Media ‘shock’ headlines rarely come as a complete surprise, especially in the summer.   But do  headlines like ’Viewers Lose Trust in TV’ and ‘Kids Are Not Stupid’, have any relevance for the telecoms sector? 

The most interesting thing about the ‘Trust in TV’ debate is that the decline apparently came as a shock to the media industry – causing, for example, the BBC to leap into action with ethical refresher courses.  In a multiple-choice world, where facts and fictions are increasingly difficult to separate, ‘being surprised’ is always one of the options.

But it’s worth remembering that this debate was not just triggered by questions of biased editing.  Phone-in competition scams are on the same public page as abuses of premium rate revenue sharing.   Consumers, and particularly young people, are getting better at making critical judgements about the honesty of advertising and news programmes.   They learn very quickly to ask, ‘Why are they telling me this?’

Trust in politicians and/or estate agents may be a distant memory but deep down most of us still have a long-standing trust in Telco’s.  So deeply is this ingrained, that when we talk of service levels we describe the decimal places of failure rates as ‘telephone number reliability’.

So deeply is this trust ingrained that it has survived despite dodgy advertising, false product claims, massive hype and, in the rush to find channels to market, the pressures on rigorous selection and better oversight of retail partners.    

But criticism of the industry has to be viewed alongside technological change.   A lot of the new stuff, if implemented badly, doesn’t always work as well as the old.  It may be cheaper or more profitable but consumers (and in Ofcom-speak that includes enterprises) expect ever-increasing value.  Adjusting to glitches and ‘best efforts’ services can gradually undermine the traditional trust in telecoms.

How many packets can drop out of a VoIP conversation before someone calls for the return of tin cans and bits of string?   How many consumers have paid extra for HD-ready TV’s not knowing that the infrastructure to deliver programmes is either not there or is simply not up to the job?   How acceptable is variable latency as data packets find their way around the world?  Does your ISP give you the jitters?  Will Next Generation Networks live up to last generation standards? 

The decline in trust affects any utility when corners are cut, when maintenance is put off, leaks are tolerated and volts vanish into thin air.  But there are times when traditional service values can work wonders for public appreciation.  Good news rarely makes headlines but no-one should under-estimate the benefits of BT’s brilliant response during the summer floods.

Good news also that in the sometimes weird world of Web2.0, youth-led innovations like Facebook are being translated into new services for business.   During this summer of discontent we had the annual bun-fight over exam results; too many failures or far too many successes depending on which tabloid you choose to entertain.  The reality is that consumers are becoming not just media-savvy but also techno-savvy and it is young people who are showing us how best to make sense of it all.

According to sources close to their deadlines, the shock for the media industry is that is they they’ve not noticed that kids are not stupid.   We should learn from the TV debacle.   In this sector our toughest Next Generation test is to be trusted by the next generation.

This CMA editorial was first published in NetworkingPlus magazine, September 2007.    Groupe Intellex syndication terms and conditions apply.