Danes trust estate agents, lorry drivers and lawyers more than politicians and the press, according to a new credibility study.
Of the 17 professions in the annual Radius Kommunikation poll, however, ‘spin doctors’ – a new addition – came rock bottom.
Spin doctors, special advisers that manage politicians’ media images, were granted a lowly trustworthy rating of just 2.1 on a sliding scale from one to five, with five being the most credible. Politicians and journalists were painted with the same brush, with both professions receiving only the marginally better rating of 2.4.
Doctors and nurses shared the top spot, collectively being ranked a four out of five for trustworthiness, while police officers and teachers were not far behind, with 3.9 and 3.7 respectively.
Pointing out that in its third year the study has ranked politicians close to last each time, managing director of Radius Kommunikation, Nicolaj Taudorf Andersen, said the results suggest a long-term crisis of faith in the government.
“Danes want substance and clear answers from politicians,” Andersen said in a report by the Copenhagen Post. “For the past couple of years we’ve found ourselves in a political vacuum, in which the previous government experienced a serious loss of legitimacy.”
Anderson added that the fact that spin doctors have come bottom raises questions about government preparations to assign two communications officers to ministers. “This is clearly a repudiation of plans to give spin doctors a larger role in the daily political scene, and that could prove problematic for the entire political system if consultants command a larger role than they already do,” he said.
A thousand people between the ages of 18 and 65 were polled online by Userneeds between September 22 and October 3 to compile the results.