Rabbi Yuval Cherlow Warns of a Collapse in Public Trust in the Media

Rabbi Yuval Cherlow commented on new Reuters data showing global trust in news has fallen to an all-time low, with only about one-third of the public saying they trust the media. He said the figures point to a clear danger, because public behavior is now being driven less by facts and reporting and more by vested interests, social networks, and hidden actors.

Cherlow argued that the media has “earned” this loss of trust and identified two main reasons. First, he said the press stopped seeing itself as a neutral intermediary and became a participant in the arena, with each outlet taking its own side.

Second, he said the media turned itself into the subject of its own coverage, constantly focusing on presenters and journalists rather than the news itself. “As people who believe that one of the pillars on which the world stands is truth, we are witnessing destruction,” he said.

He stressed that this is a moral and dangerous destruction, not merely a media problem, and concluded that a great deal of the repair depends on the public itself.