not travel well in 12 seconds.
The highlights of the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer that matter (and why your content strategy should care)
1) Trust is not collapsing everywhere, but it’s splitting
The global Trust Index rises from 56 in 2025 to 57 in 2026, but the more important story is the gap: developing countries average 66 while developed countries sit at 49.
If you market in North America and Western Europe, you’re operating in the trust basement. Your brand does not get the benefit of the doubt. It has to earn the doubt back into something usable.
2) Insularity is now the default setting
Globally, 70% say they are “generally hesitant or unwilling” to trust someone who differs from them in values, facts/sources, how to solve problems, or culture/background/lifestyle.
Read that again. It’s not “polarized people arguing on X.” It’s most people, everywhere, saying trust is conditional.
3) Shared reality is eroding in plain sight
Only 39% say they get information from sources with a different political leaning than theirs weekly or more, down 6 points year over year.
So your audience is not “misinformed,” necessarily. They’re under-exposed. Different problem. Same outcome.
4) People are scared, and fear doesn’t make good customers
Worry about foreign actors contaminating media “with falsehoods to inflame our differences” hits an all-time high, up 11 points from 2021 to 2026.
When people feel the information environment is poisoned, they don’t respond by doing more research. They respond by trusting fewer people.
5) Trust is shifting from institutions to “my circle”
Net trust gains are strongest for people close to you: “my neighbors” (+11), “my coworkers” (+11), “my family and friends” (+11). Meanwhile, it drops for national government leaders (-16) and major news organizations (-11).
This is the most important marketing implication in the whole report.
If trust is moving from “the system” to “the people I know,” then brands need to stop sounding like systems and start showing up as trusted people you know.
6) The bright spot: employers and business still have room to operate
Globally, only “my employer” (78) and “business” (64) clear the “trusted” threshold. NGOs (58), media (54), government (53) lag behind.
You might not like that. You might find it unfair. Still true, per the data. This makes marketing and internal comms inseparable in 2026.
7) On divisive issues, the trust move is not “pick a side”
When responding to a highly divisive social issue, the top way business could earn trust is: “encouraging people to cooperate on finding solutions without taking a side” (35%). “Supporting the position that is true to its values” is second (28%).
That is a blueprint for content. And it’s a warning label for corporate hot takes.
8) Trust brokering is becoming a job requirement
The report defines trust brokering as engaging people where they are rather than trying to change them, with “listening without judgement” and “translating realities” as key skillsets.
And it calls out that employers have the smallest expectation-performance gap for brokering trust (gap of -17 points vs much larger gaps for government/media).
So if you’re a senior marketer, congrats. Your remit just expanded. Again.
9) Trust transfers through people audiences already trust
On social media influence: among those who trust an influencer they follow, if that influencer endorsed a company they distrust, 57% (in a financial influencer scenario) and 62% (in a food/lifestyle influencer scenario) say they would still trust the person and would trust or consider trusting the company.
That is not “influencer marketing.” That is trust infrastructure. And long-form is how you build it.
Why long-form video and audio podcasting wins in a world like this
You don’t need more content. You need more time.
Time is the missing ingredient in trust-building because trust is a relationship, not a message. Short-form is a message format. Long-form is a relationship format.
Here’s the strategic logic, grounded in the report:
1) Insularity makes trust relational, not institutional
If 70% are hesitant to trust people who differ from them, then your brand has to do the work a person would do: show consistency, be understandable, show your receipts, reveal how decisions get made.
Long-form lets you do that without compressing everything into a slogan.
2) When shared reality is fragmenting, context becomes a competitive advantage
With fewer people regularly engaging with opposing-leaning sources, you cannot assume shared context.
Long-form podcasts give you room to rebuild context. Not propaganda. Not “education.” Just the basic decency of explaining the world you operate in.
3) Trust is moving local and personal, so your brand needs faces and places
People are trusting neighbors, coworkers, and family more.
Long-form podcasts are where you can feature the humans who make the brand real: engineers, clinicians, frontline staff, customers, partners, community leaders. In 2026, the brand is a cast, not a logo.
4) The report literally describes long-form skills as the answer
“Listening without judgement” and “translating realities” are trust-brokering skills.
That’s not a 9:16 clip with captions and a trending sound. That’s a conversation. That’s a podcast.
5) Businesses earn trust by facilitating cooperation, not by dunking on someone
The “earn trust” play in divisive moments is cooperation without taking a side.
Long-form podcasts are the best format for that because you can host complexity without panic. You can be calm. You can bring two viewpoints into the same room and not set the room on fire for engagement. Or you can conduct a panel-style conversation with many voices.
6) Employer trust is high. Use it before you lose it.
“My employer” is the most trusted institution (78).
Audio and video podcasts are the most scalable way to reinforce that trust internally, and to export it externally by showing how your people think and work. It’s trust compounding, not “internal comms”. And it’s enjoyed on their own time.
What senior marketers should do now (a practical 2026 long-form playbook)
This is the part where a consultant says “start a podcast.” Please don’t. That’s how you get 8 episodes and a cancelled budget.
Instead:
Step 1: Pick a trust problem (not a concept theme)
Examples:
- “People don’t trust our category.”
- “We’re global and audiences are suspicious of outsiders.”
- “We have a complex product and everyone thinks we’re hiding something.”
- “We keep getting dragged into divisive conversations.”
The report notes multinationals need to evolve toward a “polynational model,” centered on long-term local relationships.
So your trust problem is probably local, even if your org chart is not.
Step 2: Build a long-form “source of truth,” then atomize it
Make one flagship show (audio-first podcast plus video version) that is the place where the brand explains itself in full sentences.
Then cut it into short clips for distribution. Short-form becomes the trailer, not the movie.
This is how you avoid the common mistake: optimizing for impressions while your reputation quietly burns.
Step 3: Cast the show like you’re hiring trust
The report shows who people trust most: scientists (76) and teachers (73) are top, while CEOs sit lower (54).
So:
- Use credible operators and experts more than execs.
- When execs show up, put them in “listener” mode, not “visionary” mode.
- Consider hosts who can translate reality, explore concepts, tell stories, not just read questions.
Step 4: Design for trust brokering, not brand storytelling
The report suggests business strategies like partnering with unexpected organizations to initiate cross-cultural or cross-political conversations (68), and bringing employees into the workplace to interact with people different than them (74).
Turn that into content formats:
- Two realities, one table: two guests with different lived experiences. The host is a translator.
- How we decide: walk through a real decision with tradeoffs.
- Local proof: episodes made in, and about, communities you serve.
Step 5: Treat “divisive issues” like a design constraint
Because the trust-earning move is cooperation without taking a side, build guardrails:
- Steer clear of the outrage prompts.
- No Jerry Springer “debate show” energy.
- Avoid implying one group is stupid.
Your long-form audio and video should feel like an adult in the room. That alone is differentiating.
Step 6: Build your own “trusted person,” or borrow one carefully
Edelman’s influencer data shows trust can transfer: majorities of those who trust an influencer would trust or consider trusting a distrusted company after the endorsement (57% and 62% scenarios).
Two paths:
- Build: consistent host, consistent cadence, consistent tone. Parasocial trust is real. Earn it responsibly.
- Borrow: partner with creators whose audience already trusts them, but co-create long-form. A 30-second ad read is not enough surface area for trust transfer.
Step 7: Measure it like a marketer
Track three layers:
- Attention quality: completion rate, average watch time, average listen time.
- Trust proxies: brand lift studies, “would you recommend,” sentiment, reductions in negative misconceptions.
- Business outcomes: pipeline influence, recruiting lift, renewal, deal velocity.
Also track internal outcomes if you run an employee-facing feed. Employers are “best positioned” for brokering trust. Use that advantage.
In 2026, you are not just competing with other brands
You’re competing with distrust, fatigue, and a collapsing shared reality.
Long-form video and audio podcasts are how you:
- show your work,
- humanize the institution,
- and broker trust without picking fights you cannot win.
If you’re a senior marketer and you still want to “wait and see,” fine. Just be honest about what you’re waiting for.
