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The trust gap is a representation gap

Sky News presenter Gareth Barlow in conversation with Shamaan Freeman-Powell, Sky's Midlands correspondent at the NCTJ Inclusion in Journalism Conference. Credit: Chris Lobina / NCTJ

Sky News presenter Gareth Barlow in conversation with Shamaan Freeman-Powell, Sky's Midlands correspondent at the NCTJ Inclusion in Journalism Conference. Credit: Chris Lobina / NCTJ

One week, seven events

Between 2 and 9 November, I attended seven media events: a think tank report on disinformation; a press regulator's annual conference; a campaign launch for community news clubs; a global gathering to discuss media freedom; an inclusion conference for trainee journalists; a regulator's workshop on disability; and a debate on the North-South divide.

Each room described the same problem. Audiences are losing trust in institutional news and media, turning instead to people who feel closer to them, such as creators, local influencers, and administrators of Facebook groups. Less was said about who makes the content.

That is where the Centre's focus lies. We argue that the trust gap is also a representation gap. When newsrooms do not reflect a community, someone else speaks for it.

The Media Society, which brings together people working in and interested in the media, held a debate at BBC Quay House in Salford on 9 November about the North-South divide in UK media.

It explored three questions: whose voices are heard, where decisions are made, and how communities are represented.

Those questions provide a useful framework for understanding the wider themes of the week.

Whose voices are heard

Demos, an independent, cross-party UK think tank focused on public policy and democratic renewal, published Fill the Void on 2 November.

The report examined how communities access and share information, using tensions over asylum hotels in 2025 as a case study. It looked at three areas: Dudley, Epping Forest, and Greater Manchester. Its evidence came from 15 focus groups involving 131 residents, 26 stakeholder interviews, and analysis of more than half a million social media posts.

Where councils and other institutions stayed silent, the gap filled with rumour, misinformation, and hate speech. Local influencers became community spokespeople. Facebook group administrators became gatekeepers. Residents described local papers as under-resourced and no longer truly local. They trusted local, relatable figures over faceless institutions.

The same pattern ran through the Trust Conference on 5 November. The Reuters Institute's account of the first day noted that a quarter of adults worldwide now get some news from creators each week. Creators do particularly well where traditional journalism is least trusted. Speakers called for trusted community figures, independent journalism, and stronger public service media.

The day before, the IPSO conference asked how journalism builds credibility in the age of creators. That evening at Conway Hall, Media Revolution launched a network of News Clubs, where people read and challenge the news together.  This offers a citizen-led response to the gaps Demos identified: shared scrutiny in place of rumour.

But one obvious question received less attention. If people trust voices that sound like them, what happens when newsrooms in particular, and the media more generally, do not reflect those people?

Where decisions are made

The Media Society debate at BBC Quay House examined whether efforts to shift media jobs and decision-making away from London are making a difference.

It looked in particular at the BBC's relocation of some departments and operations to Salford, and Channel 4's move to Leeds, and what these changes mean for the communities they serve. The panel, chaired by Jon Kay, was made up of Heidi Dawson of the BBC, Cat Lewis of Nine Lives Media, and Maria Breslin of Mirror North.

Accounts from people in the room suggest the panel's answer was that these relocations represent real progress, but there is still a long way to go. The BBC's northern workforce has grown from about 2,000 to 3,500 over 15 years. The next task is moving decision-makers, not just jobs. Accent and class remain live issues. Panelists warned against national media 'parachuting in' to places they do not know, as happened at recent by-elections.

Jobs matter. But a job in Salford is not necessarily a voice for Oldham or Dudley. When Breslin was appointed to lead Mirror North, she said she wanted the Mirror to 'authentically reflect the communities our readers live in'. Mirror North is based in Oldham. Demos found anti-immigration posts there outnumbered pro-immigration posts by 32 to 1. That is the test for any northern newsroom: whose voices it carries and how well it understands the communities it reports on.

The North-South frame also leaves gaps. Students at the Salford event said afterwards that opportunities can still feel confined to London and Manchester. And Dudley, where Demos found misinformation most common in its focus groups, is in the Midlands, a short drive from the Sir Lenny Henry Centre. Its three local news outlets share one owner, while one Local Democracy Reporting Service reporter covers the area.

How communities are represented

Workforce data helps explain why this matters. The NCTJ's most recent figures, published in 2025, show journalists are more likely than other workers to have parents in higher-level jobs: 61% against 43%. Only 12% are under 30, against 22% of all workers. Ethnic minority representation is 14% against 17% of the workforce. Disabled people make up 17%, against 20%.

Broadcasting shows similar gaps. Ofcom's 2025 report found disabled people made up 12% of TV staff and 9% of radio staff, compared with 18% of the working population. Disabled people held just 10% of senior TV roles. Just over a quarter of staff came from working-class backgrounds, against a national benchmark of 39%.

The gaps widen with seniority. The NCTJ's Inclusion in Journalism conference at Sky on 6 November was hopeful and well run. Most sessions were aimed at trainees, as they should be. The Journalism Diversity Fund reached 700 bursaries this year. But getting into journalism is not the same as getting on.

The stand-out session of the day was Sky News presenter Gareth Barlow in conversation with Shamaan Freeman-Powell, Sky's Midlands correspondent. Barlow talked about his route from sheep farmer to breaking news presenter. On the abuse of journalists, he said he felt a responsibility to show it was 'not going to be tolerated. We will push back.'

His account drew applause from a room of more than 100 people of all ages and backgrounds. It illustrated something that no headcount can capture: whether people feel supported and backed once they are inside the industry.

Jonathan Levy, Sky News' managing director, closed the day. He said that without journalists from a mix of backgrounds that reflect the places they report on, a news organisation 'will fail to identify, commission, and properly tell the stories that matter'.

Measure outcomes, not headcounts

Ofcom's own event in Manchester on 9 November pointed the way. Its title was Evaluating the impact of disability inclusion initiatives. Broadcasters explained how they evaluate their schemes. Professor Doris Ruth Eikhof of the University of Glasgow spoke on moving beyond targets. A workshop asked whether initiatives are addressing the right problems.

That is the right question for the whole industry. A target counts who is employed. An outcome asks who is heard, who progresses and whether audiences recognise themselves in the coverage.

Heidi Dawson said at the Salford event that she considers accent in succession planning. That is the kind of practical step that can shift outcomes because it addresses the points at which decisions are made.

We think the link between representation and trust is real. The evidence from this week is suggestive, not conclusive.  But every event this week came back to trust. Our working answer is that trust follows recognition. The Centre's job now is to test that proposition and help the industry act on what we find.

Sources

Jaldeep Katwala
Director, Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity