Every year Gallup does a poll on the ethics in professions. The poll questions over 1,000 adults in all 50 states. The questions vary from year to year so the professions at top and bottom of the list change with each report.
MSN Money got really curious about those sitting at the bottom. It took the results of the last two years — 2021 and 2022 — and came to its own conclusions about the professions we trust the least.
Here are the nine professions that MSN Money says we trust the least. MSN listed them from best to worst as are we.
1. Lobbyists. The least trustworthy of the nine professions is the lobbyist. Just 5% of the people surveyed ranked them as high or very high on the trustworthy list.
Surveys all over the U.S. for the last few decades that involve lobbyists have found that most of us view what they do as detrimental to how government best operates when it comes to benefitting the people being governed.
2. Telemarketers. They hit 6% in the standards category of people who rank they as high or very high for having ethics and honesty. Since — and even though — there are laws about how they can contact you, and since they somehow find ways around them, it’s no surprise telemarketers aren’t ranked all that high in the ethics and honesty category.
3. Members of Congress. Some of us would put this group of people at the very top of the no trust and no honesty, and certainly on the no ethics, list. Just 9% of the people surveyed rank members of Congress as having high or very high honesty and ethical standards.
The only good news MoneyTalkNews found for this group of people is that they rank above lobbyists.
4. People who sell cars. Auto salespeople rank just 10% in the high or very high list. None of us enjoy the craziness of purchasing a vehicle and pushy sales people are one of the reasons why.
To be fair, not all people who sell cars and trucks at the nation’s bazillion dealerships are pushy, unethical or dishonest. But the ones that are give those that are ethical and honest a bad name.
5. State office holders. This would be governors and people serving in state Legislatures. In the honesty and ethics category of high and very high ranking, just 10% of those surveyed found them to be ethical and honest.
The only real good news for these people is that they rank a couple of spaces higher than the members of Congress.
6. Is a tie with business executives and TV reporters getting 14% in the we trust them as having high or very high ethics or trustworthiness.
Many of those surveyed think business executives are way overpaid and greedy, and constantly seeking higher pay and better benefits. That may or may not be fair but that’s how they’re viewed.
TV reporters had the same 14% ranking. For the last decade or two, surveys everywhere have shown that we do not trust the media and that is especially true of TV reporters.
Weekly Industry News Editor Gary Wolcott worked in TV and radio news for three decades. He agrees that many in the Fourth Estate at the major network level — reporters, editors, etc. in TV, newspaper and radio — are not all that honest. However, his experience with people in the industry at the local level is much different and he found most to be honest, reliable reporters and editors.
This — he said — is especially true for local newspapers and the editors of local newspapers are especially honest.
7. Advertising practitioners. Another media group gets hammered. Just 15% think advertising sellers have high or very high ethical standards. This group is selling advertising and generally few of us really trust people selling us things.
8. Newspaper reporters. Only 17% of us rank them as being very high in holding ethical or honesty standards. Weekly Industry News Editor Gary Wolcott worked in newspapers and around newspaper people most of his professional life. Read his comments about TV reporters for his view on newspaper journalists.
Source link: Money Talks News — http://bit.ly/3TA5FNR
